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Control arm bushings

J

justin_502

NAXJA Forum User
Location
ACTON, CA
Got some Rustys fixed lower control arms on my xj, 4 months later bushing have lot of play and are falling apart. I ordered up some RE super ride bushings and they have a steel sleve, and they both say oem bushing size. Will I need a press or something special to get them in?
 
well i just just did mine last week. you need a big vise or a press works better if you have one. u need a piece of pipe or a big socket bigger then the bushing, and a socket the same size as the bushing. use the smaller socket and press the bushing out into the pipe or big socket. then just clean it up a bit and press in the new bushing. took me i few trys to get the lower bolts back in. just lift and lower the body to line it up.
good luck hope that help abit:repair:
 
im in the process of doing my adj rustys arms. let me tell you, it SUCKS! huge pain in the ass and im never gonna do it again. i am using a drill on the rubber, going all the way around it. get all the rubber out so you just have the metal sleeve left. take a sawz-all to score the metal, dont go through it. take a chisel between the sleeve and arm to try and tear the metal. thats the only way i found that works.
 
When you install them, lube them up with something, even if its just spit (of course oil works better). With a little lube they will go in much easier.
 
Thanks for the hinfo guys, I will be doing this saterday. I should have no problem with them being the superrie bushings right? They should fit in?
 
I remember spending hours drilling, torching, and chiseling out the bushings on my 94 when I installed the daystars--what a PITA. I will definitely use a press of some sort--bought or homemade, when I get around to doing the 96.
 
put the new bushings into the freezer overnight before installing them they go in much easier. i was able to press all but one out. it didnt want to come out so i took it off and burnt it out.
 
well i had no luck tonight. how did you guys burn them out? torch or just throwing a match on them and waiting a while?
 
I used a mappgas torch to heat up the center collar enough to soften the rubber enough to pound the collar out of it. Since the bushings were old and separating anyway, it wasn't too bad.

Then once the rubber cooled, I used a sawzall to cut out a half inch radial section. That let me get the blade to the outer sleeve.

Then like you said, cut a groove in the sleeve, and chisel it out from behind.

Once I got the technique down, I did the other three in the same two hours it took me to do the first one...

Good luck!
Robert
 
Update I got the lower control arm off and the bushings out. I put the RE super ride bushing in and it was a lil loose fit. I did not need to press it in, it slid right in. Put in in the jeep and the up and down motion is great, but it slides side to side in the control arm mount. Is this normal or a problem?
 
No,thats extremely bad,it should be a press fit only.
 
RCP Phx said:
No,thats extremely bad,it should be a press fit only.
Click to expand...

I don't know that it's all that bad...

Mine just tapped right in. That was about six months, six thousand miles, and six wheeling trips ago. Nothing "extremely bad" has happened yet...

The side-to-side motion is odd, though. The center collar should fit pretty snug in the mount.

Robert
 
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