I am doing my rear suspension right now on my 96 gt and can not for the life of me get the bushings out of the top of the rear end that hook to the upper control arms. any help greatly appreciated
I feel your pain. When I replaced the rear bushings on my 1996, I was suprised how hard it really was.
The Ford service manual says to press them out with a special tool.
What worked for me was to use a saber saw to make radial cuts from the inside to as near as possible to the outside without damaging the outside. A drill also helped.
Once a "slice" of the bushing is removed, this gives a toe hold to cut/pry out the rest of it. It took far more work than I would have thought.
I also tried heating up the bushing until hot and greasy and then hammering it out. I really can not remember which method was best (IE they were both horrible).
Recommend using a real press to press them out. It might be possible to use the large C-presses used for ball joints.
MM makes an upper bushing removal tool. I think you can use Mr. Burns' method if you don't want to put it all back together and wait for UPS to deliver the tool.
Let me start off by saying that I have no idea how these bushings look, work, are located, or how easily you can beat and bang on them. Therefore, don't take anything I say for truth. Only as a possible suggestion. But I have replaced bushings in leaf springs on 30 ft equipment trailers many times before, and this is what we did.
First, find a bolt (preferably course thread) that will screw into the bushing; the tighter, the better. Screw that bolt into the bushing a good ways, I'd say probably and inch or a little more. Then beat on the head of the bolt to push the bushing out. Once its about halfway out, unscrew the bolt from the bushing. Then get a larger bolt (or whatever will fit relatively tightly in the hole) and beat the bushing the rest of the way out. You can also use some channel lock pliers to help pull and wiggle it on the other side, if needed.
This doesn't always work, but it does more often than it doesn't. If the threads won't hold when you are beating on it, or if the bushing doesn't want to unscrew from the bolt, or if it just wants to be a PITA and not budge anyway, we then reverted to the torch.
I really should have thought to look if there was a special tool for this but I didnt. The kit seems simple. DOes anyone know if it can be peiced together at lowes or home depot? This is my only car right now and cant afford to have to wait on a kit from MM.