Skew

So i am giving this a shot on my own i have read the DIY's showing how to remove and replace the components but i decided to just replace the bushings, arms and the rack bushings. As well as media blasting my parts,chassis and subframe. I am doing the suspension piece by piece and expect to have this done within a week due to the car being my daily driver. To the Mechanics on here please feel free to add what tips have worked for you.

Parts list:
Prothane Bushings for Upper control arms
Prothane Bushings for Lower control arms
Battle Version Steering Rack Aluminum Bushings
Battle Version Traction Arms
Battle Version Toe Arms
Battle Version Diff Spacers
Ball joints


I have a parts car that i removed the suspension components from so hopefully it will make it shorter on downtime.
I started with the front LCA's and UCA's
I removed the Front Upper and lower control arms per the write up's already established here on CL.
Next i used a 12 ton press(Harbor Freight) to remove the bushings from the Upper control arms.

I noticed with bushings that one side of them have a metal ring and the other is all rubber. i decided to press the bushing on the rubber side taking extra care not to warp the control arm i used a series of extensions and a 1 1/2 short socket to apply the pressure to remove the bushing
*Note in the pictures i started with the bottom bushing, Putting the extensions through the top Bushing since both rubber lips face opposite directions.
Take your time.






Next i will be media blasting the control arms and then spraying with the Rustoleium Rust Preventer Black Gloss.

My LCA's were in real bad shape I was going to press them out but the center metal ring fell out by just my finger. I had no choice but to burn the bushing out.

My bushing kit called for this ring to be removed the only ring left is one press fitted to the outer edge of the control arm.


I used a benzomatic and some gasoline a buddy of mine said use 2 stroke mix to keep a continued burn. This part is probably the most time consuming because you HAVE to make sure you remove every single piece of rubber bushing out or else you will have a hell of a time fitting your new bushing in correctly.

This just about how far i got today more to come tommorow.

soarer13oy

iTrader: (13)

To clean the inside of the control arm, i used a wire brush hooked it up to a drill and cleaned the inside, made it so much easier to install the new bushings.

Skew

Sweet i was wondering if i should use the brush or continue to keep burning

ArodDaLob

iTrader: (14)

I used a dremel and a wire brush bit. took a while but got it done.
and what is a bver diff spacer? never heard of him making anything like this.

DJVe

i'm pretty sure he means the rear subframe mounts.

DJVe

the only diff mounts i know of are the fsm ones.

Skew

Front UCA's and LCA's completed just need to install them.

When i burned the lower control arm bushings out i was left with this.


I then went to ace hardware and picked up a wire brush like this one and went to town it didnt take to long to get the remaining rubber out. (Thank you soarer13oy)



Next, reading Prothane's instructions they require you to use the old Aluminum and Steel center pieces. Mine were still covered in rubber so i started to burn them one by one. I found that if you stack them 2 by 2 it gives a nice even burn to all four bushings.


Then using the wire brush i removed the remaining rubber.


Also cleaned and sprayed the control arms


The kit


The control arms bushings are easier to install being the diameter of the opening is different from one another

I used all of the lube included in the kit to grease the bushings and center pieces and pressed them in. I used a rubber mallet to press the center rods in. The upper control arm center pieces are included in the kit. I cleaned the remaining grease up after.




I ended the day with marking the alignment points on my chassis so tommorows installation should go smoothly...Hopefully.


A friend stopped by to "show me" what he feels a real car should look like.



I finished installing the UCA and LCA's late last night i ran into a few issues. I hit 1 ball joint with a hammer while the castle nut wasnt on and two camber bolts while the nut wasnt on them and bent the first thread on the bolts. Lucky it wasnt to bad to fix but it gave me hell fixing them. Lesson learned. When reinstalling all of the suspension i left the camber bolts loose with just the nuts started. I then proceeded to rebolt my coilovers, endlinks, Steering arm, Lower control arm(ball joint) and Upper control arm(ball joint). The thing is that the coilover made everything line up just how it was before the removal of the components. I am still going to get an alignment when i am done with the rear. After every thing was bolted i then went to tighten the alignment bolts using the fitting marks from before.

Driving home i noticed a drastic improvement but seeing as though the bushings were bad in the first place anything would seem better. i would like to give a review maybe after 1000-2000 miles seeing as though a few people have had issues with the squeeking and what not.

Onto today i started by removing the subrame from the parts car to include sway bar and everything along with it.


The subframe is held to the chassis by:
Sway bar bushings/bolts
Subframe and Subframe mount bushings
i belive it was 8 to 10 bolts total when it was all said and done the process will be more in detail when i install everything back into the car.


Axles:
Remove the cotter pin and axle nut. I did not have any metric sockets this big so i had to use a 1 and 1/8 1/2" drive to remove it.
To remove the 6 axle bolts on each side of the diff you will need a H10 or hex 10mm w/ socket adapter i jacked the subframe up to allow them to rotate freely to complete the remove

Diff:
To remove the diff you will need a h12 or hex 12mm w/ socket adapter. There are thee bolts in the rear and to in the front that hold the diff in.

Traction and toe arms:
Both are 19mm bolts one side has a camber bolt remember to mark it.

UCA's and LCA's
These are both 19mm and you will also need a ball joint fork(pickle fork)
i choose to start the nut on the bolt and proceed to tap with a hammer it worked for me.


Lastly this left me with the subframe, I used a full bottle of degreaser let it sit and pressure washed the **** out of it.


This is as far as i got today. Please note that when i install everything back in the car there will be more Pictures and detail. Also my UCA's and LCA's were shot on my parts car but i am going to to use one of each as practice to make sure that the process goes smoothly.

Skew

http://battleversion.com/store/battl...exus/sc-91-00/


I believe they are solid aluminum spacers I was going to do the FSM ones but the shop i bought my parts from said not to for reasons i dont want to get into in here. I also believe the Prothane kit comes with the bushings as well hope this helps.

SEXC

iTrader: (2)

I love show and tells. How much did you pay for the press. keep up the good work.

OG Dada

iTrader: (10)

If I had a camera when I was doing my bushings I would've made a DIY for it. I bought the press from harbor freight also, then returned it after everything was said and done. Good luck.

Skew

Thanks the press was $64.


It was a last minute idea taking pictures with my phone and just decided to go for it. When you did your bushings did they just pop in using your hands?

chrisindub

iTrader: (1)

Nice Falcon, a friend had one that looked very similar with four speed manual, and a BUILT 289. Small car.......... scary fast. I would race him in my '67 firebird 400, and he would just kill me.

BenStoked

iTrader: (3)

trailer.
trailer
not real car, not driven by it's own power.
he's full of ****.

good writeup, so far. waiting to see the bver install.

soarer479

iTrader: (2)

When I did mine they pushed in by hand

OG Dada

iTrader: (10)

Yup. All poly's just popped in. I might have tried to smack the rear part of the front lower control arm to the ground to get it to sit all the way, but nothing biggie. I didn't even clean off the burnt bushings inside cause the new ones just pushed it out and I figured it'll get dirty in no time anyways.

The rear upper control arms will be a pain I can guarantee you that. It's got a really really really weird bushing in it. You'll find out after you burn it out. But getting the outer metal sleeve out is the hardest part, because it only go in one way, cause the end is like mushroom shaped on to the aluminum arm. So there won't be enough part of the control arm to hold on to to press the sleeve out. What we did was chisel it a bit so the "cap" end would separate from the arm and there would be enough surface to jam it while pressing out the sleeve.

You'll understand what I'm saying once you start working on it. Good luck.