Control Arm Bushing

[jester6]

Has anyone replaced control arm bushings?

Both the upper & lower bushings on our 2000 sport need to be replaced. Im curious if I will need any specialty tools & how long it might take.

 

[TarHeel085]

the upper im pretty sure you need to replace the whole arm, no real specialty tools there except for a pickle fork for seperating the balljoint. also your gunna prob want to take the spindle all the way out, so a spindle nut socket (32mm) and as far as the lower goes, you have to take out the tortion bar, so your gunna need the 2 or 3 jaw puller to do that this is a good right up on taking the bar out, just dont follow it all the way if you know what i mean. and once again a pickle fork for the balljoint. and air tools couldnt hurt either. im pretty sure the LCA bushings are pressed in there, so you might need to take them to a shop. but i cant remember right off the top of my head. hope this helps.

 

[jester6]

We had the upper & lower ball joints replaced like a mth ago & we have new upper control arms. Upper ball joint is part of the upper control arm.

When we had those done, the shop said the bushings were cracked so Ill have to check on the uppers. Ill have to check with the shop about that.

I might just have the shop do it, if it does require pulling the torsion bars for the lower. We only have the explorer so wont be able to run anywhere once its pulled apart.

My mechanical ability suxs anyhow. I was hoping it would be something simple to do. Thanks for the info dude.

 

[rblais]

I replaced the lower control arm bushings on my 2000 mounty v8 awd. Took the control arms out and did the work on a bench. I used a cold chisel and hammer to pound a seam on the sleave wall of the exposed part of the bushing which folded the sleeve wall inward thereby reducing the diameter of the bushing. They pulled out fairly easily from there. I "pressed" new ones in with a hammer and block of wood. The sleeve material is soft and bends easily but with care you can position them easy enough. Before you remove the old ones, note the distance they protrude from the control so you can set them back in the same location. It really wasn't that difficult. Good luck.

 

[jester6]

Thanks for the info. Were having the shop do it cause we would be doing it in our apt complex parkin lot.

 

[skoal_mint]

im changing my bushing right now, and its just not going in stright..taking it out was easy but getting it back in their is hard...i guess i goto leave the front end apart until tommrow, i need huge socket so i can smack it in