Removing upper control arm bushings

[Bullitt-]

The bushings go in from the out side & once the A-arm is back on the car they can't go anywhere....Just need to be tight enough not to spin freely.

[farmboy70]

The bushings go in from the out side & once the A-arm is back on the car they can't go anywhere....Just need to be tight enough not to spin freely.

[shadango]

What I mean was, would I be able to remove it (them) if it turns out that I run into issues with the "rod" you were suggesting doesnt line up.  I dont want to install the news ($29) bushings and find out that I have issues....

The hole/collar is not square with the arm now, with the lower side towards the upper BJ, the higher side facing the car frame.

Will this screw me up as far as adjusting alignment, how it fits back into the car and how it will rotate the way it needs to when it is all assembled and the suspension is cycling up and down??

Wondering if I could fine pipe that would fit inside that hole and then I could tweak it back maybe....or screw it up worse.....    The way this happened was I was pressing out the bushing from the back, it got jammed and then the whole deal pushed outward on the inboard end some.

[shadango]

Just also wondering....if the bushings are supposed to be pressed in and fit tight,  how do the Moog problem solvers work as far as being "adjustable"

Do they maybe have a looser fit?

(I apologize for all these really dumb questions)....

[Bullitt-]

The problem solvers are not adjustable BUT it depends on what problem you have as to where & which way you orient them.   
What's the problem?

[Supercuda]

Nothing dumb about any of these questions, as I see it. The bushings will not spin in the bores, if all is well. You have to know what problem you need to solve, before installing the Moog bushings. If your problem is caster-related, you need to install them with an eye towards driving the caster in the desired direction. Same thing with camber. As far as trying to tweak the arm back; go for it, if you feel comfortable with your process. Just don't use heat.

[Bullitt-]

I'd put the arm in a vice & try to squeeze it back straight.

[shadango]

Nothing dumb about any of these questions, as I see it. The bushings will not spin in the bores, if all is well. You have to know what problem you need to solve, before installing the Moog bushings. If your problem is caster-related, you need to install them with an eye towards driving the caster in the desired direction. Same thing with camber. As far as trying to tweak the arm back; go for it, if you feel comfortable with your process. Just don't use heat.

I did apply some heat to get the "collar" off of the back of the bushing....wonder if that heat transferred to the arm and then when I went to the press that played into this....

<sigh>

How hard is it to find an upper control arm?

I guess I can just try it and risk the new bushing and hope it all fits back together when I try.

Interesting point you made about the problem solvers not being adustable once installed....I guess I am installing them to gain extra caster...I dont know that I have any issues yet ...never had the car aligned....but had decided to go with these to get the extra caster people say is a good thing.

[Bullitt-]

For max caster put the problem solver bushing in the back with the bolt hole to the outside..then install the eccentric where it pulls the back all the way in thus pulling the upper ball joint as far back as possible, put the regular bushing in the front, install those pushing out as far as possible. Use that as a starting point, use an angle gauge to adjust your camber to spec., after setting your toe in you can drive it to an alignment shop....or if DIY is your thing you can get more into the alignment process.

[shadango]

I was thinking I would need two of the moog problem solver uca bushings per side....??

[Supercuda]

It really depends upon your needs, how many bushings to use, and where. I don't think that you imparted any additional "softness" into the arm, they are easy to tweak out of shape. On the positive side, they also tweak back into shape pretty easily, too. You have been very careful with this, and your setup for the press looked fine to me. I would use the arm I have, and just do some gentle adjusting of this arm, to realign the hole to the rest of the arm. If you find a suitable piece to put into the empty bushing hole for adjusting the shape, try to make it long enough to also use it for checking the alignment of the bushing holes to each other. Now you know why most mechanics dread front-end work.

[shadango]

Thanks guys.

I did tweak it back "a little" from where it was before I took the pics.....I am afraid of messing it up worse I guess.....

If it were the whole one side of the arm that was tweaked i would be happier...easier to tweak.

As it stands, its just the round part that sticks out itself that is crooked....

I will try again tonight,....hate spinning my wheels on stuff I mess up....

[shadango]

Well, I think I am ok.

I threw caution to the wind and reinstalled the old outer sleeve....then used the edge of that to press the part that was tweaked back into shape.

I bought some 1' electrical conduit (perfect size by the way) and was able to tap it thru one side into the other so I guess everything is lining up ok now.   

Cleaned up the UCAs and painted them.....

Just wanted to double-double check one thing.....the threads in the UCA are suppoed to be pretty shallow, right?  I noticed that the one looks like the threads were actuallu stripped out in one small area at the top, but the threads look ok from there down.....

How would would tell if there were already "problem solver" upper balljoints installed?

[Supercuda]

Don't you mean bushings? Doesn't really matter; toast is toast. If Problem-solvers are worn out, they no longer solve anything. If the bushing isn't torn all to hell, it will appear to have the inner sleeve offset to one side or the other of the bushing. As for the possibility of special upper ball-joints, reference to the part number on the joint is your best bet. Threads are very shallow on the ball-joint hole, and the top threads are frequently pulled out or non-existant. As long as the joint threads into the hole, and gets tighter as you go, you're ok. Congratulations on fixing the arm tweak.

[shadango]

No, I was asking about the problem solver upper balljoints.....someone here said they basically have cutting threads so they can be used in stripped out UCAs.....

I have never changed out upper BJs before....the threads on mine look very shallow, and one section is flattened out....but the BJs that were in there seemd to be really tight....

I guess I will just get the standards and hope for the best.