Tips for painless control arm bushing replacement?

Most of my projects become travesties because I fail to identify all the tools I'll need to do the job correctly, so I figured I'd seek some advice.

I bought a set of Moog "Problem Solver" upper control arm bushings for my 2001 XJ and aim to install them this afternoon. For those of you who have done it, what is hands-down the easiest or most proper way to replace them? I need more tools and have no problems making some investments today if I need to.

Thus far, I know how to properly remove the arms from the vehicle but am sure I'll go through hell trying to figure out how to remove the old bushings. Any and all input would be appreciated. Thanks!

I finally found a thread on page 8 of my search results discussing the matter... A ball joint press seems to be the way to go.

Now that I have a compressor, it looks like I'm off to Harbor Freight since this is the 2nd time I've needed one in a month and don't like the buy-and-return lending program at AutoZone... At $40 it seems like it'll be well worth it.

For the price of the bushings and the problems you will have pressing them you should have purchased new control arms complete. I did and am very happy. The arms are flimsy and will bend easily make the job a pain. Good luck

Ahh, dammit, are you serious? I guess I'll give it a shot now that I've got everything I need, but if push comes to shove I can wait on some control arms. Thanks for the tip - I didn't realize they were only $48 each.

If your XJ is kinda rusty I'd suggest buying new bolts for anything you're going to have to pull apart - unless the new bushings came with bolts. Basically, on my XJ I assume that unless the bolt is literally coated in oil, it's going to break when I take it out, so I better have a replacement on hand... this has kept me out of many bad situations as it's my DD.

If it isn't rusty or you don't mind taking chances, just get a can or two of PB-blaster and keep it around.

Yeah the arms were pretty cheap (Crown Manufacturing) and to replace the upper bushings in the axle the ball joint press works great. My jeep has 260,000 miles on it and it did come apart pretty easy however you will need a decent set of torx bits. Try useing a little heat to expand the metal around the bushing, that probably will make them pop right out. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips guys. I ended up returning the set of bushings I bought in favor of buying replacement arms with bushings, but by that point I was so exasperated I just kept the original axle-side bushing in place (the arm didn't come with an axle-side bushing, just the chassis bushing already pressed into place) and installed the replacement arm.

I hit the bolts with PB Blaster a few times throughout the day which allowed them to be removed in once piece (albeit requiring a huge amount of force with a breaker bar). I haven't tackled the passenger side yet (I got the axle-side bolt of it loosened before I said "F*ck it" for the afternoon and went to a barbecue), but that'll be sometime this week.

Teofan - What Torx bits are needed? I didn't see anything that involved Torx heads on mine. And in terms of using the ball joint press, how exactly did you rig it? I'm thinking the smallest ring *might* work (IIRC it sits just inside the outer shell of the bushing on the rubber), but I honestly don't know. Definitely provide more details if you can for when I go back for round 2. Thanks!

My jeep is 1992 and the upper control arms had torx head bolts on the axle side. When I pressed the bushings into place on the axle I rigged it with what I had. I believe I even used a socket from my 3/4 inch drive set. I "squared" the bushing up with a tap from a plastic mallet.