Torch & hacksaw are OK!

If you have access to a press I would use it, it will be much easier, but if you don't this procedure can be done with the torch & saw.

The metal that the control arms are made of consists of hot rolled mild steel stampings and pieces of mild steel tubing welded together. This metal hasn't been cold rolled\worked, anealed, stress relieved, etc. - it is very low tech. The temperature required to burn out those rubber bushings isn't enough to change the properties of the steel (less than the temps from welding the assembly together).

You are correct about being careful with the hacksaw (I wouldn't want a burred up control arm tearing up the new polyurethane bushings). However, you can remove the insert without damaging the control arm, just be careful. Actually you don't have to saw all the way through the insert, just saw about 80% at two different spots and use a brass drift or a socket and you can knock it right out without leaving a mark on the control arm.

 

RE: Torch & hacksaw are OK!

When I replaced my bushings, I made a sort of home-made press out of plumbing pipe, washers, threaded rod, and nuts. I also used a $15.00 bushing removal kit from J C Whitney that contains various sizes of round cylindrical tools. I found two sizes of pipe, one just smaller than the bushing and one larger. The pieces of pipe have to be at least as long as the bushing. Put the threaded rod through the bushing, the bushing tool and small pipe on one side and the larger pipe on the other. Cap with washers and put on the nuts. Line everything up and start tightening. I did have to heat the control arm a bit to break it loose, but then it just pushed the bushing out into the larger pipe. I didn't have to remove the control arm from the car. Works great with an impact wrench.

Dave

 

RE: Torch & hacksaw are OK!

Don't use a torch. Instead, get a drill and drill around the old rubber say in 1/4" spacing. Hammer the rubber out by hitting the middle metal sleeve. Comes out easy. For the outer sleeve that is still in the control arm, grab a huge "C" clamp if you don't have access to a hydraulic press. One that you're able to have a better leverage to torgue it down against one end of the sleeve. You may have to use a piece of metal to balance both ends of the clamp and preventing it from slipping. Another way of doing it is by the using a big vise, a piece of same diameter high density tubing (to push against the bushing sleeve) and two equal length pieces of metal (to be pushed against the control arm sleeve). Clamp them against a vise and start torqueing that handle till the bushing sleeve slips out. Otherwise, hacksaw is fine as long as you're careful not to cut through the control arm sleeve itself. Did mine that way. Took about a day to do the whole front 9 and back 9 (left and right side removal/replacement, I mean).
Bing
71 240Z

 

Hi jeff, guys-----------As a veteran of this ordeal, I have to agree with you, Jeff. When dealing with an area as critical as the control arm, it's best to be careful. We can assume that the steel used by Nissan in the fabrication of this component is capable of sustaining exposure to heat. And under analysis, it may indeed turn out to be able to withstand stress from heating and cooling indefinitely. But the bottom line is that the part is in a critical area, we're not dealing with a situation that leaves much leeway as far as safety goes. Also, consider the fact that this area has already been exposed to some 30 years of strain and abuse. IMHO, it's not one of those things we want to push any more than necessary. It's no big deal to do right--doesn't cost much and takes very little time. I say let the guys with the big press do the job. One less thing to think about at speed. FWIW

Roadman

 

I hear a few mixed reviews of my post and that is fine. There were also a number of different ways to remove the part. Myself, I will not advise anybody on a job that has the potiential of getting somewone hurt or killed. To me it is not worth the risk to save a little time and a few bucks, And as I said before, if I found somebody doing such a job as that on my car we would have some serious challenges.
The point could be argued all day about the quality of the steel, bushings, heating, ect ect, but the bottom line is you would NEVER find a shop that has to guarantee their work for reliability and safety doing work in that mannor.
Have a good one guys.

 

I did the burn bushing out/hacksaw the sleeve trick. I don't feel I did any significant damage to the control arms in the process since it didn't get hot enough and the extra cuts were shallow ones in the thickest area. It's not hardened steel and isn't likely to crack because of some scratches.

I would NOT do it that way again, however. It's a royal pain in the ass. Between getting the old spindle pins out, getting the bushings/shells out, putting the new bushings in and getting new spindles in took much much too long and the possibility of messing something up in the process was real. $20 or $40 or whatever it would have costed to have a shop do it is the way to go. Easier, safer, quicker.

 

Exactly what parts move back there anyway?

I've read all these posts and agree that you should not bugger up area where the bushings go, but I'm wondering how much the bushing moves there anyway. As you all know, the stock bushing has a metal sleeve on both the outside and inside, which seems to indicate that the spindle bolt bears on only the inside sleeve of the bushing — in other words, that's the only place anything actually moves. The bushing itself simply isolates the movement from the rest of the car via its rubber.

Now take an aftermarket poly bushing. The ones I installed have no outer metal sleeve. They bear directly on the insides of outer control arm. They do have an inner sleeve, but on my car that was not bonded to the bushing and turned easily by hand. Which leads me to my question: Exactly what moves back there with poly bushings in stalled? IMHO, that **** spindle pin fits so tightly in the new metal sleeves that I don't think it turns in there at all like it does stock. I'm under the impression that the inner sleeve is the only part that turns. It doesn't seem logical that the outer area on the control arm is going to be a bearing surface at all, or at least very little. Which means a few tiny saw marks or scratches aren't going to matter.

Has anyone ever taken a high-mileage poly rear end suspension apart to see what exactly constitutes the bearing surfaces back there?

 

RE: Exactly what parts move back there anyway?

The inner sleeve rotates within the PU bushing (or vice versa). In the stock design, the rubber actually deforms as the inner sleeve rotates relative to the outer, which is why some of them are a bit beat up. That deformation absorbs some shock, so it's pretty good for a '70s street car. Not so good after 30 years of use.