I remember years ago my buddy and I replaced the bushings in his 98 Civic front UCA's using a bench vise at my school's wood shop. Seemed to work okay. Could I do this with my control arm bushings, as well?

I plan on taking a piece of 2x lumber and cutting a hole with a spade bit slightly larger than the bushing diameter. Then I will take the wood, the control arm, and a socket matching the diameter of the bushing sleeve and place them all in the vise.

I will have the vise bolted to my *very* sturdy work bench, and I'll use a cheater pipe on the vise handle if I have to. Note that this is an old, very heavy steel vise that I'll be using. My grandfather used to have it in his shop when he worked on small engines back in the day.

Sound like a winning combination?

I don't really have the time to get all the bushings pressed out and in at a shop. I have to do this on the weekend when shops are all closed.

 

seems like this could work, I have seen guys hammer out the RTA with small sledge and alot of silicone spray lube. Just make shure everything is straight I have also see guys bend knuckles doing stuff with a vise and cheater bar.

 

lca bushings take a lot of force to push out. You might bend the vice.

 

As long as the arm is support just outside of the bushing race, you will be fine. You shouldn't have any issues with bending unless you are supporting the arm further out then this.

PB blaster will be your friend...

 

i did it on my ef and it took me about 4 hrs to do a whole front bushing setup. and i did every front end bushing with a table vice and huge assortment of sockets and a ball joint press. i also used an air saw and a flat piece of steel (like 3/8 thick about 4x10") to hammer on stuff without completely destroying them.

 

i second and third that!!!!

 

Yeah I will cut the hole in the wood just barely larger than the outer bushing sleeve to ensure that everything else around it is supported.

 

so what are those automotive bushing replacement tool kits they sell at amazon.com...are they any good? how would one go about using them?

 

yup, a bench vise will work perfectly fine. ive utilized a bench vise when a press wasnt available in the past. you can also use diffrent size sockets to press the bushings out.

 

Are you talking about the tool that looks like a C-clamp? I was thinking about picking up one of those, as well.

 

Yeah the wood piece will be used to support the control arm while pressing the bushings out, with the hole in it to give room for the bushing to come out.

 

My vise looks very similar to this one. Not wimpy at all. Very bulky and heavy.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_48555_48555

 

http://www.amazon.com/Danaher-Tool-K...5256633&sr=8-1

like this type of thing right here Patrick... how do u use this?

 

hmm not sure, that may have to be used with a press or something.

 

There are plenty of creative ways to press in bushings. for my EM1 front LCAs I couldn't use the press I have access to so I improvised:



Two large washers (that only contact the case) with a long suspension bolt and nut. The vice is just to hold the assembly. If you decide to do it this way, realize you should start and stop frequently to not stress the bolt too much. Also, the bolt might be no good after you're done using it. I know I wouldn't trust this bolt again.

 

BTW any updates on the install?

 

I just changed all my bushings in my UCA, LCA, and sway bar on my EK.
I burned out the stock bushing first, to get the core out, very easy to do with a mini torch I bought at Harbor Freight.

Then I used a sawz-all and cut slits in the outer sleeve and then hammered the bushing out using a chisel. On some that were suborn i used a press, but it didn't take much effort to push them out at that point.

The UCA I got out just with a torch and a screw driver, but that's on a aftermarket adjustable one. The replacement OEM bushing is different than the one used on the aftermarket arm, so I had to cut the sleeve that was left in the arm to fit the new bushings.

It was a pain to replace, but overall not as bad as I thought it would be.
I just aligned the car last Friday, after driving it for a week just in case the bushings needed to settle in a little bit.

I was happy that I got the suspension "clunk" noise out of the car, it was driving me nuts! That's why I changed all mine.

 

I would be wary of using a vice - the frames of most vices are forged (or worse, cast) and not made to hold a lot of pressure against the little splines of the frame. It's also a challenge to get the unusual angles or sized pieces to have even pressure for pushing.

With a proper set of sockets (I used a lot of the 20mm range size and like a 34 or 36mm to receive on the other end), the press really is the easiest way (~$225 20-ton Harbor Freight). One of mine got stuck and I took a small socket to push the rubber out of the inside, then hacksawed out the outer part of the bushing.

My notes: https://honda-tech.com/forums/road-racing-autocross-time-attack-19/its-never-easy-hardrace-suspension-bushing-install-notes-2579762/