Chunkerz

I'm trying to remove the liner things for the control arm bushings so I can install my new Elephant Racing bushings. The new bushings came with directions for removing them and after following these directions I've concluded that these ****ers aren't going anywhere. I've tried pounding them out, heating up the control arm then pounding on them, soaking them in penetrating oil for a few days then pounding on them, but nothing works. The directions say that I can cut a slit in them, so I tried that, but this is some tough metal. None of my metal cutting blades can cut this stuff. All they can do is scratch it. Has anyone else removed these before? If so, how did you get them out?

Thanks,
Jeff

s14kev

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...-tutorial.html

sstrickstein

Do like I did... Take the new parts and the control arm to a qualified machine shop and pay them to do it. My guy said they were a bugger to remove.

Chunkerz

Tried that and all I've managed to do is scratch them. I can't seem to cut them with any of my hack saws.
How much did they charge? I considered giving in and seeking professional help, but I'm saving that as a last resort.

Van

I remove them with an air impact hammer and chisel bit. Sometimes it makes a gauge in the aluminum, but if you file it smooth, it won't impact the performance of the new bushings.

Another way to remove them is to weld a washer and nut onto them and use a bolt as a "spreader".

Toran

Wow, Van did it with the part still on the car!

divil

Have you tried with a brand new blade? I used this method and it was not too hard. The tricky part is that it's very difficult to cut with even depth the along the whole length of the bushing. You'll tend to cut deeper near the outer lip, risking damage to the aluminum. What I did was I cut 2 parallel slots about 1/4" apart but didn't cut all the way through the steel, so I would not damage anything. Then take the blade out and continue the cuts around the corner onto the outside. On the outside you can see how deep the steel of the lip is so you can safely cut all the way through. Then I used a flat bladed screwdriver as a chisel, and peeled out the 1/4" strip by tapping gently with a hammer, always tapping away from the aluminum. Easy to avoid damaging anything this way.

s14kev

That's great Van. I need to install a set of trailing arm monoballs and have been putting it off because I figured I need to pull the arms. I didn;t want to go to the trouble of aligning the rear again so have held off. I see the shocks are still attached in your picture. Are the spring plates also still attached? Ie. can I swap them out simply by removing the since bolt that goes through the bushing. I do have a MIG welder in the garage.

Chunkerz

Unfortunately I don't have a welder or an impact hammer
I'll pick up some blades tonight or tomorrow and try again. The blades I was using were fairly new, but not brand new.

HICKS

Yeah new proper hack saw blades will do it. That's how I cut out my balance shaft bearings.

PCinDC

I just went through this myself. Huge pain in the ***. I pried off the metal caps and pressed out with a 4WD balljoint press. Worked fine, and just left the metal liner. I used the hacksaw blade method for that and still had a miserable time. PITA job.

Chunkerz

I picked up some new blades so we'll see how that goes. I wasn't sure how many teeth per inch the blade should be, so I bought 18 (lowest they had) and 32 (highest one they had) teeth per inch blades. I sure hope these do the trick....

HICKS

You want more teeth vs less.

Chunkerz

It wasn't easy, but I got them out! A new blade made a HUGE difference. I didn't think the blade I was using was that dull from one or two prior uses, but I guess I was wrong.... I did cut a little too deep and scratched the wall of the hole on both arms. On one of them I accidentally pounded the screwdriver between the wall of the hole and the liner and left a nasty mark. Will these mistakes cause any problems, or can I just sand them smooth and press in my new ones?

I've attached some pictures of my screw ups. I'm posting from my phone so they may or may not show up. If they don't work I'll repost them tomorrow after work.

s14kev

Do you have butterfingers? You seem to have poor manual dexterity Maybe you should farm out any mechanical work to a professional

But seriously, I would not use the one with the neat line cut in it. Cast aluminum is brittle. That is a huge stress riser in an already stressed part.