high impact

iTrader: (5)

My 18 year old son's 98 Camaro Z28 has bad bushings on the front lower control arms. I see you can buy the whole arm or just bushings. To buy the new control arm is expensive. How difficult are the bushings to install if we just order them from Napa or a parts store? I do have a old ball joint press and a vice if that helps.

Or would anyone have used ones they could sell him reasonably? Either stock or tubular aftermarket. Thanks!

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

How much is a new arm with bushings? I just did this job, and it was a total PITA. The bushing sleeves do not have much meat at all, so getting them in took a bit of trial and error to find something the right size to press them into place with. You can't press the center sleeve as it's surrounded by rubber, so you have to press the outer sleeve, and I doubt there is .060" wall thickness there. The ball joints were even worse. I had over 8 hours in the job over two nights. I would gladly pay someone next time. I looked into aftermarket adjustable, but couldn't justify the price. If you can get a stock a-arm with bushings and ball joints for under $150 each, I would do it. You could then sell the stock a-arms.

Keep in mind, I did this job on a $200 harbor freight press, but considering the time investment, I would look into other options. After doing the job, the aftermarket arms, like UMI look real appealing, especially with everything in place already, and powdercoated.

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

Considering UMI is having a sale, and they include new bushings and ball joints, I would go this route. http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...=7_137_103_304

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

GM has complete arms available......and yes installing new bushings and/or ball joints is a PITA.....new OEM or aftermarket is worth it IMO

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

They'll run you $260 each new (gm retail is $438 each). I priced these at GM parts direct.

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

Shoot, aftermarket all the way then.

high impact

iTrader: (5)

He works at a GM dealer and can get a great price on the lower arms with his discount but I agree that good used arms or aftermarket may be the way to go. I will discuss with him. Maybe I will buy tubular lowers and sell him my good stock arms super cheap or free and use the gift as a behavior motivator. LOL

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

In my opinion, aftermarket is the way to go on these. I would love to see you with a set of BMR arm if their in your budget. The installation of a new set of control arms is going to be much cheaper than the labor to remove those same control arms, press out the bushings and balljoints, then press in new ones, and install them back on the car.

- Kevin

elis94camaro

Yeah you really could go and buy aftermarket a arms and be done with it. You could also remove the lower control arms from the car and buy new balljoints and bushings and just take the arm and the new parts to a suspension shop and theyll press them in for not that much. The one i took them to charged about 40 for each side. Thats what i did, but im still going to try and get matching upper and lower a arms from BMR just cause thr bmr stuff looks cool

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Bushings are easy, especially the upper arm. The lower ball joints are a pain to get in, and more than a few have bent an arm pressing the new ball joints in. There's no nice flat circular are on the top of the arm to press down evenly.

a-low

iTrader: (26)

Sorry to hijack but i had new bushings installed on stock control arms now the bolt
holes dont lign up with the new k member installed. I did notice the shop
pressed the bushings all the way in on the control arms. Do they have
to be centered?

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

yes. I took reference to where the old ones where in relation to where I pressed the new ones. I think a few had about 3/8" of an inch before being seated fully in the control arm. However, I'm having a hard time visualizing why the alignment of the holes are off, even if the bushings where pressed in all the way. The overall length should not have changed...?...

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

I noticed the inner sleeve had been pressed in flush with the bushing on the camber bushing. It took me a while to figure out this was the issue. Prior to that i could get the camber bushing to line up, or the caster bushing, but not both a the same time.

I pressed the camber bushing back out. I was unable to fix the sleeve so I bought another bushing and more carefully pressed it in.

If you could take pics of the bushings, especially a side profile, that would help to understand the problem.

NoHope

Don't mean to thread hijack, but how do the lower control arms translate to handling in the car? I'm trying to figure out if mine are bad and need replacing, car is approaching 100,000 miles.

a-low

iTrader: (26)

Well i took the control arms back to the shop and informed them
of the problem and compared the marks on the old front bushing to
the new one. I had them press the front bushing out a bit now it fits
just fine. Sooo make sure you center the bushings guys save you
some time.

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

Slop. In my case, the bushings were so shot, they were deflecting and causing the alignment settings to shift (so I believe). Comparings the old bushings to the new ones, you could EASILY see the old ones were very worn out, and the bolt holes elongated allowing movement.

joecar

Like said above, alignment wanders... at any significant speed you will get toe-out... this will make car feel darty/unstable and it will tramline on any roadsurface feature (groove, bump, etc).

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

This exact description is why I have boxes of bushings sitting on my workbench for installation this spring. My car goes all over the place right now.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

my arms are at a shop right now having bushings pressed in. I tried and ruined the first set of caster bushings. I'm really looking forward to a fresh set of bushings vs my 140k mile set.

Question for the aftermarket companies, what is the life expectancy of a set of rod ends in the front control arm? All I ever read is "it depends on driving habits" yet they get recommended to daily drivers. My brand new rear rod ends were rattling in 6-8 months of use in NJ, and a friend had a rod end (of unknown age and quality) shear off completely. Any input?

Not looking to steer anyone away just curious if I just bought a crappy set or what, I haven't seen many complaints just wondering

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Rod ends are not for the street, despite what you might here. With seals they can last a little longer, but road grime will kill them.

They are meant to replaced when they wear, and as they wear fast, you'll be replacing often. I don't know about you, but I get an alignment ever 1 to 2 years. If it were a daily driver, maybe once or twice a year. With rod ends you'll be taking them out, and replacing them every time they start to rattle, and getting an alignment.

They are, in my opinion, too high maintenance for a street car, and make (or transmit) too much noise even when new. Also, given the nature of just driving on the street, the performance advantage is zilch. They articulate the best, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze.