LCA bushings

[rattlesnake]

Bought a new set of greasable Lower Control bushings, shafts and sleeves for my 70 cuda. Boy, these things are a bear. I got the old sleeves out and that was tough. Put the new ones in, pressed them in on a huge shop vise, worked pretty good but still took alot of elbow grease. The new bushing went in after being lubed with ever just a little dab of lube. The new pins did not want to go in by hand, so I presed them in which was a very easy press, but when I took the assembly out of the press the bushing wanted to blow back out the front, taking the pin with it, like it was too crowded with the pin in it. So I took the bushing back out and cleaned up the sleeve just a tad. Put the bushing back in, same thing. Is this normal? I bought the kit from Hotchkins. Looks like a good product and it all goes together but just seems tight. I know the assembly will be pinched in when the bars are back in so I put the pins in the K-member but I know I am going to have a night mare getting the LCAs over the pins. What did I mess up and how bad?

[CUDA JAS]

Got any pics???

Not sure I follow what is going on.

Jason

[rattlesnake]

I do not but I will take some tomorrow when I get home, at the firehouse today.

[rattlesnake]

I gues I could point out that the kit I bought from hotchkins has the greasable pivot pins. The bushings are completely different from the original ones. The set comes with two metals sleeves that act as the shell that is on the outside of the stock bushing. Then there is a bushing that fits inside that sleeve. It is not rubber, maybe a neoprene or similiar material. There is no inner shell. The pin slides directly into the neoprene bushing. But as I say the bushing wants to swell out when the pin is pressed in like it is crowded or something. I am seriuosly thinking about going back to a factory style bushing. I read an article that I found in a thread here that makes a good point about there is no way for the pin to be locked into the LCA with this style of bushing, where as the factory style bushing is pressed into the LCA and the pin is pressed into the bushing, marrying them together.