I know I should just take the control arms to a shop and have them press them out. Some shops are charging $100 for bushing and it’s 4. Seems a little much and trying to save some money. Just curious to see if any one has come up with another way. This is for the front lower control arms.
Picked some up from the junk yard and was able to get the rubber busing cut out, now I’m struggling to get the collar separated from the control arm. I’ve cut into it with a hack saw and was able to peel some of it away. Just kinda stuck.
But seriously, I’ve used torches and firepits to burn out bushings on many cars. This will create lots of terrible, probably toxic, black smoke but it does the job.
I personally do not like the burning technique. It takes a really long time and releases some horrible fumes which are more than likely very toxic. The method I’ve used is to press out the inner sleeve and most of the rubber and then use a hack saw to cut the outer sleeve. Once you cut all the way through the sleeve use a punch to dislodge and eventually remove the collar. The hardest part is cutting all the way through the sleeve without cutting much into the arm itself. It’s possible that if the car was in a rust prone area that that could also add some hardship. But I’ve only done this on rust free cars so I can’t say for sure.
This is exactly what I did. It wasn’t that bad. I actually used a sawzall, just don’t rush it. I don’t recommend burning the bushings for the same reasons.
I made two cuts the width of a screwdriver or chisel blade, then chiseled that part out. I didnt cut all the way through since I didn'tt want to damage the arm. Then I chiseled down between the cuts and it peeled away that section. Almost towards the end the whole collar started moving out and eventually popped out with the last few bangs. Any way you do it, it`s a pain.
Here what I did, went to Harbor Freight and purchased a 6 ton press. Side note you can charge half the price as a shop would to press out other people’s bushings.
