Lower control arm bushings worth it

[TheFirebirdGuy]

Hello all,

I have an upper ball joint going bad on my 97 K1500. I figure for the price, it would be worth replacing the whole upper control arm as a unit and get new bushings. Is it worth pulling the lower control arms and replacing those bushings too? Truck has 250K so i’m sure they are dry/cracked…

 

[Supercharged111]

Is it a rotbox or nice and clean? Those torsion bars can be a nightmare to get out of the arms.

 

[Caman96]

Truck has 250K

Yeah I’m sure it would benefit with new bushings but like mentioned above, it might be a bear to accomplish.

 

[TheFirebirdGuy]

Honestly it’s not awful underneath. Southern truck so not rusty/crusty/seized. Matter of fact, the oil leak has done a nice job of rustproofing most things

 

[454cid]

I wish I would have changed mine, when I had the arms off.

 

[Schurkey]

I replaced the control arm bushings on my '88 K1500 without removing the torsion bars from the control arms.

Drop the four bolts (two on either arm), disconnect the sway-bar links and shocks. I had the ball joints disconnected along with the CV shafts.

I had to pry the arm down with a long (red-handled) pry-bar to get clearance to remove the rubber bushing material from the outer shells, and for the Poly bushing inserts and steel inner sleeves to go back in once the shells were cleaned-up.

You must be registered for see images attach

...And then heat the shells with a propane torch to get the rubber out.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Supercharged111]

I wish I would have changed mine, when I had the arms off.

I did, it didn't fix anything. But now I can say my bushings aren't old and hammered. My uppers wallered out on the dually. I'm considering poly if they die again. The camper is Hell on them.

 

[TheFirebirdGuy]

I appreciate the replies, fellers. It’s more the removal/installation of the bushings themselves that scares me, i dont think i’d have too much trouble getting out the torsion bars.

I see you have to burn out the old bushings, do you have to have a press to install the new ones?

 

[Schurkey]

If you're installing rubber bushings into control arms that are NOT FORGED at the bushing end, you're going to push the original shells out, including the sleeves and rubber. Then you press new shells, (with sleeves and rubber) in all-together since they're a bonded/one-piece assembly. It's a pain in the asp. You MUST (!!!) have the vehicle at normal ride-height before you torque the control arm through-bolts.

If you're installing Polyurethane bushing inserts, the outer layer of rubber is melted evenly around the shell (not burned, if possible. If there's smoke, sparks, flame--it's hotter than it needs to be) and then the rubber kinda "poops out" along with the inner steel sleeves. The shells STAY IN THE ARM. Clean up the interior of the shells with sandpaper/emery cloth/scotchbrite, grease 'em, grease the bushing inserts and steel sleeve, and cram 'em back together. Typically, finger-pressure is all that's needed. You can torque the through-bolts with the suspension in any position if all the bushings are Poly.

Forged lower control arms are somewhat different in that they don't have outer shells, the rubber rides directly on the control arm. I've never changed bushings on forged arms--but that's what my '97 K2500 has, so I'll get to it eventually.