TECH request; A-arm Bushings? 57 chevy.

57 chevy, can i do this at home? or should i suck it up and pay the machine shop $80? air hammer? hammer and chisel? i'm also going to replace the idler arm bushings. what do you think?

 

Chevytalk.com. Do a search; many of the members have posted this, and their homemade tools to do it at home. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I don't know if it's the same as the 59, but we set the bushing on fire and let the rubber burn off, then popped it out. After we removed the A-arm, of course. Simple, and fun! But kinda stinky

 

BFH, air hammer, big vise, and a few pieces of tubing made into special tools should get it done.

 

My experiences over the years:

First time I had a shop do it. They used an air chisel and fubar'd the arms
all up. Never again.

Next time was with a buddy and a torch. While he was heating/burning it
the rubber portion "exploded" out of the shell with great force and hit him
in the side of his face knocking him on his ass. The melting rubber stuck to
his cheek and burned him some but after he composed himself it was really
hard to not laugh...Never again.

Since then I've made my own collection of fixtures from tubing and some
even from heavy wall PVC pipe. It may be time consuming and after all
these years I still make spacers and such for stuff I haven't run into before.
Doesn't tweak the arms all up and does a really nice job. Reminds me to do
a tech post on it next time around.

I've used the polyurethane bushings before where you had to use the
original outer shells by drilling lots of holes through the rubber while being
careful not to get into the outer shell. This also takes a while till the
rubber is loose enough to come out.

Good luck with yours.

 

After paying a shop to do my first set, I always do my own. My shop press has paid for itself just on front bushings for tri fives and rear bushings for my X frame cars.

 

Done MANY with these tool's..
I cut the tubing so it will fit around the bushing body and place it between the two 'ears' of the control arm ( cut to the proper width) so when you press the new bushing in it dosn't squeeze the ears together.

 

do them just like this...you can use an air hammer/chisel to get the old ones out. I spray the perimeter with PB Blaster a day or 2 before to help loosen the bushing sleeve from the arm itself. Work back and forth on either side of the bushing and it'll come out slowly.

 

Lowers seem to be much more difficult. Corrosion?

 

The first ones I ever did, I gave up and took them to a shop. The shop had them for a week, finally called me, charged me the very low price they agreed to when I initially dropped them off, and politely asked me never to come back again. That was when I was 17 in '87.
the rubber came out, but the shells were chemically welded to the control arm. (Michigan rust)

Since I've done several on my own, variously with an air hammer, a vise, and a hack saw. Once you get the rubber out, if you can't get the metal shell out of the arm, take a hacksaw blade and cut a slot down the length of the shell. It's time consuming, but it always works.

-Brad

 

I belive it may be because of load/friction.

 

thanks fellas, i think i'll give it a try. anyone else?

 

Im going to sound like a total hack...but... I used a couple of old sockets, vise, and air hammer... and beet the shit out of it. the A arms were fine when i was done. I found it took some time... but it got done. If i were to do it again Id try to find a press, or bite the bullet and just buy one. good luck!

 

I have a tool for this, looks like a ball joint removeal tool that you use on new cars. It works pretty good but not all the time . Brad 54 has the sure fire method with the hacksaw.A good way to chew up the rubber use a pencil tip carbide bit in the die grinder.Be sure to wear gloves.

 

I do them myself at home. I lock the bar of the arm in my big vise first. I use my air chisel but turn down the air so I don't get the hard to handle jack hammer effect.

I get behind the ear of the bushing outside of the arm and work it evenly all around just to break the ring of rust and crust. From there it should start moving, the inner sleeve is what really sucks it onto the shaft.

If the bushings are beat to shit and the inner sleeve is poking out, it makes it easier. Just drive out the sleeve carefully.

I drive them in using a old beat up socket or one of my home grown "adapters" made from old pieces of black pipe.

I have probably done hundreds of these professionally and was showed the right way. I may have nicked up a shaft here and there, but nothing a file couldn't fix up. Oh yes, for reassembly, use lots of never-seize on the bushings, inside and out.

Bob