Retrofitting RE arms

How many of you are aware you can retrofit your old RE short arms with the old style OEM type press in bushing to the new rubber style bushing? I discovered this when I went to rebuild my arms. The Flex Joint was no problem, just loosen the joint with the RE tool, replace the teflon bushing and reassemble. The OEM pressed in bushing is another matter. You can cut it out by drilling the center out with a hole saw, then carefully cutting the sleeve with a hack saw and then removing it. But after many failed attempts at pressing the new bushing in I called Shawn at RE. He explained you can't do it without a HUGE press but they had these retrofit kits. And they were only like $12 each. They are available for the large (lower) and small (upper) short arms.

The part no. for the upper is RE 3762 and lower is RE 3763. Very simple to install. You need some sort of press (I used the Harbor Frieght u-joint/ball joint press), a hack saw and a drill with a hole saw. The pics are fairly self explanatory.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38727926@N03/sets/

Hope this helps some of you.

interesting... i wonder if this would work for upper axle side bushings as well... thanks for the info!

Sorry I left that out. No it doesn't according to RE. That was the first thing I asked. But it's ok because you don't press in those bushings all the way into the flange on the axle. You only press them in up to the "flared" area on the OEM style bushing. On the arm yes, they are pressed in all the way including the flared section of the OEM type bushing. That's why you have to use a 40k press to install the OEM type bushings into the arm. But like I said on the axle end you only press them UP TO the flared area. In one of my pics you can see the cheapo press I made to do this. Simply make one out of all thread and various round stuff like sockets and the cylindes that come with your harbor freight press.

I've seen more problems with their POS bushings than I care to. I wish they'd bring back the OE type. You do NOT have to use a 'huge' press to get the old ones out. One might consider that RE wants to sell parts and not have you maintain what you already have...

Yeah I switched the the hourglass RE uppers on the body side of my UCAs. I thought it would be a nice upgrade but they are worn smooth the hell out already. Sadly I haven't wheeled near as much as I like to and I have driven less than 10K miles since i put them on a year or so ago. However they will be easier to change out. The hardest part is always getting the damn control arms back in anyways. I am really thinking about changin my uppers to some of the rough country adjustables. I don't need the adjustment but I like the design.

Pressing in the "adapter" for the new bushings was a chore. I didn't have a press but I don't think my vice will ever be the same . Tighten vice TIGHT, then hit with 5lb sledge, repeat until pressed in .

[FONT=&quot] I made the mistake of getting RE's Super Ride CAs with the new style bushings. What junk! I have a boxful of blown out bushings that I have replaced over the last three years.
With 33"s, the UCA bushings get cut in half within a few thousand miles or less if off-roading a lot.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Adding bigger front brakes just made the problem worse[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] The alignment is right on and I have cycled the front suspension, with the springs, out, to make sure there is no binding.
I'm waiting for a set of Super Flex UCAs to arrive as we speak.
The bigger LCA bushings last a little longer but not long enough. They are next in line to be replaced.
I should have gone with JKS arms in the first place.[/FONT]

"You do NOT have to use a 'huge' press to get the old ones out"

Sorry I wasn't clear. You don't have to use a press to get them out, just in. The getting them out was handled by the hole saw and hack saw.

DanNJeep said:

"You do NOT have to use a 'huge' press to get the old ones out"

Sorry I wasn't clear. You don't have to use a press to get them out, just in. The getting them out was handled by the hole saw and hack saw.

Click to expand...

In, out, still unnecessary.

Sorry to hear some of you had bad experiences with these. Well there in now so we'll see. It's not a DD so it will be a while, lol.

How did you get them in without a huge press? I was using the press you see in the pics and it wasn't even close.

Depends what you call a huge press. That 'press' in the pics isn't what I'm thinking of.

When we put in new bushings it's typically with a dead blow hammer. Of course we also clean out any rust that may have built inside the sleeve...

What's funny is just the other day I changed out bushings in my RE longarms that have been in since 2003 or so. Popped right out and tapped back in with no problem. The underside of the Jeep was pretty rusty at one point, too.

ECKSJAY said:

Depends what you call a huge press. That 'press' in the pics isn't what I'm thinking of.

When we put in new bushings it's typically with a dead blow hammer. Of course we also clean out any rust that may have built inside the sleeve...

What's funny is just the other day I changed out bushings in my RE longarms that have been in since 2003 or so. Popped right out and tapped back in with no problem. The underside of the Jeep was pretty rusty at one point, too.

Click to expand...

And we're talking about the same thing? Installing the OE type bushings into the frame end of RE short arms. And you installed them with a dead blow hammer?? I cleaned the hole in the arms well, greased it, used the press in the pic with a cheater on the end of the wrench, tapped the arm to vibrate it, every trick I could think of and still nothing. Only up to the "flared" part of the bushing. Then nothing. And you claim you just whacked them with a dead blow hammer?

DanNJeep said:

And we're talking about the same thing? Installing the OE type bushings into the frame end of RE short arms. And you installed them with a dead blow hammer?? I cleaned the hole in the arms well, greased it, used the press in the pic with a cheater on the end of the wrench, tapped the arm to vibrate it, every trick I could think of and still nothing. Only up to the "flared" part of the bushing. Then nothing. And you claim you just whacked them with a dead blow hammer?

Click to expand...

Yes, we're talking about the same thing unless you posted completely different pics than the text. Why did you use a cheater on a press instead of an impact? Do you use a cheater to replace ball joints? It sounds to me like you don't use tools properly. That could explain the hard time you were having.

Dude, look...justify your purchase all you want if it makes you feel better. :viking:

I'm not trying to jusitfy anything. And seeing as to how my XJ has 290K on it and I've owned/modified/maintained it since it was new in 91 I'm thinking I don't NEED to justify JACK. So ease up on the tone.

I'm just trying to be helpful.

I'm trying to be helpful as well. I'm trying to keep others from spending useless $$ on crap they don't need just because they can't use tools properly.

Watch my tone? Golly, I should do what the internets guy tells me just because we disagree about something. :yelclap: