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When I replaced the ball joints, I removed the driver's side control arm and bracket, and found that the rear bushing was pretty much toast. The front bushing however seemed fine, as witnessed by the fact that with no retention from the rear bushing, the control arm still sprung up into rest position until the front bolt was loosened.
On the passenger's side though, I couldn't get the bolt from the front bushing out. With the nut off, I couldn't get the bolt loose with a bit of hammering, and I didn't want to wreck the threads. I'm going to assume that the front bushings on both sides are fine, so I was planning on just doing the following:
- put the front jack points are on stands, so that the front wheels are hanging (struts fully extended)
- disconnect the anti-sway bar at the top nut
- remove the four bolts that hold the strut anchor to the strut tower
- remove the 3 bolts that hold the control arm's rear bracket
Will this allow me enough play to release the nut on the rear bushing and remove the rear bracket completely? If it doesn't, then I guess I have a big problem on the passenger side, with the front bolt rusted in place.
I was going to have an automotive machine shop press the new bushings in. I'm wondering if any special tools are needed. I did the rear trailing arm bushings using the home-made tool, and this seemed very straght-forward, as the machined end cap was pushing directly on the outer metal sleeve of the bushing. With the rear control arm bushing however, only rubber is exposed on the face that needs to be pressed. Is it OK to press against the rubber with an appropriate sized socket, or is that what the notches in the rubber are for - so you press at those points and not damage the rubber?
Thanks for your help.
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