Control Arm Bushes And Balljoints

[MikeT36]

Not sure if this has been covered before sorry if it has had a search and couldn't find anything.

But anyway just wondering if anyone has had any luck with the SuperChump 6T Press advertised for $129, I'm going to be changing out the the lower control arm bushes and ball joints in the near future and thought for that price you can't really go wrong even if it does the car twice.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Thats what I use, it would have easily done 15 sets of bushes. The jack has been replaced as the SC one seized up.

I used the same jack to press the bushes out of the lower arms. You can't use the press for the lower control arm bushes out due to the shape of the press.

You can use it for the Ball joints (upper and lower) and the Upper control arm Bushes.

[MikeT36]

Cheers Ralph!!! ever helpful as usual

[Ralph Wiggum]

If I get a chance over the weekend i'll take a couple of pic's of how mine is setup and how I set the arms up to remove/replace the bushes.

[MikeT36]

^{that'd be great if you could!!}

[PhilMeUp]

If I get a chance over the weekend I'll take a couple of pic's of how mine is setup and how I set the arms up to remove/replace the bushes.

This.

Need photos!

I bought a 20 ton press a few weeks ago and now I need to see what other stuff I need to get so that I can push the lower control arm bushes out. Need to figure out how to push wagon rear axle bearings off as well.

Edited 03/05/14 10:12 AM by PhilMeUp

[PhilMeUp]

I bought a 20 ton press a few weeks ago and now I need to see what other stuff I need to get so that I can push the lower control arm bushes out. Need to figure out how to push wagon rear axle bearings off as well.

Got home and had a go.

Success.

I bought this 20 ton press a few weeks ago for $100 secondhand via Gumtree. It’s fairly tall, which is what I need for doing rear axle bearings on my BFIII station wagon taxi. And it’s easy to move the cross beam by moving the metal rods that hold it up.

It came with this box of various spacers and other bits and pieces.

To push the existing bushes out of the control arm, I removed the hydraulic jack from the press. It took some balancing to get everything to line up but eventually I managed to get the jack pushing the spacer upward instead of pushing it out sideways. An extra pair of hands would be useful for this part.

At the top of the jack is one of the metal spacers from the box. It turned out to be the perfect diameter to fit on the outer edge of the bush (ie where the metal exterior is).

A close-up photo of the front lower control arm bush being pushed out by the hydraulic jack and spacer. Once I got it all lined up it was simply a matter of pumping the jack and watching the bush slide out.

Another advantage of using the hydraulic jack was that the base of it also partly pushed out the rear lower control arm bush. In theory, I could have had the correct sized spacers at both ends of the jack and but this stuff is heavy and balancing it all was a challenge.

The hole in the control arm where the front bush was.

Then it was time to get the rear bush out. I had a head start thanks to the hydraulic jack.

Another few minutes of trying to balance and line things up before the jack’s piston pushed out far enough to hold the jack in place.

The same as the front bush - the rear bush pushed out easily.

Time for a problem - the spacer that I had just used on the rear bush was about the same diameter, meaning that it was then stuck in the control arm. I had a quick go with a hammer but it wasn’t going to tap out. I put the hydraulic jack back in the press and pushed the spacer out easily enough. Being able to move the cross beam around so easily made this a simple job.

Then it was time to push out the suspension strut bush. I used the press to start pushing the bush out.

Then it was time to get a spacer from the box.

It didn’t take particularly long to have all three bushes pushed out. I was pretty pleased by now.

The end result - a front lower control arm with all three bushes pushed out. That ball joint is only a few weeks old so will be staying there.

Now all I need to do is go buy a bunch of new bushes and learn how to press them in...

[old_mate]

Time I bought myself a press

[Ralph Wiggum]

Basically exactly what I do.

2 suggestions,

1.get your self a MAP gas torch from Bunnings and use it to gently warm the arm where the front bush resides it will ease the pressure required to press it out.

2. Get yourself a second bottle jack to press the bushes out then you can clamp the arm in the press which makes the task much easier.

[PhilMeUp]

Time I bought myself a press

If you can find one for the right price then grab it. Even if you only use it once a year, if it costs you $100 to get and means that you can do more things at home (ie cheaper, and in your own time) then it pays off.

I bought this one for the sole task of changing rear axle bearings. Since buying it, I've noticed that the lower control arm bushes on both taxis are completely stuffed. I put a complete set of aftermarket lower control arms in Deb's taxi during the week, but I'm not confident in how long those particular bushes last for. I'm still indecisive about what bushes to commit to sticking with, but I'm inclined to go with the standard Ford stuff at this stage.

Now that I've got this setup I'll be replacing bushes and ball joints regularly on both cars. Something that I'm sure Ralph Wiggum will be delighted about the next time he's in one of the two taxis.

Basically exactly what I do.

2 suggestions,

1.get your self a MAP gas torch from Bunnings and use it to gently warm the arm where the front bush resides it will ease the pressure required to press it out.

2. Get yourself a second bottle jack to press the bushes out then you can clamp the arm in the press which makes the task much easier.

1. I found that both bushes pushed out extremely easily, thanks to power of the 20 ton bottle jack, so heating the arm wasn't necessary for making them slide out easier. Besides making them slide out easier, is there any reason to heat up the control arm?

2. Getting a second bottle jack - bingo - good idea. There are a couple on Gumtree for $20 in Perth right now, so I'll go shopping this afternoon. Trying to juggle holding the control arm up, holding the jack and spacers in place and then pumping the jack was a job that required more hands than I have.

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I had a go at pushing out the bushes on an upper control arm this afternoon. Very easy to do.

With the upper ball joint, I bought a G & G Technics GGT-400 Hand Press recently, so will use that for replacing the ball joint. But, doing so in the press is also possible.

So that there will be no more of this: