Photo Essay - Replacing Front Control Arm Bushes - Version 2.0

[PhilMeUp]

Part 5

It finally occurred to me how to push the front bush out without bending the control arm - use the press to prevent the outer ends of the control arm from pushing outward.

Finally, a solution!

I put the bottle jack into place and started pumping.



My joy was short lived - the bottle jack cracked as soon as I put some pressure on the bush.



I took the bottle jack back to the shop that I bought it from, and swapped it for another of their display jacks. This one worked much better, and I was able to make a proper attempt at pushing the front bush out. I had to use a couple of metal spacers to fill the gap between the control arm bush and how far the jack extends.



However, I made a stuff-up. Trying to juggle the two metal spacers at the top of the bottle jack was proving too difficult with one pair of hands, so I went back to one spacer. But I used one that was too wide and I didn’t realise this until much later. This meant that I could only push the bottom of the bush as far as where the control arm started. I didn’t notice this because I’m tall and didn’t look under the arm to ensure that the spacer would fit through.



I gave up on that arm for the time being and returned to the previous arm. The bush on this arm wasn’t going to push through, as it was bent outward at the bottom. I used the press as a vice to hold the control in place so that I could hacksaw the outer end off.



I made a start on hacksawing but ran out of time and had other things to do. I’ve ordered a reciprocal saw to assist with cutting bushes out if and when required in the future, and will attack this bush when the saw arrives. I’m probably going to have to saw both ends off the bush, and then cut through the bush outer metal ring. I don’t have the patience to do that with a hacksaw, hence the electric reciprocal saw that I’ve ordered.

[PhilMeUp]

Part 6

Tonight I had a go at pushing the front bush out on the other arm, but with the correct diameter spacer this time. The bush started pushing through as soon as I put enough pressure on it with the bottle jack. The metal spacer is the one that I should have used the first time, but didn’t because it is hollow on the inside and needs a metal plate at the base of it.



Finally, the front bush on this arm was fully pushed out.



I then turned the control arm over to push out the rear bush. Also, the bottle jack only works when facing the correct way up. I made sure to select a spacer that was a suitable diameter - wide enough to push on the outer metal ring on the bush, but narrow enough to fit through the control arm.



The bush pushed out very easily.



I had now removed the two main bushes from the control arm. Getting somewhere!



I used one of the punches from the SuperCheap Auto kit to easily push out the suspension mount bush.



At last, I ended up with a control arm with the three bushes removed. The ball joint will be staying because it’s only a few weeks old. I’ll be pushing in new Ford bushes and fitting this arm to my taxi.

[PhilMeUp]

Part 7

Having finally removed the bushes from the second control arm (ie the first one was done a couple of weeks ago) it was finally time to push the new bushes in. I started by lining up the front bush and tapping it in with a mallet so that it would stay in its correct place. Then I put that end of the control arm over a bearing shell (in the foreground in the photo), and then used another bearing shell and a metal spacer to start to push the bush in.

Rather than push the bush through the bearing shell to the point of breaking it like I did previously, I backed off as soon as I felt the pressure build up when pumping the press (ie as soon as the bush was poking out the other side of the control arm and starting to push the bearing shell apart in the middle).

I then set up some iron plates to hold the control arm up while I pushed the bush through. This took some co-ordination - a third hand would definitely be useful here. I’ll get some spacers custom made later on to make this easier.

I wasn’t sure how much pressure to put on the bush, so settled for a very mild seven ton. This was enough to ensure that the bush was pushed in properly, but without bending anything.

I asked two different suspension places what they use for lubricant when pushing bushes in. One place said that they use silicon spray and the other place said that they don’t use anything at all. After the dramas that I’ve had with pushing out the front bushes, I wanted to make it a little bit easier next time. I used a can of Wurth Silicon Spray to spray silicon on the bush and in the control arm hole before pushing each bush in. The can is on the left side of the photo.



The wider new press is excellent for pushing in the rear bush. Unlike the first press, I didn’t have to stuff around with different spacers and plates to push the bush in. Just put the control arm sideways and push the bush in.



As with the front bush, I started with just having the control arm over an iron plate and then putting a spacer under the arm once the bush pushed through to the other side. With the rear bush, I only went to a very mild four ton of pressure.



The shock absorber mount bush was extremely easy. I pushed it through a little bit too much to ensure that the rubber collar had poked out on the other side, and then tapped the other side back over with a hammer. The bush was then centred properly.



Finally, I now had two completed control arms! What a nightmare - trying to figure all of this out almost entirely on my own has been quite a challenge, but I’ve finally got some techniques figured out.



The first press came with quite a bundle of various metal offcuts that I’ve been using for spacers. I got the bearing shells from a Ford dealer workshop and bought the press kit from Supercheap Auto. If you buy a press then it would be worth looking around at some metal fabrication places to see what rubbish pieces you can get to build up a collection. I bought a large, flat plastic tub from Bunnings to put this stuff into, and the tub now sits on a small trolley next to the press.

Pushing the old bushes out and the new ones in has been very clumsy and cumbersome. It’s been a lot more frustrating than I expected, and I’m going to try and make this job easier by getting some spacers custom made in the near future.



I haven’t painted the control arms this time, but will probably do so next time (ie before I push the old bushes out, so that wet paint doesn’t go into the bush holes). I asked a suspension place what paint they use and they said VHT Rollbar & Chassis Paint. This paint is available in either Gloss Black or Satin Black. http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/rollbarchassis/

[PhilMeUp]

Part 8

Last night I finally replaced the control arms on my taxi.

With the crossmember bolts, the bottom part of the bolt is only there to assist Ford with assembling the car at the factory. A mechanic has previously cut off the bottom on one of the bolts to make it easier to get the control arms in and out. This has only been done on one side of my car, and I’ll be getting the angle grinder or reciprocal saw out and cutting the matching bolt short on the other side the next time I am removing control arms from my car. Unfortunately it was too late at night for me to make noise with the grinder or saw, so it will have to be next time.



On the other side, I removed the nuts and let the crossmember hang as low as possible. This made it much easier to slide the old control arm out.



I had trouble getting the replacement arms back into the car. On one side, I used a crowbar to push the arm inward and a mallet underneath to control the height.



Stuff-up: I had major problems with getting the first arm back in. It just wouldn’t go in, and then I realised that early on in this project I had been trying to push the old bushes out with a bottle jack. Luckily, I had bought a spare set of lower arms last week, and compared them to the arms that I was trying to fit.

Sure enough, my replacement arms were out by about 2cm on one side and 1cm on the other side. I considered pushing the bushes and ball joints out of these arms and putting everything into my spare set, but decided to try bending the arms with the press. Once I got each arm to the same width as my spare set I put them in the car. I’ll be checking with a suspension place on Monday to see if they think that the control arms will retain their strength.

I’ll try using a bottle jack again next time, but will be making sure that the control arms are kept in the right shape by using the press to stop them from pushing outward. I have also bought a Ryobi reciprocal saw to use if I end up having to cut the old bushes out next time. I managed to get a new one on eBay for $45, and I’ve already got the required batteries and charger with my Ryobi drill.



Doing the job this time took me 3 hours and 20 minutes. I was hoping to get it close to 2 hours, but took a few photos, cleaned the two wheels, cleaned the corrosion from the disc rotors and bearing hub plates and had trouble with the arms not going back in the car.

The good news is that the very slight trace of brake shudder that has been there since a recent tyre change has gone (ie cleaning off the corrosion and using a torque wrench to ensure consistent tightness on the wheel nuts).

The test drive was a success. I drove around for 35km and the car tracked perfectly straight. I’ve got it booked in for a wheel alignment next week, so it will be interesting to see how close the alignment is to being correct.

[PhilMeUp]

Part 9

Tonight I had another go at removing a front bush that has previously defeated me.

Previously, I had tried to push a front bush out with the press. But applying pressure from the wrong angle ended up bending the outer casing of the bush so that it was unable to slide through the control arm.





This meant that I was going to have to cut off the outer end of the bush and push it through from the other direction. It was time to see if the Ryobi reciprocal saw was going to be any use for this. Much to my delight, the saw cut through the bush quite easily. This could have been done with a hacksaw, but someone would have to be very fit and patient to do this (I am neither of these).



The metal bit in the centre was a bit of work, but the saw cut through it without major drama. The outer shell of the bush was easy to cut through.



Now that I had the outer end cut away, it was time to see if I could push the bush through the control arm. This was frustrating, as the rounded edges of the control arm kept pushing the iron plates apart. A large g-clamp would have been ideal for keeping the iron plates pushed against the bush.

However, once I got things lined up, the bush started to push through very easily. I made sure not to keep pushing once the bush had gone through enough to touch the cross beam of the press.



I set up another layer of plates and had more drama with the control arm pushing the plates apart. This was getting extremely frustrating as I knew that I would finally have that bush removed if I could keep the iron plates in place long enough.



Finally everything held together for a few seconds and I was able to resume pushing the bush through. Success!



Then it was time to remove the rear bush. Repco had a sale on 6,000kg bottle jacks for $19.99 last week so I bought one. I used the press to hold the control arm in place, including doing so in such a way that the arm couldn’t bend outward once the bottle jack started putting pressure on the bush. Instead of messing around with the small spacers, I used one of the punches from the SuperCheap Auto kit. It all lined up correctly and the bush slid out very easily. When it comes time to put new bushes in I’ll check the control arm against some others that I have here to ensure that I haven’t previously bent it.

["Captain Retard"]

Good write up!

Will be doing top and bottom bushes in the next couple of weeks.

I'm sure I will be referring back to this thread.

Thanks!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Phil, if you get a pneumatic buff and buff the Rust off the front bush it will push through very easily

[FiftyOne]

Pretty epic thread. Nice work

[garrymcgaw]

This was very informative, I certainly wiil refer to this when I do my LCA's. Thank you Sir.

Regards Garry.

[VICTOR T]

BRO THAT WAS THE BEST DETAIL EVER