Has anyone ever done this before? From the looks of it it doesn't look to hard. Are there any tips or anything that i should look for?

What all do i have to take off to get to the bushing and what order?

I was hoping i wouldnt have to remove the spring but i'm guessing i have to right? Also are there any tips? I've never taken the spring off before so how do i do that??


Thanks,
Brian

 

You'll have to pull everything out so you can burn the rubber out the control arms and your car will look like this.
I'm doing new ball joints, bushings, control arms maybe.. along with my new suspensions shocks/springs.

 

damn now i'm not looking forward to this lol. Do i need an special tool? Also what do you mean when you say i will have to burn the rubber out? What should i burn it with? I don't have a torch or anything! Also how do you get the spring off? Do you have to compress it 1st so it doesnt all just explode off or what?

 

The whole process is pretty easy.
Basically with the front wheels off after you jack the car up and support it with stands....

Take the brake calipers off and set them on something without taking the lines off. I used some old boxed speakers lying around as you can see in the pic.

Use this guide
This guide is for replacing springs and shocks but some of the steps help you take out the spring/shocks assembly so you can get to taking off the control arms.

Careful with the Ball Joints when seperating them! You don't wanna tear the rubber boot. Also, once your control arms are out, use a torch to melt out the rubber bushings so you can put the new poly's in.

*If you want to wait, I can show you this week as I'll be replacing the bushings in mine and I can provide pictures of me burning them out I suppose.

 

sweet man yea that would help but i don't know if i can wait till this week. Its for a friend and he needs it done soon so he can get the car aligned and hes selling it. Although i don't have a torch! Do you think thats going to be a problem?? Maybe we can take it to a shop and they will burn it out for a few bucks?? Or is there another method that we can use?? Lots and lots of lighters or matchs?!

Edit: my friend just told me your suppose to press them out and press the new ones in?? Which way is it?!? I'm guessing you can do both??

All in all we are replaces the bushing and his tie rod since he bent em hitting a curb

 

If your short on time take the arms out and take em to a shop so you can have what you need pressed out and new stuff put in. I called a few shops in my area and was quoted $120.00 for popping out and installing. I was quoted around $50 just for the bushings and that's popping out the old and in with the new. Stay away from big name shops because Pepboys quoted me WAY too much. Go for a mom and pop shop cuz they have better prices.

 

Local guy did mine for 25 bucks. He said he will charge more next time cause burnin the old bushings out was nasty.
I put in poly when I did mine.
Its not that bad workin on the front suspension just keep thinking (I could be installing LTs, I could be installing LTs)

 

I replaced my bushings upfront while waiting on my head gaskets to come in. All replaced with MOOG, I just took it to a shop to have the old ball joints and bushings pressed out of the front lca's. then they put the new MOOG stuff in.

You may or maynot have a problem with your rear bolt on your front lca's. I did, they basically rust-welded theirselves to the old bushing sleeves. Called for a BFH. About 1hr of working on just the bolt yeilded it finally coming out.

So far no poly bushing has been proven worthy. So I just went with MOOG replacements (basically 1LE)

 

aight thanks guys! Yea i prob will be thinking i could be doing LT i could be doing LT's lol God those were time consuming.

Anyone know how long of a job this is??

 

It could be done on a Saturday. (whole day, not an afternoon)
the only real problem I ran into was metioned earlier, that damn vertical bolt in the lower A arm can be VERY stubborn. You need a VERY BFH and the appropiate size punch to get those out.