Front control arm bushings

The upper control arm bushings on my Dana 30 front end (non-disco) have deteriorated due to an annoying oil leak I have. My question is: what is involved in replacing the upper bushings on the axle end of the control arms? They appear to be pressed into the axle housing itself, rather than in the arms like the lowers...

Thanks guys!

Andy

Whoops....... was thinking lowers originally.

Yes, the bushings are pressed into the axle. I replaced mine when I had the axle out, and pretty well destroyed the originals.

Had the replacements in the deep freeze, and heated up the surrounding iron gently. The passenger side was pretty easy. I was a little more careful on the driver's side, as the ear is cast as part of the diff, but it did go in successfully.

Did you need to use a hydraulic press, or would you say that they can be replaced with the axle on the vehicle?

BTH-wack the hell out of it with a hammer to get them in or out. A torch helps to get them out as well. Juice

Juice, mine would *NOT* budge with a Ford wrench. And I have no idea how you'd be able to get a hydraulic press on them.

I had my bushings sitting on the shelf for 3 or 4 months before I put them in. You can supposedly use a ball joint press, but you'll have some interference with it.

I pulled my front axle assembly out from under my Heep in 90 minutes. Finagling it back in place was another story, though. Still, having changed these bushings in front of, rather than under, the Jeep, I'd seriously consider doing it again.

What are you replacing the bushings with? I recently replaced all my front control arm bushings with poly units from energy suspension. The axle-end upper control arm bushings in the axle were kind of a pain to get out. What I did was use an electric drill with the right-sized bit to drill out as much of the rubber as possible, then I used lots of prying with a screwdriver and lots of spraying wd-40 on the bushings and eventually the rubber piece inside the sleave just popped out.

However, I'm not sure how one would go about this if you're replacing with stock rubber units, unless the stock rubber replacements also require re-use of the stock metal sleaves like the poly ones.

Anyway, hope it helps. Have fun.

I intend to use the factory upper bushings again, so that means removing the sleeve you describe as having left in the housing.

I'm also going to junk the aftermarket lower arms/poly bushing setup and go back to a modified OEM lower arm so I can use rubber bushings on the bottom again. I'm tired of the poly ride, poor wear and the crap arm design (no allowance for twist of the arm when flexing).

Andy

I just replaced the UCA bushings with poly ones. To get the old ones out of the axle mount, I could not pound them out (6 pound sledge and pipe!). I used a piece of gyproc (plaster board, wallboard), folded, to shield the engine and electrics above, then used a propane torch to burn it out until it would push out. If you do this, you must have some sort of shield, since the flame from the bushing and heavy rubber soot are not what you want in the engine. Have a fire extinguisher handy. Don't even think about doing it in the garage- outside!! For the frame end of the UCA, put the torch on the metal sleeve around the bushing (once the arm is out of the jeep) until the rubber melts, then push the rubber bushing out with a piece of pipe. It is a smelly, ugly job, but it works pretty well. The new bushings went in fine after spending the night in the freezer, just a few taps. THE PROBLEM: I could not get the UCA back on, since the axle had rotated the top part forward. I used a a chain around the axle UCA mount, back under the jeep to a high-lift jack, which was chained back to a big hunk of wood jammed behind the back tire. It took mega-force to rotate the mount back into position (yes, this is with the axle hanging free, jeep on stands just behind the UCA body mounts). I might get around to doing the lower control arm bushings this weekend. 4XBob

This is starting to sound like quite a pain in the ass (and if all the other frozen/corroded/snapped off bolts I've had to deal with are any indication as to how this project will go, it doesn't sound like fun...)....does anyone with a FSM know how the dealers do this? Is there a factory tool that is used? Just wondering if it'd be worth letting the dealer handle the aggravation of those two bushings...it might be worth it for my sanity.

The dealership does have a special tool to press out the old bushing and press in the new one. I remember seeing the procedure in the FSM. You can make your own tool if you have access to a lathe. That is what I did on my 90. You need a piece of steel roundstock. Drill thru the center for 3/8" clearance. One edge needs to be turned down slightly less than the bushing OD. The other end is turned down to something larger than the bushing OD. You use this steel piece (puck) to drive the bushing out by putting against bushing, put large socket (receiver) on other side of bushing, run 3/8 threaded rod thru puck, bushing and receiver, with washers and nuts on each end. Then start tightening down on nuts. This will cause the puck to push the bushing out into the receiver.
The install is similar, except now you use the larger end of the puck to force the new bushing into the axle flange. This is much safer than the torch or big hammer methods.

I've used similar methods to replace control arm bushings on British cars. Just use a combination of 3/8 threaded rod, nuts, washers, receivers (sockets/pipe sections) etc to get the desired results.

Jay in MA

Excellent description - I know exactly what I need to make this tool. I have a friend who owns a machine shop, so he can do the trimming of the stock for me.

Thanks everyone!