How to remove bushings from LCA and shaft

[commando1]

And once you dry off, neither is water boarding.

 

[Stormer]

:laughing4:

 

[cm23uoc]

Also depends on what kind of work you're doing on these cars. I'm in for a lift after 25 years in the den.

 

[Stormer]

Just spent an hour under my RAM cuz I had an airline touch the exhaust. That won't happen again.

On mats, on my back, by the way. ;)

 

[polara71]

Yea, I looked at four post lifts, but they seem more for storage of another vehicle rather than working on it. I'd still have the overhead issues with the door and the rafters if I did that.

Some of The four post lifts have an option for a "jack" in the center so you can raise the tires off the lift on the end you are working on.

 

[polara71]

Just spent an hour under my RAM cuz I had an airline touch the exhaust. That won't happen again.

On mats, on my back, by the way. ;)

I still do it on my back, can still do the shoulder crawl pretty well, can still get a transmission in on my back with the front up on stands BUT I'd rather not.

 

[Stormer]

Sometimes you want to see the suspension under load anyway & most of the time it doesn't matter one way or the other.

 

[jcloving]

Stan,

This is what I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Alltrade-6487...=1370298582&sr=8-1&keywords=Ball+joint+socket

1 15/16 and 2 9/64. Can't beat the price, $35. The smaller one took out my upper ball joints easily.

 

[Husky]

Thanks Jake. I was considering a sharp chisel. I might be able to get my sawzall in there. I will try it.

Yes, the LCA is precious and I don't want to harm it more than necessary.

Stan,

I plan on pressing the bushing into the LCA first, then pressing the shaft into the bushing. I think the counterbore at the bottom of the LCA will support the inner steel bushing that the shaft goes into.

@jcloving, you have to press the shaft into the bushing first, then press the bushing and shaft into the LCA as an assembly. You will need a pretty decent press to get the shaft into the bushing as it is designed to be a very tight fit. Not so much when pushing the assembly into the LCA. An easy way to remove the bushing shell from the LCA is to get a thick washer slightly smaller dia to the inner bushing shell, a 6' of threaded 3/8" rod, 4" length of pipe with inner dia to fit over shell housing and another washer and nut. Cut 3 or 4 slits intot the shell flange then slide thewasher and threaded bolt assembly into the shell. While in situ, chisel over the edges of the shell flange enough to stop the washer coming out of the shell, then draw the shell out by tightening the outer nut on the pipe washer assemblt yo draw the shell out (similar to how the UCA bushings are removed). I hope this makes sense. I found out the hard way, having to spend 1 hour chiselinf away at the shell and scoring the shell housing in the LCA before I saw the light. Good luck with it.

 

[Husky]

I'm trying to find an arbor press as we speak on CL.
No luck.
May have to go to a machine shop. Arghhh.
May as well have him punch them out and press them in and save some blood and sweat.

You probably will. You need a decent press with about a foot or so working distance, some pipe etc to do the job. I had to send mine off the my local mechanic as I don't have a shop press. What an absolute nightmare this job was. Good luck removing the lower ball joint studs from the LCA too.

 

[jcloving]

Well, I got one of the bushings out of the LCA on Saturday. What a job. I got to use some spicy words from my youth. Plus I hit my thumb several times. %&@!!

I used a vise to crush the lips over as much as possible. I then used a chisel to cut down to cut one "sector". I then beat that down as much as possible and then folded the others over it. Next I flipped it over and used a punch to tap out the bushing. Slowly. It took about an hour and a half.

I have started working on the second LCA and have slit the lip in four spots and folded over the lips. I will try the same method here. Either the press fit will give up or the sectors will yield and fall out. If I bend those sections of the sleeve 3-4X, they will come loose.

Thanks Husky for the idea. I can picture what you are describing. I tried something similar but using a ball joint removal C-clamp from Harbor Freight. It did not work.

I also considered welding a large washer or steel piece over the lip and then using that to press out the bushing. If the weld held it should come out. Maybe I need to get a welder.

 

[jcloving]

I got the second one out this morning. It seemed to go faster than the first. First, I slit the lip into five sectors. I then crushed the lips over with a vise. I then used a punch to force them down into the throat of the bore. I would then tap them back out with a punch. After doing this 2-3x, the flanges would yield and fall away.

I would also use a chisel to punch down and cut between the sectors. Eventually, enough of the press fit was compromised and when I would tap the flanges back out, the whole sleeve would move. I could then get a punch on that edge and tap out the whole thing. It took about an hour and a half.

The sleeves on the shaft were quicker. I used a thin cut off wheel on a dremel tool to slit the sleeve in two spots. I then tapped a thin screwdriver between the shaft and sleeve. The sleeve then split along the cuts. It took about 10 minutes to do each shaft.

The next step is to clean up those bores and deburr the LCAs. They have chewed up my hands during this work.

 

[commando1]

Going to do my bushings tomorrow.
Send me a list of the spicy words so I'll have them on hand. Like to have all my tools in advance. Don't want to go looking for words.
Thanks for sharing your adventure. Looking forward to joining yours.....

RE: "I tried something similar but using a ball joint removal C-clamp from Harbor Freight. It did not work. "

Mine didn't either and it was the large HD one. Waste of money. The pickle fork was totally useless also.

This tool was a lifesaver!!!!!!!!!

AND (Grrrrrrr... nothing's easy) I need TWO different ball joint sockets to remove the Upper ball joints.
The large one to remove the OEM joints and the smaller one to install the aftermarket joints.

 

[polara71]

and the aftermarkets were Moog?

Curious Stan, where were the replacements made?

 

[commando1]

..............

 

[polara71]

Are all of them made in China? My future son in law works at Advanced and he says its hit or miss, some are American made and others are made in China. Are all your Moog parts made in China or some of them?

 

[commando1]

Are all of them made in China? My future son in law works at Advanced and he says its hit or miss, some are American made and others are made in China. Are all your Moog parts made in China or some of them?

Same as what your future SIL said. All the parts were a mixed bag of made in USA and Chinese. I went with the name figuring...
Well, you know how it is.

< Sent from my tablet >

 

[polara71]

Yeah, I was hoping you had better luck. I gotta buy two cars worth and I am not using China parts

 

[1978 NYB]

I bought 2 receiver driers for my NYB recently from AAP. Both were 4 Seasons label.......one made in Canada and the other made in China.

 

[commando1]

Yeah, I was hoping you had better luck. I gotta buy two cars worth and I am not using China parts

I used RockAuto. You'll be better off to pay a bit more by buying over the counter.

< Sent from my tablet >