control arms
- Thread starter sidl3000
- Start date
My front control arms were a bitch to remove. The two bolts that hold them in did not want to come out. The bushings are a bitch to get out as well. You have to torch them out and then when they get hot enough, you take a stick and push the bushing out of it's sleeve. The shells the bushings were in were a bitch too. I took my torch set it on cut mode and cut it in half. Then I took an air hammer, smashed it in half and then worked it out. I replaced mine with poly bushings and boxed the front arms. Pressing the bushings in was easy with the help of a shop vise. Just use some penetrating oil to lube the casing and a few items to prevent the bushing from getting distorted and you are in business. The ball joints are easy too. To get them out, take a pole, that is a bit bigger than the underside of the ball joint. Place the arm on that pole, so the ball joint is right above it. Then have someone hold the arm, and take a sledge and pound it out. Otherwise go rent a ball joint press. I did not have a press to get them out, but I rented a press to get them in and they went in easy as cake. All you need is an impact gun and you are finished. Took me 10 minutes to press them in, and 5 of those minutes was waiting for the air compressor to warm up. Take a look at this pick I took of my front arm.
View attachment 512097
View attachment 512097
maverick0716
Founding Member
You should hear how loud my rear control arms squeak sometimes.....that's what you get with polyurethane, but it doesn't bother me.
Shakerhood
20+ Year Stangneter 
Or rotate/fall out.Shakerhood said:
If contemplating new bushings, new loaded arms might not be a bad idea. I did not choose that route (did not know about them), but I think Shaker did (if my memory is not totally shot).
If not getting new arms, and you have the arms out, I think it wise to renew the ball joints. Be SURE to make sure the new joints fit tight - the stock Ball joint bosses tend to wear, making some new joints not fit as tight as they should (again, another reason to perhaps opt for new loaded arms). Not bad prices at all from what I recall.
Good luck.
Shakerhood
20+ Year Stangneter
HISSIN50 said:Or rotate/fall out.
If contemplating new bushings, new loaded arms might not be a bad idea. I did not choose that route (did not know about them), but I think Shaker did (if my memory is not totally shot).
If not getting new arms, and you have the arms out, I think it wise to renew the ball joints. Be SURE to make sure the new joints fit tight - the stock Ball joint bosses tend to wear, making some new joints not fit as tight as they should (again, another reason to perhaps opt for new loaded arms). Not bad prices at all from what I recall.
Good luck.
Its funny you brought up the rotation, on the rear of the car when it is up on stands I can rotate my Springs. I dont like that at all, those polys are slick as hell, maybe after they get wet a couple times or get used to having weight on them that issue will go away!
I was thinking about your thread a few ago. You know what? I bet once (if you ever do) you drive in the rain and get some road grime up there, they wont rotate. I had even wondered if you could have put some sort of spray-on adhesive on the perch before installing the springs. But I could only come up with lame stuff like that, so I did not keep posting (so I would not get laughed at.Shakerhood said:
).
Shakerhood
20+ Year Stangneter
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