Lower Control Arm bushing sleeve stuck....

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

Can anyone give me some advise on how I can get the lower control arm bushing sleeves to come out? I've been trying for 3 hours and STILL can't get one out. I'm in the process of changing out my bushings and I just can't get it out. Aren't these kits suppose to come with the metal sleeves?

[tommie]

if you use the stock replacement bushings they come with the sleeve.

if you use poly bushings they do not come with the sleeves. (this is what I have seen from my experience)

I have done some lowers years ago and replaced the bushing with the sleeve and used a press at the local auto parts to press the bushings in and out.

for the uppers i used an air hammer to r&r the bushings...

if you have the control arms off, and are having trouble, you could take them to a shop that does suspension work, and pay someone to just r&r the bushings...

I have done that before on some uppers, and was able to just pay a tech on the side...it was not much $$

[gchemist]

Cut out the rubber first. I cut the end off then drilled out the rubber.


Once you get the shaft out, hammer the sleeve with a 2 lb hammer. It will collapse for removal.

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

Thanks, guys. For some reason, it still won't come out. The top control arm was not that bad. The bottom one is the one that's giving me trouble. I had to resort to just breaking the sleeve to try to get it out, but it's still not coming out.

I've got some donor bushing sleeves, so I don't care about messing these up. I'm going to take tommie's recommendation and take them to a shop to have them properly pressed in. Once I do that, I'll have it all back together in no time.

So far, this is my biggest PITA...but I'm sure I'll encounter more along this project path!

Tommie...do you know of any shops in Houston I can hit up for this type of work?

[gchemist]

Call a brake shop. Some brake shops have presses. I paid $10 per each pressed sleeve. The shop even torqued the nuts to specs.

[N2TRUX]

If you have a torch you can burn them out. Just make sure you go slow.

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

I was thinking about using a torch, too. I'll try that next. The thing is that it's not the bushings that are stuck. I've already drilled them out completely. It's the outer metal sleeve. I'm guessing if I heat it up a bit, it may make them budge....right?

[D.FENS]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

If you have a torch you can burn them out. Just make sure you go slow.

This has worked for me in the past.

Also, the urethane bushing kit I bought (Energy Suspension) includes the sleeves, what brand did you buy?

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

I tried it with a small torch and that helped get the first one out. I got my kit from Performance Online:

http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...cat=780&page=2

I just called them because you raised a good point. I just checked the part number again on their site and it shows the metal sleeves on the picture. It came with the INNER metal sleeves, but not the OUTER. But, like I said, the picture shows them on the bushings on their site. They said they had one other guy call about the same issue earlier today, so maybe they just didn't include them (atleast that's what I'm hoping for). That will make it alot easier if they made a mistake and send it to me because I went to O'Reilly's to buy some stock ones to use the sleeves from (due to my hack job from removing the first one).

Anyone else out there order a POL front end kit and it not come with the control arm bushing outer metal sleeve?

[D.FENS]

I used urethane bushings on both my C-10's and neither kit I bought came with outer sleeves for the bushings. I assembled the arms and used a vise and socket to push the new bushings in and let it rock.

Before anybody says anything, we're not ruling out that I did my install wrong, but it seemed to work okay that way.

[tommie]

Originally Posted by D.FENS

I used urethane bushings on both my C-10's and neither kit I bought came with outer sleeves for the bushings. I assembled the arms and used a vise and socket to push the new bushings in and let it rock.

Before anybody says anything, we're not ruling out that I did my install wrong, but it seemed to work okay that way.

the kits i have used with poly bushings, only come with the bushing, and inner sleeve, not the outer sleeve....

on those kits, i have used a torch to heat the rubber bushing, until it fell out of the outer metal sleeve.....

what i talked about in my earlier post was for stock style rubber control arm bushings, not for poly bushings...

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

So, I've got one set of control arms completely removed and ready for cleaning! I finally had to drill the bushings out, while on the control arm. Then I chiseled the rest of the rubber bushings out. I couldn't get the outer sleeves off of the control arm without jacking the metal sleeves all up, so I went to O'Reilly's to pick up some house brand stock replacement bushings (which came with the outer sleeves). Then I had to drill THOSE bushings out to end up with a clean outer sleeve for the poly's. Seems kinda counter-productive to buy some new bushings and drill them out, but I would assume the poly's provide better performance. In order to get the old metal sleeves out, I torched them a bit to heat them up, then I air chiseled them out by tearing them all up. I couldn't believe how stuck they were.

Anyhow, I finally got the driver's side control arms completely apart and will be pressure washing and cleaning them next. I've got some bump stops on order, so they should get here by the time I'm ready to get it all back together.

I don't have a work bench or anything, but I found a way to get the bushings into the metal sleeves without any major problems. I don't know if anyone else has ever tried it this way, but all I did was put the lower control arm metal sleeve into the bottom of the lower control arm coil spring opening, lubed up the bushing a bit, inserted it into the outer sleeve (without the inner sleeve), and banged away until it was nice and flush. Then, I inserted the inner sleeve and banged away until that was also nice and flush, too. For the upper bushings, I put them inside the bottom of the lower control arm ball joint opening (with something underneath it for extra support) and did the same thing. I learned the hard way to put the bushing in first, then the inner sleeve (I should have read the instructions, but who the heck does that?). I don't know if anyone has ever tried that, but it seemed to work really well for me.

Anyhow, I just thought that was a neat way of getting the bushings in without a bench vise or c-clamp. Here are a few pics from along the way (those new wheels are still patiently waiting for their time to shine...literally):

[383tbi]

The inner sleeve is what freezes on the shaft.You have to cut the bushing out so you can get to the inner sleeve with an air chisel.Use PB Blaster.I bought my control arm bushing kit from performance suspension (best price).They came with both sleeves (energy suspension 90 dlls shipped)

[datguysaL]

yup, you did more work than what u needed to.
i did both the upper and lower bushings on my 85 about a week ago or so, i orderd the kit from summit, and it came with the bushings and inner sleeve only.

i did the same thing with the first bushing, i cut watever rubber i could get to then i tried drilling it, then i said the hell with this, so i got me a regular propane torch and heated up the bushing, and out it went with the help of a little tapping,

the outter sleeve doesnt really need to be replaced unless u just want the whole new look,

but yeah, heat it the answer to gettin the rubber out.

oh yeah, and one more thing, you gonna have to lube the crap outta the new rubbers, cuz in a couple months, depending on your area, they will begin squeeking like they aint no tomorrow.

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

I was wondering if the outer sleeve needed to be replaced. After removing them, I noticed quite a bit of rust on them, so I guess it was best to go ahead and get them replaced.

I actually bought new bushings to have the sleeves taken off of them to use for the urethanes and I burned the rubbers out. It was a LOT easier, but it's a slow process.

Now, for the squeeking...does that also happen with urethanes? Or just with rubber?

And one final question, when it comes to the lubing...what exactly do I lube? Between the inner sleeve and the urethane and also between the outer sleeve and the urethane?

Again, I really appreciate all you guys help. I should finally be able to finish up with all the suspension this weekend. Then, I can get the wheels on it and figure out how much lower I want to go before taking it all apart again. Atleast this time it will be much easier since everything will be new....hehehe

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

I decided to go ahead and have someone press them in correctly using the right tools. I've jacked them up enough taking them out, so I don't want to take any chances on doing the same getting them in.

Oh well, atleast I'll finally be able to get my baby lowered this weekend and back on the road to recovery. I'll post up some pics after she's done and see what ya'll think.

Thanks again, guys.

[HumbleChevyBuddy]

Ok, just got back from the shop that pressed my bushings. The bad thing is that he said I needed a new driver side lower control arm. He went ahead and pressed the bushings in, but if you notice it looks pretty bent up. I noticed it before I took the old bushings out, but didn't think much of it.

Do I have to replace the lower control arm? Or do you all think it would just be ok to heat it up a bit and "convince" it back in shape? Also, it looks like the other bushing on the same arm didn't go in all the way. Will that matter?

[gchemist]

Shop should have not pressed it. Replace the arm. I had a similiar problem. I installed a set off a suburban.