Quick and dirty install pictures
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Over the last four years I have had more than one occasion to need to replace a worn out rubber bushing with a fresh set. The replacement rubber bushings I generally purchased from
Over the span of four or five years I have approached this task with multiple techniques. I’ll highlight some of the items, techniques and lessons learned, so you can decide if what I am about to recommend is worth your time and effort to try. |
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About 3 years into the ownership of my TeraFlex short adjustable lower control arms (LCA) I noticed that my bushings were worn out (as seen in Pic #5 & 6). At the same time I had planned to upgrade to a set of TeraFlex adjustable Long Arm (LCA). This was about the time that the Long Arm craze was just starting to warm up. My primary reasons for purchase was to ensure as smooth of a around town ride as humanely possible. The same ride should be seen off-road in sections leading to and from trailheads. Lastly, extra flex should be gained, which will allow the suspension to conform to the trail a little better than a short arm based suspension. So I decided to clean up my old LCA with a fresh coat of POR15 and replace the worn out bushings (see Pic #1 & 9). The effort was minimal and I was able to resell the LCAs to someone who would put them to good use. The polyurethane bushings were easy to remove and replace with zero glitches or unexpected problem areas (see Pic #2). While we had the split polyurethane bushings out, we decided to add a grease fitting to that particular bushing cradle on the LCA (see Pic #3). The manufacturer had a small opening that grease was supposed to travel down the length of the control arm and into the bushing cradle (see Pic #4 at the 10 o’clock position). Problem is that unless you had a pneumatic grease gun, it was impossible to force grease down the length of the LCA. So with the addition of the new grease fitting it was very easy to squeeze some marine grease around the bushings (see Pic #9). We used a flat blade screwdriver to punch out the steel sleeve and then pulled out the two polyurethane components out of the bushing cradle. As can be seen in Picture #2 they are two matching polyurethane pieces and one metal sleeve that can be put together with the use of a rubber mallet. The rubber bushings that mount on the frame-side bushing cradle was another story. Once again this is the type of job that is best done with a press. I was fortunate enough to have a friend that is a mechanic swap out the bushings with his shop press. No fuss and very little muss (see Pic #5 – 7). Had I attempted to do this myself surely it would have been a couple of hours of burning, banging and cursing. I’m sure the strength of the bushing cradles would have permitted this type of abuse to beat in the new bushings, but there is easier ways as I explain at the bottom of the page. ***Important Tip*** When you detect that one bushing is going bad, it is important to replace it as expeditiously as possible. Otherwise the surrounding components absorb the additional movement/vibrations that the worn bushing is allowing to occur and this will create collateral damage. Remember proactive maintenance costs cents, reactive maintenance cost dollars. As an example my left LCA went bad. In the process I should have taken the extra time to check the UCA as well to see if it was affected as well due to my lack of diligence in replacing the bad LCA bushing. When I finally had just cause to check the left UCA, I could tell that its bushing was extremely worn out. In addition to this bushing being badly worn my new Long Arm bushings were egged out prematurely and the left hub assembly had play in it. I don’t have concrete proof, but it stands to reason that once one bushing was destroyed, the proliferation of abnormal vibrations and movement caused the surrounding components to have accelerated wear. So instead of spending an hour worth of labor and about $20 for bushings, it cost me a whole lot more labor and at least $200 in replacement parts. |
TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #1 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #2 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #3 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #4 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #5 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #6 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #7 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #8 TeraFlex short adjustable LCA - Pic #9 |
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Unfortunately I don’t have anything in the terms of photos to show the before, during and after of this replacement process other than this photo of the replacement bushing. I used to have a TeraFlex Track-bar that used a factory rubber bushing in the axle-side mount. After close to three years of use, I noticed the bushing was worn and decided to buy a replacement bushing. Went to my local While I was at work my father was at home beating on the
track-bar trying to get the old bushing out and to press the new one in. After spinning his wheels for a little
while, my father resorted to using our cheap (Made in This occurrence was a mixed blessing. On one hand it would mean more money out of pocket to replace the vise carnage (we got the cheap vise for free), but the up-side was that the new vise wasn’t going to be another el cheapo vise, I would make sure of that. Having disabled our vise and being on a time sensitive schedule, I took the track-bar and new rubber bushing to a local driveshaft shop. There they easily pressed the old piece out and pressed in the new piece for about $20 if memory serves me right. So for the final tally my father probably wasted an hour trying to coerce the bushing to come out prior to breaking the vise (replacement cost was about $100 for a used and stronger vise). Add the $20 it took to get the shop to press the bushings on and off in a matter of 15 minutes and it is easy to make a choice as to which was the better approach. The cheap Chinese model we had prior to the short end to
its life, probably was rated for 20,000 – 30,000 PSI of clamping
pressure. This type of vise is perfect
for your typical home that is intending minimal usage (the price reflects
these cheap models as they run from $30 - $100 for a new vise). See I fully intended to purchase something that was up to our atypical uses (See Wilton vise – Good). Unfortunately a better vise can run four times the amount (when purchased new) than the Chinese models. These vises are capable of 60,000 PSI of clamping force and engage in finer manner with a much less sloppy and crude feel to its operation. I kept an eye out on e-bay for a used one and about a month later had a replacement vise for about $100. If you think you can benefit from a vise, I would encourage buying a better unit from the get go as you will be happier with it over the next 40 years of your ownership. |
Factory track-bar axle-side rubber bushing Wilton vise - Bad (Made in China) Wilton vise - Good (Made in USA) |
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The upper control arms (UCA) have bushings at both ends of the control arms, just like the LCAs, but one bushing is pressed into a bushing cradle on the top of the axle (axle-side, see Pic #1) whereas the frame-side bushing is on the actual control arm where you would expect it to be. I went to aftermarket UCA many years earlier by purchasing a set of UCA made by TeraFlex (see Pic #2). For the frame-side bushing, they use the same split polyurethane bushing that is used in their LCAs (see Pic #3). We used a flat blade screwdriver to punch out the steel sleeve and then pulled out the two polyurethane components out of the bushing cradle. As can be seen in Picture #2 they are two matching polyurethane pieces and one metal sleeve that can be put together with the use of a rubber mallet. I have had two occasions over the last 10 years to replace the UCA bushings. The first time was about 4 years ago was when I was in the process of regearing my front axle to 4.56 cogs and adding an ARB Air Locker to my front D30. I had the axle out from under my XJ and it made sense to replace the 5 year old rubber bushings at this time due to the convenience (the bushings were showing a bit of wear). Unfortunately we didn’t have any type of press available, so we resorted to all sorts of tricks to drive out the old rubber bushings and beat in the new. I won’t go into any great detail, but if I remember correctly we were eventually able to drive them out with an air chisel and beat the new bushings in with the help of a 2x4 and a mini-sledge hammer. Once again the whole process was time consuming and somewhat risky in nature. Fast forward four years and I have my front axle out again for a front brake conversion and major suspension changes. Once again I needed to replace both sets of bushings; split polyurethane bushings on the frame-side of the UCAs and pressed-fit rubber bushings that are housed in bushing cradles on top of my front D30. So we replaced the split polyurethane bushings using the same technique as stated above. We then attempted to use an air chisel once again to drive out the rubber bushings from their cradles. Unfortunately they weren’t even close to budging. After applying a few other techniques and getting nowhere quickly it was time to step and take a step back. At the beginning of the most current project I had bought an OTC Ball Joint press (see Pic #4). The press can be used for other things, such as universal joints, etc. The press was a little physically large to use on my axle-side bushings, but it did give me an idea of something to try. I borrowed a couple of its pieces and then went to my local ACE Hardware and bought (2) M10x100mm pieces of threaded rod, (2) 10mm Coupler nuts and some heavier washers (see Pic #5). I then assembled all of the components in the proper order (which I will explain in the last box below) and used a small air impact to drive one end and a box wrench on the other. The whole process to drive out the old and push-in the new took no more than 15 minutes (see Pics #6 – 8). I made sure to lubricate the threaded rod to keep unnecessary friction at a minimum and definitely coated the bushing cradles and the bushings themselves in anti-seize (which should make the removal process later on a heck of a lot easier). My little contraption was cheap and made quick work of the project. |
Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #1 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #2 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #3 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #4 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #5 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #6 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #7 Replacing bushings on UCA - Pic #8 |
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My latest item that needed bushings changed on was when I
built my own custom track-bar (click here
for write-up on that project). I
bought a set of TeraFlex modular rod ends (see Pic #1). The bushings that came with the rod ends
were of a lesser quality and I was concerned that they wouldn’t offer the
longevity that I would need. So I
bought a new set from I previously bought a press from an OTC Ball Joint Press Set that I had used for replacing ball joints (see Pic #3 - 4) and had created a mini-press based off of some of the included pieces (see Pic #5 - 6). Now you are not going to have the few pieces from an OTC ball joint press that I used in addition to what I purchased. With a little effort you probably can find acceptable replacement components or perhaps consider buying a press set as they do come in handy for multiple items. After a fair amount of searching on the Internet, I finally found an online vender that had the OTC 7249 Ball Joint press for under $80 shipped. This is a professional quality tool that will last and not put your personal safety in harm’s way. Another option is buying a kit from Harbor Freight, purveyors of all things cheap & Chinese. Harbor Freight - (3 in 1) Ball Joint Press Harbor Freight - (4 in 1) Ball Joint Press Harbor Freight - Master Adapter Set A number of people have bought one of the above kits with varying degrees of success. Most have problems with the arbor flexing when trying to remove frozen in place ball joints. The arbor (see Pic #3, silver C-shaped piece) is the critical component in the whole assembly so your level of success will depend entirely upon if this component is up to the task. Larger ball joints that are severely frozen in place will prove to be too much for the HF arbor, but will be perfect for the OTC arbor. Ball joints that haven’t been in a rusty northern climate or are from a smaller vehicle might be easy enough for the HF press. Beyond the weakness of the HF arbor, I do wonder if the actual adapters are a good value. Not sure how complicated the manufacture of those pieces can be, I tend to assume that as long as they are milled straight that they could be the hidden value of the HF kits. Autozone should rent a ball joint press, you will have to make up to a $100 refundable deposit. Once again it should have similar adapter pieces that can be used. The last option is to have a machine shop make you some adapters (or just what you know you will reqire). I have half a mind to get a number of adapters made from a local machine shop for future projects. I imagine for about $100 I could get a good 20 pieces milled. Using a ball joint press for the item I am demonstrating is an option. Although a ball joint press arbor is somewhat large and heavy, with care making sure that the seats don’t walk while tightening it could be used in place of the pieces I am demonstrating below. List of components: M10x1.5x100 Threaded Rod M10x1.5 Coupling Nut M10x1.5 Flange Nut M10 Case Hardened Washer ½” Case Hardened Washer ¾” Case Hardened Washer For a look into how these components were used; glance at Pic #6 first. Notice how I used one of the coupling nuts to connect two of the threaded rods together. If ACE Hardware had threaded rod in 10 millimeters that was 8 inches long then it would have been the perfect length and I wouldn’t have needed to join the two pieces together with a coupling nut. But they didn’t, so I did. In the same picture notice the smallish, rusted looking nut. That was a used flange head nut I had laying around in my spare parts from previous projects. A flange nut is desirable because its outside diameter is larger than a normal nut. Using a flange nut makes it a lot harder to pierce through the center hole on the stack of washers. Speaking of piercing washers, notice the two sets of smaller washers that have center holes that have been pierced. If you viewed them from the side you would see they were dish shaped. Those washers have been used for 6 pressings so they are showing a fair amount of stress fatigue. The reason they look so bad is mostly my fault. First was I didn’t use a M10 washer, they were SAE and once again just lying around from another project and had a larger internal hole diameter than desirable. The next problem I created was not initially using enough washers. I gradually added more with each successive press, but if I hadn’t skimped initially then the washers would be in better shape after all 6 press sessions, collectively. The two larger washers pictured are about the thickness of three of the smaller washers so they would hold up quite a bit better. Like I said I had all of these lying around as spares. If I was to buy washers I would spend a few extra cents and buy hardened washers, which undoubtedly would be longer lasting than the regular steel washers I had about. In Pic # 7 – 9, you can see the process of pressing out the bushing. The adapter has an internal diameter that is just large enough to let the bushing inside it, but not too large that it won’t seat on the bushing cradle. In Pic #8 you can see my smaller 3/8ths drive IR air impact which I would put the appropriate metric deep well socket and on the other end in the appropriate size and start riding the air impact. I gradually run the air impact making sure that everything is lined up correctly initially (see Pic #9). Notice in the same picture how the washer being used is centered on the bushing and is almost the same exact outside diameter. The process for pressing in the new bushings is very similar to driving them out. In Pic #10 – 12, in those pictures the bushing is already pressed in so it is a little more difficult to visualize. If you look at Pic #10, the bushing it entering from the left of the cradle. The air impact will draw the bushing into the cradle and towards itself. One thing I mentioned in a different area was the use of anti-seize. I always liberally apply anti-seize on the bushing casing and the bushing cradle. Hopefully its use will allow future removals to be more effortless. Once I have all the pieces in place, I gradually run the air impact in short burst initially with each one getting longer until I am certain that the bushing is entering the cradle straight. In Pic #12 you can see the final assembled product. |
Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #1 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #2 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #3 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #4 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #5 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #6 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #7 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #8 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #9 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #10 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #11 Replacing bushings on custom track-bar - Pic #12 |
**Disclaimer**
The above information has been created by someone that is an enthusiast
and not a trained automotive
professional.
My intentions are not to have any physical harm come to anyone, but to
highlight what I have done to my
own personal vehicle.
If you decide to use any of my information, you bear the responsibility
to verify its safety.
