Upper control arm bushings

[61_FL_Apache]

Ok, I got these in the mail today.... now what?



It does not look like anything is pressed in. It just looks like the caps unscrew and screw on the new caps on the shaft.

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks!!

[chevy_mike]

Just needs to be screwed in.... hahaha you have never taken out old ones have you? That's the hard part. LOL

Basically you got it, unscrew the old one and screw the new ones in. Put some grease on the internal threads. Make sure you keep them centered and don't overtighten them in the arms. You want a little drag but not binding. Not loose either.

[61_FL_Apache]

Thanks Mike. Im planning on doing this over the weekend.

[Captainfab]

Yep, you need the socket to fit the bushings, a breaker bar, a good impact, and a good solid mounting place if you plan on doing these off of the truck. I've never changed these on the truck. If your front sheetmetal is in place, that might make it more difficult changing them on the truck

[losthope]

here is a post that i asked aboust the same thing and chevy-mike explains a little more on how to do it...make sure you pre lube the insides of the nuts with grease makes it alot easier threading them on....I did mine on my truck not to bad but would be alot eaiser off the truck....heres the thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=508095

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by losthope

here is a post that i asked aboust the same thing and chevy-mike explains a little more on how to do it...make sure you pre lube the insides of the nuts with grease makes it alot easier threading them on....I did mine on my truck not to bad but would be alot eaiser off the truck....heres the thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=508095

I guess that was a decent write up I wrote.

[61_FL_Apache]

Thanks for all the info. I plan to do this off the truck. After 50+ years of grease and grime, I want to clean this up before putting them back in.

I will post pics during the install.

[ksucatz]

Don't mean to hack your post, but I am having some issues with my upper control arm bushings.
The bushings will bottom out on the cross shaft before fully seating in the control arms. This allows rotation on the arm threads instead of the greased shaft threads.

I measured the distance between the bushings when bottomed out on the shaft and got a strong 9.5"


I then measured the overall distance on the control arm and got 9.375"


So do I need to pre-load the arm to allow the bushings to seat, or am I doing something wrong.

I thought the hard part was done busting the old bushings loose!!

[chevy_mike]

Hummm.... makes me wonder if the arms are pinched in at the ends? I know when I did mine, they bottomed on the ends of the arms and if you continued to tighten, the ends of the arms would start to pull in.

Hopefully someone has an idea.

[61_FL_Apache]

No worries on the hacking.. Thats what this is for..

What I found was at first I fully installed one bushing then the other. The second one was very tight and I could not move the arm at all when in the vice. I had the shaft in the vice and tried to lift the arm, no go!!

I removed both bushing and then threaded them in equally. A couple of turns on one side then the other until both were completely seated..

I am no expert, but that worked for me..

When I did the lower shafts, I followed the same process and it worked out fine..

Hope that helps!!

[ksucatz]

That is what I did, and there lies the problem. I thread the bushings on equally, but they bottom out on the shafts before seating on the arms. So I have rotation, but it is in the arm to bushing threads, and not the greased bushing to shaft threads. I am thinking I might just have to take off one thread per side of the shaft and clean up the threads to make them seat properly. I will take a pic with it all put back together tonight.

[ol_skool_chevy]

I have been looking for the Upper and lower control arm bushing but I cant find any....seems they only stock them for 1973 and up?...
any ideas?

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

I have been looking for the Upper and lower control arm bushing but I cant find any....seems they only stock them for 1973 and up?...
any ideas?

You have to buy the whole shaft with bushings. The bushing are not available individually. Since they are a metal on metal design, if they need replacing, you need to replace everything. NAPA has a listing for them. I think the ones I installed where from Moog.

[ol_skool_chevy]

Oh my god thank you mike I thought i was going crazy trying to find them...

[61_FL_Apache]

Its better this way.. Then everything is new!!

On my 65, one of the caps was missing all together and the arm was riding on the shaft wearing it more.. I got another set of arms and new shafts with bushings. World of difference.

[scottofksu]

Also, after rebuilding one side with only brute strength (had to call in a 6'3"/250lb friend to help), I discovered an easier way.

1. Take a wire brush and clean the caps and flange down to bare metal.
2. Gather a small copper smelting torch and some penetrating oil.
3. Place the control arm in a vice with one of the caps facing you.
4. Heat the cap with the torch for about 30 seconds.
5. Quickly turn off the torch and set it some place safe.
6. Spray the penetrating oil where the cap screws into the control arm (CAUTION: depending how hot you got the cap, you may have a small fire spring up. Be prepared.)
7. Get a good 1/2-3/4 drive breaker bar and a short length of pipe for more leverage, and pop the caps off.

After having great difficulty with the brute strength method, the above process allowed me to pop the caps loose using only my left arm and a little leverage.

One last tip, replace the lower control arm u-bolts with those from a 73-87. They are considerable larger, so you will have to open up the holes in your crossmember a bit to accommodate the larger bolts.

For my 65' the following sockets were needed:
Upper- 1-3/8
Lower- 1-5/8

Parts Geek had a great price on them when I bought them, but I noted minor quality control issues with the parts I received. Namely, the head of the caps were slightly oversized. A quick visit to the grinder for some mild polishing and the socket went on like a glove.

Good Luck!

[chevy_mike]

An even easier method is to grab your 1" drive impact gun and spin them off like butter.

[doobiebro]

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

I have been looking for the Upper and lower control arm bushing but I cant find any....seems they only stock them for 1973 and up?...
any ideas?

olskool, I bought bushings only for my 60 yrs ago from http://truckandcarshop.com/catalogs.htm They work great!

[donthekawguy]

I took the arms out and used my impact on them. When I put them in I used a breaker until I got tired of that and hit them with the impact on the truck. A little on each side until they were seated. You might want to compare the old shaft with the new and see if they are the same length.

[scottofksu]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

An even easier method is to grab your 1" drive impact gun and spin them off like butter.

As Sharps66 would say, "I operate a run what you brung" kind of shop.

[dougf]

What happened to him? He posted a lot here.