Dug into my front suspension today. Now I have a steering knuckle question.

[DeCaff2007]

Drivers side is out. I ended up notching out the cross member. I'll simply weld it back together later. NEVER would have gotten the keys off otherwise.

Now the real fun!

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That worked really nicely.

The passenger side, however, is a different story. I'm having a LOT of trouble getting the LCA front bolt out of the bushing.

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That crap is RUSTED FAST in there! I went to both HF and Lowe's and stocked up on sawzall blades. We shall see what happens.

Oh, and I went ahead and found that tool from Evilbay. I'm going to need it after all. I cannot fit the LCA's in my press w/out removing the T bar. Grrrrrrrrr.

 

[Schurkey]

Drivers side is out. I ended up notching out the cross member. I'll simply weld it back together later. NEVER would have gotten the keys off otherwise.

Now the real fun!

That worked really nicely.

Y'know what would have been even better? Not screwing with it in the first place.

There is NO need to remove the torsion bars from the control arm OR the anchor/crossmember to replace the control arm bushings. This is proven with Poly bushing inserts. The rubber bushings would be more-difficult because you'd need to pound the bushing shells out of the control arm, and then press the new bushings with shells back in using a screw-type press, while reinforcing the arm so the thing doesn't distort from the press operation.

The passenger side, however, is a different story. I'm having a LOT of trouble getting the LCA front bolt out of the bushing.

Yeah, that's a genuine setback on an essential operation.

I went ahead and found that tool from Evilbay. I'm going to need it after all. I cannot fit the LCA's in my press w/out removing the T bar. Grrrrrrrrr.

It's not too late to NOT remove the torsion bar from the control arm.

 

[DeCaff2007]

Y'know what would have been even better? Not screwing with it in the first place.

There is NO need to remove the torsion bars from the control arm OR the anchor/crossmember to replace the control arm bushings. This is proven with Poly bushing inserts. The rubber bushings would be more-difficult because you'd need to pound the bushing shells out of the control arm, and then press the new bushings with shells back in using a screw-type press, while reinforcing the arm so the thing doesn't distort from the press operation.

BULL. It was a FIGHT to get those bushings out, even with the LCA on the bench!

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NO WAY that was happening on the vehicle. I ended up drilling out whatever of the rubber I could, then managed to get a vice grip on the metal insert and was able to wiggle (read - hammer and forcefully twist back and forth) it out.

Then, I sawzall'ed the outer inserts and air hammered them out of the LCA bores. WHY? Because I couldn't fit the LCA in my press with the T bar still attached.

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Sorry for the crappy pic, but it's done!

I even got the ball joint out. That was the easy part, comparatively.

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It's not too late to NOT remove the torsion bar from the control arm.

Why is that?

 

[termite]

Why is that?

My $0.02, you're that far in, why not knock the bar off the LCA, clean the pocket/hex up and apply a liberal coat of grease/antisieze before reassembly. May make life easier in the future if you find yourself replacing bushings again.

Make sure you load the torsion bars with vehicle weight before torquing the LCA and UCA mounting bolts if your running rubber bushings.

 

[Schurkey]

BULL. It was a FIGHT to get those bushings out, even with the LCA on the bench!

We've already talked about having an on-site mentor. You create a lot of your own headaches.

You've proven you had a decent torch. Five minutes with the torch, you'd have saved a lot of "fighting" with the bushings. For example, warming the control arms while NOT intentionally heating the bushing shells would break the rust bond and expand the holes reducing the press-fit. The shells would have come out more easily.

In a shop, removing bushings would be done with an air hammer and chisel-bit. I've done it with an air hammer 'n' chisel bit, it works, and it's fairly easy. Get the chisel on the flange, work your way around the flange as best as possible which generally isn't real even due to the shape of the control arm limiting access with the chisel.

A ball-joint press available from a parts-store loaner-tool program--or some other form of screw-press including a huge-long fine thread bolt, nut, and bigass washers--would have removed the bushings and reinstalled the new ones.

As said--the big deal is to reinforce the control arm with spacers so it's not distorted from the pressing-out and pressing-in.

NO WAY that was happening on the vehicle. I ended up drilling out whatever of the rubber I could,

A plain ol' ordinary propane torch would have dropped that rubber easily. (Oxy-fuel torch is too hot.) The rubber is bonded to the steel. Heat the steel enough to melt the bond, the rubber "poops" out almost on it's own.

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If it smokes and sparks, you've got it too hot and need to move the torch around for even heat--at least as evenly as practical--all around the steel shell.

then managed to get a vice grip on the metal insert and was able to wiggle (read - hammer and forcefully twist back and forth) it out.

Again...screw press. But since I'm rather allergic to OEM-style rubber bushings, I use Poly bushing inserts, so the shell stays in place unless it's so beat-up that it's unusable. That happens, but it's rare. I've never had to deal with that.

Then, I sawzall'ed the outer inserts and air hammered them out of the LCA bores.

Oh, crap. You do have an air hammer.

Make sure you load the torsion bars with vehicle weight before torquing the LCA and UCA mounting bolts if your running rubber bushings.

^^^ Absolutely.

 

[evilunclegrimace]

NO WAY that was happening on the vehicle. I ended up drilling out whatever of the rubber I could, then managed to get a vice grip on the metal insert and was able to wiggle (read - hammer and forcefully twist back and forth) it out.

You know there are several people on the forum that have done what you are attempting to do several times over. If some one tells you it can be done a certain way instead of digging your heels in and arguing it would make your life easier if you asked for some direction when you are trying to tackle a job for the first time.

 

[Supercharged111]

Make sure you load the torsion bars with vehicle weight before torquing the LCA and UCA mounting bolts if your running rubber bushings.

You should also roll the vehicle back and forth to help the suspension settle as well.

 

[454cid]

Please be careful with that torsion bar crossmember. Only weld it, if you're a welder, and not simply a guy that owns a welder. They're under a lot of load. There was a guy near here, that had one let go (it rusted) while he was under the truck.... knocked him out instantly, and he had a long road to recovery.

 

[termite]

Please be careful with that torsion bar crossmember. Only weld it, if you're a welder, and not simply a guy that owns a welder. They're under a lot of load. There was a guy near here, that had one let go (it rusted) while he was under the truck.... knocked him out instantly, and he had a long road to recovery.

On that line of thought, I'd be inclined to get another from the yard before welding one up.

 

[454cid]

On that line of thought, I'd be inclined to get another from the yard before welding one up.

Yeah, my thought too.