Control arm bushing binding

[davepl]

After my "I am idiot, hear me roar" mistake, I pulled out the lower control arm and swapped the shaft over to the -correct- control arm (they're keyed to a rivet in the U-bolt mount so are side-specific).

Making sure the bushings were tightened carefully turn by turn, I kep the control shaft centered between the bushings. Both by counting turns and visually, it appears centered.

My problem is that if I torque them down to the 145 ftlb called for in the shop manual, I can no longer rotate the control shaft by hand. If I lock the control arm shaft in a vise I can rotate the whole control arm, but its stiff.

Unless the control arm were bottomed out in the bushing, which shouldn't happen if you're centered, I'm not sure what's wrong. Maybe they're supposed to be really stiff when new and torqued down, but it worries me.

Anyone run into this before or have any thoughts?

Thanks!
Dave

[wilbilt]

They are stiff when newly installed. If you can move the control arm with the shaft clamped in a vise, you should be good to go.

It is important that you can pump grease into the bushings. With the fittings installed, you should be able to grease the bushings with a hand grease gun. If you can't pump grease in, the bushing is likely bottomed on the end of the shaft. Time to back them out and try again.

Obviously, the bushing/shaft are metal on metal. Being able to lube them is key to longevity.