bushings b gone. :(

Well, figured it would eventually happen. Not bad for a 1993 ZJ considering the bouts of deathwobble and general offroad pounding these things have taken.

The lower front control arm bushings have finally had it and hoooo boy can you feel the play going around a corner. They had been cracked and iffy for nearly a year so I picked up replacement parts. Four nice blister packs of Energy Suspension bits. All rice racer red. Yep. that should be good for another 5hp. :P

Today I crawled under and started to figure out exactly what tools I have and what I'd need. well.... These things aren't going to be fun. :(

I think they engineered those bolts to be difficult to get at without special tools. And the bushings, well, they have to be drilled and burned out of the metal shells.

Thankfully the local base has an auto hobby shop and lifts for rent. That and a real good tool crib.

I'll eventually post a howto, or hownotto depending on if it has to go to the local garage.

Just for grins I am going to check on what the dealership wants. This should be amusing. I'm guessing upwards of $900

4WheelParts wanted $600 to do the front and rear both. That's 16 bushings total.
Reply to
DougW
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If you think getting them out is fun, wait until you try to put them back in! Hint: a bottle of dish soap is your friend.

On my daughter's truck, I pulled the whole A-arm out to work on it. Then I made a trip to the local bolt house and bought an 8" grade 5 bolt (and nuts) the same size as the mounting bolt and threaded for more than half the length. Another stop at the plumbing shop got me a 4" piece of iron pipe just larger than the insert but small enough to sit on the mount. Couple of heavy washers that were just smaller than the bushing diameter finished the shopping - except for the six-pak. Some serious flailing with the impact wrench sloooowly pulled the old ones out. A mechanic friend later told me that he kept some sharp Forstner bits just to drill those things out on a drill press.

Have fun!

Reply to
Will Honea

Reply to
L.W.(Bill) Hughes III

I will second Will's method of using a threaded rod and washers and pipe or large socket to pull them out, but have had decent success just drilling the suckers out. Just watch the speed or keep the bit lubed so you don't start melting rubber, then it gets nasty.

You have to watch out for those aftermarket bushings, some don't come with the metal core inserts you need for the torque down so you also have to get those out of the old ones. The cores prevent the bushing from getting over compressed.

Mike

2000 Cherokee Sport 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG AT's, 'glass nose to tail > Well, figured it would eventually happen.
Reply to
Mike Romain

Yep. That's actually the most important bit. If you lock them down while the suspension is drooping they can get torn apart because of the constant torque.

Got a local shop I use for situations where I just don't have the time or equipment.

Reply to
DougW

I'll likely use the washer and threaded rod trick for sucking the new bushings in after I clean out the cups.

Yea, I got the ones from energy suspension. Going to have to drill or burn out the old rubber. On the plus side that means I won't have to remove the existing cups, just clean them out with a wire wheel.

Reply to
DougW

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