roco16

I've been pulling my hair trying to get these front control arm bushings to seat properly. As you can see in the pic below, one side of the bushing will not go in all the way. The steel sleeve was installed after the two bushings were pressed in (no problemo, nice and flush) but after the sleeve went in one of the bushings kept sliding out.

I have tried multiple arrangements of sockets, center screws, with w.l. grease and without, vices and large presses with little success.

Any ideas?

Ski

If you can get it out...put it in the freezer overnight. In the morning it should go in easily. Use a vise or clamp to hold while at work. When you come back home it should be seated just fine.

Sam Lin

When I did my Welts, I removed those 2 outer steel rings.

Sam

Laust Pedersen

“When I did my Welts, I removed those 2 outer steel rings.”

So did I, but also found the Weltmeister bushings to be loose in the control-arm maybe by .010”. I would have liked a light press fit. Even if you can squeeze them in the steel rings, I doubt that the assembly will fit in the cross-member.

roco16

Ski-
Good idea. I didn't think of giving it the thermal treatment.

All-
Were you able to get a decent fit once the bushings (without the steel rings) were squeezed in by the crossmember bolts?

roco16

Okay... old bushings are out (whew)... but how in the WORLD do I get the steel casings out. None of my punches did anything, and I'm a little leery of drilling out a >1" hole myself. Did you guys have a machine shop take them out? What should I do?

Sam Lin

I punched their outer lip in towards their center, careful not to mar the aluminum face they're seated against. That gave me something to punch around as I peeled the entire ring away from the aluminum. The ring ends up totally destroyed, just be careful never to scratch the aluminum.

Sam

MitchB

Thought I'd add to this for anyone considering these...
First this is NOT an easy job. It's a bitch.
Don't even think of trying this with the arms on the car - that was my first mistake. The old rubber bushings (factory) were extremely difficult to remove on one side. Keep working - eventually the old rubber will give in...
The steel liners MUST be removed - as per Jason/Paragon. I cannot believe Roco got his bushings in there! To remove the liner I threaded a hacksaw blade into the bushing hole to cut a long-wise groove into the sleeve, being VERY careful to not cut through into the aluminum A arm.
Nicks and blemishes turn into cracks!
Then I did what Sam did. Starting at the area of the lip where I made the cuts I used a punch and the liner peeled away.
My new bushings did not have to be pressed in but were quite snug, unlike Laust's....
Took me a long half day...
Time will tell if it was worth it.

sh944s

I install a set of these last season. We did not remove the steel sleeve and ground the bushings to fit. 20 track days and no visible problems.

YRMV

Elephant Chuck

The two metal sleeves meet in the center at a parting line. With the arms secured in a bench vise, position a chisel through the bore to engage the parting line. Then hit it.

This works, but takes some persistance. I also recommend using some penetrating oil like PB Blaster. It also helps to heat the aluminum with a propane torch, the aluminum expands faster than the steel sleeve hence the heat loosens the grip.

If all else fails, use the hacksaw technique. But be VERY careful not to nick the aluminum. You don't need to cut 100% through the sleeve, a deep slit will loosen its grip.