47-55.1 MII control arm bushing

[whitedog76]

OK, control arm bushings. The rubber is a little proud of the inner metal sleeve. So, can the rubber be trimmed slightly for better fitment? As it is right now, there's no way to get the control arms on other than brute force.

[MiraclePieCo]

Have you tried using lubrication and a screw clamp to compress the rubber down into the sleeve?

[whitedog76]

No, haven’t tried that. That’s how they came out of the box. I was hoping someone else had similar issues.
I’m not 100% pleased with these arms. If I hadn’t had them so long, I would send them back to Jegs.

[mr48chev]

It shouldn't hurt anything if you remove a bit of that rubber for clearance if you need clearance. The serrated end of the inner sleeve is the contact area when all is said and done.

[dsraven]

with that style of bushing the bolts get tightened down with the vehicle sitting at ride height, otherwise the rubber is under tension the whole time it is driving or sitting, the only time the bushing is under no torque load is when the suspension is sitting at the same ride height that the bolts were tightened down at. they last longest that way (when tightened at ride height).
silicone brake lube grease is what I use to install the rubber parts. works pretty good usually. some antisieze on the bolt or inside the steel bushing.

[whitedog76]

Originally Posted by dsraven

with that style of bushing the bolts get tightened down with the vehicle sitting at ride height, otherwise the rubber is under tension the whole time it is driving or sitting, the only time the bushing is under no torque load is when the suspension is sitting at the same ride height that the bolts were tightened down at. they last longest that way (when tightened at ride height).
silicone brake lube grease is what I use to install the rubber parts. works pretty good usually. some antisieze on the bolt or inside the steel bushing.

I have to get them on the crossmember first. Can the control arm be spread?

[dsraven]

does the control arm width fit the crossmember without the bushings? if they are spread to make them fit they can eventually crack from being stressed one way all the time plus the [possible binding issue. some control arms are meant to have poly bushings which would simply push in by hand. possibly that's what yours are but they sent the other bushings?

[whitedog76]

If I trimmed the excess rubbber lip off, they should fit. I may not be able to get the washers in though. Another option is to touch things up with a grinder, but that’s a last resort. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time trying to fit them, being I just finalized the crossmember install. We will see how it goes.

Now comes another question, do you really need the washers between the control arm and crossmember. I’m thinking no, since the sleeves have the serrated edge.

[mr48chev]

Right now a photo of what you have and are working with would help a lot to give the right answer.
The Helix crossmemeber I have that is tossed out back has a tube that runs though te crossmember that you put the control arm over and have to have a washer under the bolt head and between the ends of the tube and the bushing. I can't get to it tonight to take a photo but if you have that setup you will need washers. On the one I have the bolt was too short to go though the control arm and have washers on it where they needed to be. I need to move it anyhow as I have to clear a path in that area..

[jweb]

It's possible you have the wrong bushings. My control arm bushings look like this

[dsraven]

that would be the poly style bushings I was talking about.
the rubber\steel one look like these links and you can see the rubber usually sits proud of the steel sleeve. usually a liberal amount of silicone grease will enable the rubber to be slid inside the cross member. it could depend on the width of the control arm barrel/sleeve where the bushing presses into though. maybe the control arm was supposed to be used with the polyurethane bushings and the sleeve is a little bit longer? a quick measurement would show if there is room for the extra rubber or not.
the second last link shows the poly bushings from energy suspensions. I have assembled many of these style and they usually slide right in. the poly is machined to be the same length as the sleeve. some use a stainless washer at each end for a smooth contact area with the poly bushing in that area so the sleeve is correspondingly that much shorter than the area it is supposed to fit into. some of these are also grease-able as well, using a grease gun loaded with the proper grease, like the marine grease that is high in lithium content and also water resistant.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Repla...ing,23432.html

http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/Mus...Mustang-II.axd

https://www.raceplumbing.net/Heidts-..._p_107169.html

https://www.suspension.com/blog/the-...hane-bushings/

[whitedog76]

Mine appear to be the OEM style ones. I did get them to go on, with a little effort, but getting the washers slid in there could be a problem.

[mr48chev]

It rained all day here so I did't go dig mine out to look.

[MiraclePieCo]

Are those rubber bushing intended to stick out a bit so when you tighten the nuts they expand out to the proper tension - much like steering rack bushings?

[mr48chev]

I've never studied the "why" of that rubber sticking out unless it is supposed to act as a fore and aft movement cushion between the washer and the A frame. When I was doing front end work and replacing those every day the bigger softer riding cars had bushings with more rubber in that area. The washer still tightened down on the sleeve inside the bushing on the shaft though.

[dsraven]

what I have done on some tight fitting parts like that is use a couple of putty knives or some spare sheet metal, one piece on each side of the bracket where the parts will end up. choose a knife or some sheet metal that will stick out far enough to allow the control arm to be held between the 2 parts in a pre install orientation. lube the flats of the putty knives with some proper lube that won't eat the rubber over time. a c clamp on the metal parts may help to compress the rubber some so it will slip in easier. then you may have an easier time of pushing the bushings into place. once started in deep enough to expose the sleeve in the bolt hole of the bracket then the knives or sheet metal can be pulled out slightly and a round line up bar or other tool may be used to finish the pull in.
hope that helps

[whitedog76]

Thanks for the help guys.

I did get them to go on. I boogered up the lip on the rear bushing a little bit, I don't think it's an issue.

Anyhow, I used a couple sockets and my bench vise, to persuade the bushings. I got about an 1/8" movement, which helped tremendously. When everything is installed and the bolt tightened, we'll be in business.