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Removing A-Arm (Control Arm) Bushings

G Guest
Well, I read in my issues of Pantera International and the POCA Newsletter about how difficult it is to get the A-Arm bushings out. So, I knew I wasn't going to try this myself. And I just happen to have a brother-in-law living 5 miles away who has been a mechanic for 26 years. He's always bragging about how he has over $275,000 in tools, including his $15,000 tool box, so I let him have a go at this project.

He whipped out his Air Hammer, and showed off his new compressor in his garage at home that stands at 5.5' tall and turned it on. He put the chisel point in the Air Hammer and cut off the 'washers' on the sides of the A-Arms. Then he got these A-Arms from the outside and started smashing the he** out of the bushings from all different angles. Several came out fairly easily compared to the other bushings, like in under 4 minutes. He used a C-clamp looking device that is used for removing Ball-Joints (which had some short round sections of pipe in the kit) and pushed some of these things out where he could using an air ratchet or whatever those air wrenches they are called.

I'll tell you what. These things were a real tough project to get accomplished. He got all 16 bushins out in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Told me they do this at work all the time, but they normally don't have 16 bushings. He said his hands and arms were really tired after that. No kidding, Mike!

This stuff scared me a little bit. I could see that there was no turning back, but this guy does this for a living for almost as long as Panteras have been around.

Well, when it was all over and done, there was one groove in one of the A-Arm holes where the new polygraphite bushings were going to go in and the edges where the 'washers' were, were a little rough, so I took them home and got out the drill with the grinding wheel attached to the end of it and set to cleaning up the burrs and rough edges. Took about 45 minutes and I was sweating alot more than he did, after what he did!

So, there's more than one way to skin a cat! And when I asked him, 'hey, isn't there another way to do this?' He said, "yeah, of course. You can take them down to NAPA or another machine shop and 'vat them' in a solution which cleans all the paint and rubber off of everything and then heat them up to 300 degrees fairenheight, and they will just slide right out. But this is faster, and that's how we do them, Ron, 'because time is money, and I get things DONE!"

Wow! But it got done. This guy does hard work! He's good at it and makes $90,000 a year as a Master Mechanic, and earns every dime of it. Way to go, Mike. 'You ARE a Hot Shot Mechanic, Mike' I told him. He liked hearing that alot and more people should tell him that. WOW!

I wouldn't ever try this myself. I have no idea what it costs everyone else to do this, but I OWE him for that. Thanks Mike, da** proud to have you as a brother-in-law. He has my respect!

[This message has been edited by ron norman (edited 07-10-2003).]
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RN ron norman (Guest)
OK, so let's presume, arguendo, that you really are a do it yourself kinda guy, but you're on a limited budget and gotta get this done and don't have the really expensive tools or a brother-in-law who does. So what would you do? IS there an easier way to remove these bushings? Well before I would try the ways that I've seen described in the available literature and websites, I'll offer you my theory, what with a degree in chemistry and mathematics, as well as law, I should be able to come up with something a little more creative... So obvious though:

Take your A-arms down and pay to have them vatted at NAPA or your favorite automotive machine shop. You want a clean surface to paint anyways and this is gonna remove the rust as well. The rubber and inner steel tube o the bushing will fall right out, too. This is the desired result.

But, if you are really a Pantera owner who is in Law school or Medical school and really can't spend a dime over what you absolutely have to, then drill them out, as described in www.panteraplace.com technical info section. Just get them down to the steel sleeve that's 'frozen' against the outside diameter of the A-Arm itself. Clean, no rubber (rubber is an insulator).

Now, put these A-Arm pieces in your oven at 300 degrees for say, four (4) hours. (You're gonna have to update this post with some of these details as to how long to cook the A-arms, so future Pantera Guys can get this done even a little easier.) If they don't fit in the oven at your house (and I'd wait 'til the wife is gone to do this), and I didn't try it, so I don't know, well then, pay your buddy who works at Pizza Hut $20.00 to put them in the Pizza Oven for a few hours at 300 degrees.

While you're waiting for the A-arms to get to the desired (Hot) temperature, go down to the local place that sells Dry Ice. Look up "Industrial Gasses" in the Yellow Pages. Buy a pound or two (1# - 2#'s) of Dry Ice. Put this Dry Ice in a towel and get your hammer out. Smash this stuff into small pieces, about the same diameter at the the sleeve you are trying to remove from the A-Arms. Maybe you can explain to the Dry Ice salesman (probably only open during the week) what you are trying to do, maybe they can cut you some 0.5"x0.5"x5" 'cylinders or shapes.

Go back to the Pizza hut with your ski gloves and pliers and get the hot A-Arms out of the oven, drive around the block to the closest parking lot so you don't get your Pizza Hut buddy in trouble and apply the Dry Ice to the sleeve from the inside, while the outside A-arms are too hot to touch w/o gloves.

Use caution. The hole inside the A-arm is still about 0.75" diameter, so you can still get some Dry Ice packed in there even if you put the A-arm on the sidewalk and hammer some of that Dry Ice stuff in there. Wait a short while to let the sleeve contract, then it should come right out of there, even if you have to persuade it with your hammer and chisel.

The Basic Principals of Chemistry and Physics dictate that the 'frozen sleeve' will contract and the A-arms will be very slow to cool down from 300 degrees. Enough time to get the job done, a heck of alot easier: Expand the outside A-arm, contract the inside sleeve. No grooves on YOUR A-arms, not that that's a big deal.

The 'bushings' will then have no choice but to slide right out of there.

Be careful doing this stuff, you can get burned from the Dry Ice or the hot A-arms. This is still not an easy project. But at least you'll end up with some ski gloves!

Now I'm really using all that complicated stuff they taught me in college.

Let me know how things "come out" and I'll be thrilled. I sort of got some ideas on how to better do this stuff once I'd passed down the road once already.
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