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Hi guys.

Does anyone in the Sydney Area have the Tools/Ability to press out my old Control Arm bushes??

I want to put new bushes in and have as little down time as possible for the next Event and do not want to get stuck half way with me figuring it all out!

I will have all the control arms out of the car.
I do not have a press or anything as i live in a bloody apartment!!!

Happy to sling some $$ your way obviously.

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks



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Pretty much any decent mechanical shop will have a press capable of doing this. Should take no more than 30 mins for all control arms, upper lower front and rear.

Or, try something like this:

http://www.miataturbo.net/suspension-br ... ded-56160/

I think Phil has used a similar method/tool, a search may even find a thread on it but I can't remember.

EDIT: just remember to NEVER support any tool or press on one side of the control arm while pressing on the other. You will bend the control arm, sure as the sky is blue. There are plenty of rookies, or even so-called experts, out there who will make this mistake... Ask me how I know.

The guy in Zossy's link is doing it pretty much exactly the way I did mine.



The big problem I had was that on my car the OEM bushes were very securely bonded in and you couldn't just press them out. I had to apply enough gas torch heat all around each bush to make the rubber at the margin go slimy. When I got it right then the arm would be left clean and shiny inside. If I didn't get it right that then chunks would be left behind in the control arms and these were much harder to remove than the whole bush. Some have had this bonding problem, others haven't.

Thanks Mate.

Yeah that is a concern.

One of the reasons i was hoping someone who has done it already could pop em out for me was to try try and avoid such a rookie error.

Ive contacted a couple of places, including Mania who want $400 to press them out!!

Not a chance.



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pedders ABS etc any suspension workshop can do it. There are bushes in virtually every car.

Fine, if you want to pay for it then you can do it that way. The point is though that this is fairly low-skill work involving a lot of labour. People who have the time and workshop should be free to make their own choice of whether they do it themselves rather than have your views abut using a mechanic rammed down their throat every time.

oooops back to normal programming.....just re-read your post

Mr Morlock wrote:There are bushes in virtually every car.

NO!

Thanks Stan.
Looks like quite the job.

I am hoping to avoid heat and hammers.
I assume with the correct tools they will just push through.

When you heated them out did it leave a mess inside the control arm??

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Hi.
When putting in rubber bushes not the ones with metal jacket immerse them in metho for 20 minutes shrinks the rubber when they dry are their original dimensions.

Thanks for the tip but i will be going 2 piece Poly.
Hopefully just slides on in!!

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It's a sh*t of a job. STM's pictures pretty much describe the whole process (in fact, he brought the same press to my place to do my rear bushes)

I had so much trouble with the fronts I gave up and had them done at a workshop. Cost me $350, of which most was 'labour' (i.e. finding the correct tool / spending too much time using the incorrect tool)

Dweezle wrote:Thanks Stan.

When you heated them out did it leave a mess inside the control arm??

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No mess it was really just so it is easier to cut the head off & push the bushes out easier.

We had a lot of fun doing it. But it was hard work. I bent one of control arms with the press. in the pic you can see us using heat to bent it back.

But burning the rubber made easy work of removing them. Most of them I used the press. in one innstance I inserted the wrong bush into the wrong place. Ther you can see me trying to remove the bush with hammer & screwdriver.

Its hard work even with the right tools. its also time consuming and you need to be committed.

I think someone on this forum attempted to do the bushes without a press. He used Screwdriver & razor blade maybe Cant recall exactly. I can't recall who it was either....about the same time in 2007. He did it the hard way. I think there was very colorful language in his thread.

The right tools are a must for this job. That's all. some level headed helpers go a long way as well. I don't own the press any longer so I can't lend it to you.

But as said there are more than one way to remove the bushes. But it is a serous tough job to do it with the wrong tools