"What have you found successful?"

What I have found most successful is Mike. Mike is the machinist at a local parts house cum auto machine shop. I take my press work to him, usually with dedicated press bushings and Mike does his magic.

Once, I used a Harbor Freight press to do a job. That cured me of the thought of buying a cheap press. Now, if the work is beyond the capacity of my 4" Starrett vice, I take it to a shop which does that type of work routinely.

For a while, I took press work to a spring shop which had an overarm press which was a huge hunk of cast iron standing all of eight tall. Talk about grunt. With that kinda thing available for hire, why struggle with doing the press work?

What a good shop charges to do the press work without any trauma to the parts is usually a bargain.

Rich (near Pittsburgh)

Mission accomplished - all four front control arm bushings have been replaced (Volvo OE). I followed the Bentley steps and it took Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I think I employed them all. I had never done this in the past, so here are some key things I discovered:

- There is a very loud 'pop' when the bushing let's go and begins to slide out. Once that happens, removal is smooth.
- I was able to tighten the right rear control arm bolt from the engine bay (great tip). Access is tight, and it took a few 18mm wrenches with different angle offsets to get it done.
- Expect the unexpected - my sway bar end link bolts had seized to the sleeves with rust. Removing and repairing took longer than the bushing work.
- Be sure everything is straight and in-line when pressing. It's very easy for things to go sideways and snap out of the press. Go slowly and adjust if needed.
- Bushings press in MUCH easier than they come out.

Tools used:
- Harbor Freight 12-Ton press
- Universal Press/Pull kit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262449077356?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


Some pictures of my various setups on the press:





And here's one showing how to press the arm off of the bushing (one of the great suggestions)

I bought a 20 ton press from Pep Boys on Black Friday, that was on sale with a rebate, and it ran about $90. (about 8 years ago or so)

The press worked on some, but not others. I ended up using a jig saw, with a fine tooth blade to cut through the metal on the old bushings, and then they were able to be pushed out.

Take your time, you can easily ruin your control arms with a 12 or 20 ton press.
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If it needs to be maintained, repaired or replaced on a 1990 240, I've probably done it. '90 240DL, 360,890 miles, will she make it to 400K ?? >>You haven't really worked on a car until you draw blood<< :-}

Woodshavings, please let us know how you made out when your done. I want to do mine too.

Others, what size press did you use to change the bushings. I'm shopping for one and don't want to make a mistake and get one that has to work hard to get the job done.

I did mine about 10 years ago on my 89' and replaced the rubber with poly so I didn't want to ever have to do it again.

The big one I pressed out. The small one I wound up burning out the rubber and then taking a hack saw to it. I couldn't use the press as there is no way to make it fit.

I do however like the idea of a large vise and will try that on my 91.

Good luck!

Matt

Hi,

When you say "front" control arm bushings-

Are you referring to the bushings that are pressed into the control arm or the larger bushings that are pressed into the bracket?

The large bushings can be done with a press, the smaller bushings that go in the arms themselves cannot-they need to be done with a large vise.

Travis