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View Full Version : Upper and lower control arm bushings.



RTZoD
04-11-2009, 02:47 PM
Whats the safest way to change these. That coil spring makes me nervous. Should I do upper first and lower last or bottom to top. I have jackstands and a 3ton hydraulic jack. Should i spend the money on a spring compressor? I'm just a little scared cause I will be doing this by myself and dont want the spring to fly out and pop my wig. Also when i had my truck in the air yesterday I noticed that the left front tire. Drivers side was out of line. So i did a backyard string alignment And got it close to right. The guy i bought the truck from put new ball joints on and i assume he did it in the yard. Cause it was way off. Anyhow my question on this is can you unscrew the rod coming out of the rack and pinion to the ball joint to make the difference up, without dropping the balljoint out of the spindle? My rod coming out of the rack unscrewed. Is that normal? Or should it be screwed back in until it stops?

DrewzR/T
04-11-2009, 03:00 PM
You dont need a spring compressor. Those are more dangerous than without using one. All you do for the front coil is put it on a jack stand...take your 3 ton jack and jack up your control arm. Unscrew the castle nut a few turns and give it a pop with a hammer to break it loose. Don't beat on it but just a decent hit should pop it loose. Then unscrew the castle nut all the way off. Lift the control arm with the jack to get the ball joint out of the spindle. Once you have the BJ out....slowly lower the jack to the floor and the spring will just fall out.

As for the rack. Yeah the arm going into the rack needs to be screwed all the way in till it stops.

You have to adjust the outer tie rod end and not loosen it from the rack. Just pop out the tie rod and adjust it like that.

RTZoD
04-11-2009, 03:24 PM
Cool thats what i was thinking. The rod was already loose so i will tighten that up. I think the former owner used it to make up the gap instead of dropping the ball joint out. Just boguht new pads and drilled/ slotted rotors and control arm bushing from Summit. So i will have a nice weekend project.

sunike32
04-12-2009, 02:07 AM
I am knee-deep into the bushing install (I am doing all 4 ball joints and Hotchkis coils, sway and Bilsteins too). Use Drew's method for taking it apart. I am doing it myself and it really is simple.

You have to reuse the upper control arm bushing outer sleeve, so I burned the upper bushings out with a torch. My upper bushings have been in the freezer for a couple days, and may get to install them tomorrow. I have all four arms off the truck and finished prepping them today. Tomorrow morning I am going to coat them in POR15 and then install ball joints and upper bushings. Have to take the lowers to a buddy with a hydraulic press...

Just post up any problems you have so I can learn too!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/sunike32/DSCN0306.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/sunike32/DSCN0303.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/sunike32/DSCN0309.jpg

The last picture you can see the upper bushings burned out...

RTZoD
04-12-2009, 03:22 AM
Damn I hope i dont need a torch. Are they pressed in? I'll figure out a way to remove them. I have the shop manual downloaded So i guess it will tell me how to remove the bushings. If you need the shop manual i have a link for it. Its free.And very useful. Its 80 mb kinda slow download but worth the wait.

http://rs215.rapidshare.com/files/49583398/2000_Dakota_FSM.rar

Another note: tried screwing that rod in to tighten it and it just kept turning. Not sure if thats normal or not. But it was freely turning and no sign of getting tight. If anyone knows about the rack and pinion and the steering rods that come out of it let me know if thats normal.

I think they are a ball and socket type connection and they're made to rotate. As per this picture.http://www.aa1car.com/library/steering_rack_cutaway.gif

sunike32
04-12-2009, 03:40 AM
I have the 2000, 2001 and 2003 FSMs on my computer that I have found on the forums since I had my first Dakota about 6-7 years ago. Thanks for the offer though.

I was successful in using a propane torch and just burning the ends then finally pushing it out with an old nasty screwdriver. You have to be careful not to damage the outer sleeve since it needs to be reused.

I'm not sure if the FSM actually tells how to get the bushings out; I never bothered to look. I have heard the lowers are the hard ones and generally a hydraulic press is needed. I have been warned that the CA will bend so you need to have support between the two bushing locations when pressing.

RTZoD
04-12-2009, 03:45 AM
Thanks for the heads up. This is gonna be fun.

sunike32
04-12-2009, 04:23 AM
It's much more pleasant doing the work with no time constraints. The ball joints aren't nearly as hard as people on here make it out to be and I'm doing the work with no air tools; it's just time consuming to grind and drill all the rivets. It's certainly easier when the arms are off the truck, too.

I wish I could help you out on the steering issue, but I am unfamiliar with it.