i outlined in red the metal ring that is inside the control arm, do i need to press that out also? because i dont see any other way to make these bushings fit! with teh metal rings in there, the bushings seem way bigger than the holes

 

Yes, that definitely has to come out. If you can't get it out by any other means use a cold chisel to chip that ring away. Be careful not to damge the control arm or score the sleeve. Once you chip a little of that ring away, you should be able to push it out. Another way would be , if you had a socket the same outside diameter as the metal ring in the sleeve, you could place it over the ring and pound it out. It will be a PITA though either way.Do you have oxy/acetylene torches?

 

if have a slide hammer with a small enough end, you could pop it out with that, i guess.

 

try taking a c-clamp and a sturdy ss washer the same size of the ring and make a bracket out of decent thickness of metal to brace the other end of the c-clamp to give ample enough room to press the ring out

 

Man, went shopping around for any piping i can use to push it out...i think i might have to end up trying to bang it out. What's this metal for and why doesn't the erethane bushings need one?

 

That is the outer sleeve of the factory bushing. The rubber part of the bushing is glued (attached somehow) to this outer metal ring. This is then pressed into the control arm. This is pressed in to keep it in place and prevent it from sliding around. When you try to take them out, usually the rubber pulls away from the outer metal ring because the metal ring is rusted in.The new urethane bushings should also have this metal sleeve.

 

i did mine today all of them except the end ones in the front came out with a socket in the press those two had to be pressed with a socket to small but only a tenth of an inch then took the chisel and banged down the parts that didn't go like half way around the circle then put it back in the press with same socketit worked great

 

how do you get the ball joint boots to stay on

 

you have to press them in. Then after that, there's the clip that you have to attach to prevent it from backing out. Plus any ball joint also has ntoher arm that usually goes on it and a castle bolt along with the pin. So there's no reason the ball joint should ever have problems staying in.

 

the energy suspension ball joint boots dont stay on with the clip that was there and everything bolted in it comes off the ball joint

 

Wow, that's news to me. I'll see when I get to that point. Are you sure you're using the correct boot? I can't imagine the boot being so loose that even with the castle nut on, it has problems slipping off.

 

using a similar sized socket to press the sleeves out is the best idea. if that doesnt work, the last resort could be to use a hack saw to cut a line through just the sleeve, and youll be able to pry it out once you have a cut through it. be careful not to cut any part of the control arm though. its pretty easy, and its what i did to the stubborn bushings that wouldnt pop out. i hope you understand what i mean though, its kinda hard to explain. anyway, good luck.

 

Yea, I understand. Thanks for the reply. I'm just not willing to spend the time to press all these bushings out. Doing it this way by hand will take me at least an hour per bushing and I have 22 bushings total that I need to replace. Not worth the time IMO. I rather pay the $70 to have someone press it out in an hour.

On a side note, it sucks that the rear upper control arms are all one piece with the ball joint. You can't buy that ball joint seperately. Taking it all apart, my ball joint was compeltely worn out, and I have to buy new upper control arms just to replace that. And guess what else? It comes with the bushing too on the other end already pressed in. So I buy a new control arm and have to press out brand new bushings...fun.