Notice the metal "shells" still in place in this lca and in the upper pivot joints. I just want to be 100% positive that I'm supposed to get these pressed out before installing urethane bushings...

 

Yes....they need to come out also.

John - who just did a complete bushing job before I lost the car.

 

yes they do

good luck... hacksaw is your friend.

Try removing the rear control arm bushings while the arms are on the car.

Will
-who had to get out the smoke wrench and air hammer


[Modified by Willard, 11:27 PM 2/28/2002]

 

So is a press if you have that luxury.

John - who in cases like this is fortunate to work for a manufacturing facility.

 

I had that luxury... but the press didn't quite fit under the kaa.

Will
-who cursed the rusty '95 Integra suspension on the '92 CX

 

Ok, while I'm at it... I'm considering buying a press, since the consensus is I'll continue to have a use for it.

What do you use to line up with the metal shell to press it out? I've looked around and can't really find anything. I know it exists, but since I don't know what these would be called, I'm at a loss. I've seen people using sockets, but that seems wrong...

Finally, where can I buy such things?

 

ask to borrow petes.....he has one...

 

A press is not cheap. Look for a used one first. Hydraulic ones are fancy... keep your eye open for a screw type.

Using "drifts" will help with wheel bearings...

I use sockets... they work fine... and have a lifetime warrenty (Craftsman) and have various diameters for good fittment.

Try these sites for some "press" toolage: http://www.harborfreight.com/
http://www.mcmaster.com/
http://www.northerntool.com/

Good luck and take your time...

Will
-who has re-bushed 3 Volvos and 1 Honda

 

Pete's already offered, but I'm impatient.

He's gonna be busy all weekend working on Jon's swap, then Rockingham and with our work schedules not matching up it'll be yet another week.

 

take your parts to a local machine shop.....dont ask me where,hell i can barely find my way home . should be relatively cheap, and you wont have yet another piece of equipment that gets relatively low use.

 

Agreed. Just take everything off the car and hand it over to a machine shop. They'll press out/in everything in a day.

 

All I can say is...Watch your feet while your pressing out the bushings!

<--ThePunk who just stopped limping from the LCA bushing to the big toe at 200MPH.

 

If you do use a press on your own, be careful. I don't know why this happened, but I was pressing some out a while back, and the one just didn't seem to want to come out. I checked a bunch of times and everything looked to be lined up right. Anyway, all at once, the control arm just gave out and bent very badly. It was strange. Luckily I had some extras, but there was no sign that I had put that much pressure on it, it just all of the sudden folded.

 

I've pressed out all of the shells except the larger one on the front control arm. My largest bushing driver wasn't large enough... and I don't have a socket the right size either. I figure I'll pick up a cheap one tomorrow to try to finish the job.

 

Hey, the Northern tool 30 ton press is <$250 (and unfortunately, you need the 30 ton press - I bent the 20 ton press trying to get my bushings out).

I also recommend a torch - flaming the "stuck" bushings is supposed to help, and another trick I've heard (of course AFTER I did it myself with NO TRICKS - and it DARN NEAR KILLED ME - ahem, sorry) is to soak the bushing area in penetrating oil overnight. I worry about that one though, because I had lots of trouble keeping the press centered over the bushings when I pressed them out.

Shawn

 

Maybe it was because I had already burned the rubber out, but the 12 ton hydraulic press (the $99 harborfreight special) worked great.

 

If you're a DIYer and have a welder, a press can be made with some steel and a bottle jack.

 

I just used a hacksaw to cut a slit in them and pushed them out with a screwdriver.

 

Some of the polyurethane ones are hard to get in without a press (although not impossible, I'm sure).

Shawn

 

Just to be sure, if I take my suspension in peices to a shop with a 30 ton press, will they need any other specialty tools to get these things out? And has anybody installed the prothane bushings themselves? looking forward to a slop free ride

 

Yes, although I used the Energy Suspension set. A press and a regular set of hand tools did it for me.

I DID have to take the rear LCA's to a specialty machine shop because two of the lower bearings were rusted in. It seems now that burning them out and then cutting the bearing shell like you did would have done the job.

(NOW you tell me)

Shawn

 

I installed my front prothane bushings and one rear trailing arm bushing (long story on that one) and they did quite a bit to tighten up the front end. The bushings will go right in using just a clamp, some pieces of wood, and some human ingenuity. The only real one that is a PITA is the front radius arm bushing.

Also, to avoid squeaks, grease all around every bushing including the sides of them where they rub the frame and mounting points. Basically, everywhere that they contact metal. A good substitute for grease would be teflon tape, as it will last longer. Put grease on top of this teflon tape and it will work really good. To get the grease off your hands you can use a rag soaked in something like pblaster, that way that tacky stuff comes right off. One last thing-give every bolt a complete coat of anti sieze stuff so it wont bind up in the sheath. HTH.

 

You know, for me, that bushing was the easiest one to deal with. It's not bonded into the bracket so it's easy to get out, and to press it in, I stuck the bushing in the cup of my floor jack, braced the bracket on the underside of my car and "jacked" it in. Worked great, and the jack cup kept it aligned.

You know, I really wish I had documented my ordeals with this now that everything is in. There seem to be the people that have done it before, and those that are intimidated by it. I think I'm going to try to locate some old lca's and take some pics while I go through the removal process. Could be useful to everyone. I think a couple pictures (maybe even a short video clip) would go a long way towards clarifying this...

 

Easy to get out with a press...

 

nugget8000 and JeffS, what cars do you have?
On my Accord the front radius rod bushings just slip right over the radius rod and torquing the nut on the end of the rod seated them just fine.