Replacing Ctrl Arm Bushings?

[vteckiller]

All right, a few weeks ago i made a post about a wobble sound, and in the process of it, i noticed both my upper control arms where shot, and need replaced, i know they made the bushing kit, what im getting at i guess is it more worth it to just buy the whole assembly with a bushing already set up and a ball joint ect ect, or get the bushing kit?(my control arms look clean and not damaged just the bushing is shot) and how are is it press out and in the old/new bushing?

[vteckiller]

The upper is the one im currently talking about for " pressing " it out and back in.

[2oodoor]

Big time saver to just buy the assy., some don't come with complete bushings you need though, just ball joint.

[vteckiller]

Big time saver to just buy the assy., some don't come with complete bushings you need though, just ball joint.

Right right.. i know how to remove and reinstall them.. just didn't wanna spent time and then rage on the part because its pressed in with more force than can push out without a press.. the assembly is like 50$ and the bushing is 13$ i dunno what kind of rubber its made of but for 13$ i would suspect replacement in the near future.. the assembly is lifetime warranty too..

[Dr_Snooz]

Buy the assembly. I recommend buying only Moog parts, unless you want a lot of squeaking.

[DBMaster]

LOL. Don't get me started. I am going to have to disassemble my P/S UCA again because it starts squeaking any time the ambient temp is above 65. I'll have to use a thinner grease like I did for the D/S.

[Vanilla Sky]

I often wonder why the UCA isn't greaseable. There's nothing keeping us from drilling a hole and putting a zerk fitting in it. I'm willing to bet that would go a long way to keeping those from being so noisy.

[vteckiller]

Welp i found some at Orielys, there 20 for the left side, 25 for the right side, overnighted to Orielys.. cant beat 45$ for a replacement, i got some tips for those trying to do the same thing i did.. when you go to bust the ball joint out from the arm.. use pb blaster and put a floor jack with a dish, and jack the rotor up a lil tell you see the car move not the arm, then smack on it and it should be way easier that trying to hulk it with no jack on rotor.. hope i aint just babbling for nothing.. hope this helps.

[vteckiller]

and just on a side questions, a wheel bearing wouldnt make a car either have a slight wobble feeling/and sound would it? they usually squeel and sound gnarly when they're shot correct?

[DBMaster]

I just replaced mine and they sounded as you describe. If they get THAT noisy it could actually be dangerous.

[vteckiller]

Hmm.. I've gone to california for a job and back.. It's weird.. I took it to one shop they said front right wheel bearing.. i took it to my main shop they said its my tires.. i got new tires. it still makes the sound. i replaced the 2 rear upper control arms. the sound got less loud/noticable, i am replacing the two front tomorrow when the parts arrive at Oreilys. Overnight shipping on the Two front Upper control arms with ball joint assembly. ill see if that dont help.. cause most shops walk up to the tires see if they rock and say.. Wheel bearing instantly..

[Dr_Snooz]

I often wonder why the UCA isn't greaseable. There's nothing keeping us from drilling a hole and putting a zerk fitting in it. I'm willing to bet that would go a long way to keeping those from being so noisy.

Most of the squeaking comes from the pivot arm, not the ball joint. The bushings on it are a super tight fit. I'm not sure how you could zerk it, but I haven't really thought about it either.

[Vanilla Sky]

It shouldn't be too hard to drill the upper control arm halfway between the bushings. That's what I was referring to. The next time I'm working on the suspension of ANY vehicle and there are moving parts that don't have grease fittings, I'm going to install them wherever possible.

[DBMaster]

^^Interesting idea. Unfortunately, I think that the noise comes from the sintered bronze rings in the rubber bushings rubbing the insides of those chrome plated caps. I don't think a grease gun would push grease into that interstice.

I have thought about adding a very thin teflon washer into that space. What makes it even tougher is that changing ambient temperature affects the "tightness" of the assembly. So, they might be quiet when cold and then noisy when warm, or vice-versa. Crappy design, really crappy.

[POS carb]

I have prelude arms so correct me if I'm wrong but I am 99% sure you don't need any special equipment to change the upper arm bushings in the front. They should just slide out when you pull the bolt out. Hell I'm willing to bet you can do it with the parts still on the car! just jack it up and pull off the wheel. Remove the 2 nuts that hold it to the body and spin it around with the joint still attached.

[Vanilla Sky]

Mine fit pretty snugly. It's probably possible on the car, but if I'm investing the time in the job, I'd go ahead and pop the ball joint and do it outside of the car.

[DBMaster]

You could do it by removing the two nuts holding the UCA to the body, but it is MUCH easier just to pop the ball joint and remove the whole arm. I have done it both ways.

[Dr_Snooz]

@ DBMaster: Stupid question, but are you greasing up those bronze rings?

Oh, and +2 points for using obscure words in your post. :thumbup:

[vteckiller]

all right Oreilys Over Night Shipped my Front Left Upper Control Arm and my Front Right Upper Control Arm it cost me, $20 for the left, and $25 for the Right Part numbers are cb60005 and cb60007 you'll need the bushings they sell as well cause the assembly is a tad smaller.. the part number for that is k9580 those are about 12$ for 1, you'll need 2.. it wasn't too hard to remove the parts that where pressed on the old set i needed for the new set cause it doesnt come 100% plug and play, my car still has a slight " wobble " type sound and it sounds as though its coming from the tire. but i am certain it cannot be the tires cause i've replaced them, and put them on some steelies.. instead of the crappy ones it had that where bent cause the tire shop said.. I am thinking now it is either the Wheel Bearing, Wheel Hub, or Possibly the Shaft?

[vteckiller]

I have prelude arms so correct me if I'm wrong but I am 99% sure you don't need any special equipment to change the upper arm bushings in the front. They should just slide out when you pull the bolt out. Hell I'm willing to bet you can do it with the parts still on the car! just jack it up and pull off the wheel. Remove the 2 nuts that hold it to the body and spin it around with the joint still attached.

ehh.. kinda them things are so compacted together from age, weather, grime. god knows.. mine too my brother standing on it and a wrench and me with a breaker bar on the other nut to finally get it to break free.. was hard as hell.. hardest part in the job!

[DBMaster]

@ DBMaster: Stupid question, but are you greasing up those bronze rings?

Oh, and +2 points for using obscure words in your post. :thumbup:

"Interstices," right? I used to be an engineering major, after all. I definitely grease up the bronze rings. I even went to the extra expense and trouble of buying new chrome caps from Majestic Honda - just in case my originals had a concave shape from being too tight.

I think my biggest mistake was originally torquing to 40 ft-lb. Maybe my torque wrench is inaccurate. That was WAY too tight.

[Dr_Snooz]

@DBMaster: You might try some moly grease on them next time. Something heavy and tacky.

@vtechkiller: If the car has made that noise since getting the new tires, I would suspect the tires. You might have the tire guys give it a listen.

[vteckiller]

@DBMaster: You might try some moly grease on them next time. Something heavy and tacky.

@vtechkiller: If the car has made that noise since getting the new tires, I would suspect the tires. You might have the tire guys give it a listen.

yeah im not sure.. its just frustrating chasing problems, replacing parts trying to see if it will fix the problem.. and i used moly gease (lithium) chassis grease on my ctrl arms and they don't squeek yet..(knock on wood) i also put some on the rubber gasket to keep it from getting dried up and cracked..

[DBMaster]

It was the moly wheel bearing grease that was TOO thick. I had better luck with the general purpose moly grease, which is a little thinner, but thicker than white lithium.

[Dr_Snooz]

In that case, use the white lithium grease. That's all I used and it's been great.

[DBMaster]

I just redid the passenger side UCA yesterday. The left side has been quiet since I replaced the grease with the multi-purpose moly. I literally tweaked the tightness of the nut on the long bolt until it operated smoothly with the UCA disconnected from the knuckle. It was quiet today on the road, but the temp only reached into the 50's. I will know better about my level of success later in the week when it reaches the 70's again. What a PITA!

[vteckiller]

I just redid the passenger side UCA yesterday. The left side has been quiet since I replaced the grease with the multi-purpose moly. I literally tweaked the tightness of the nut on the long bolt until it operated smoothly with the UCA disconnected from the knuckle. It was quiet today on the road, but the temp only reached into the 50's. I will know better about my level of success later in the week when it reaches the 70's again. What a PITA!

i did the 2 rears last year and it gets near the 90s-100s in summer and my rears never squeaked one bit, i just did the two fronts like 2-3 weeks ago? and no squeaks yet. it staying near the 30-40s at night and 40-50s during day right now.. i used lithium grease on them.. took the rubber seal off. then slapped some in there.. put that seal back on. its basically trapped in by that rubber seal. i am making adjustable fronts and rears here next month when i get the supplys. i post pics.

[89HatchbackLxi]

I don't mean to thread jack, but I'm having a problem with the control arm bushings as well and wanted to put a quick question in here since this is on the same topic...

I'm getting so sick of the awful squeaking + rubbing metal noises coming from around the driver side control arm area that I'm almost to the point where I might just get EVERYTHING around that spot replaced. I got all 4 of my shocks & the front 2 springs replaced a few months ago, and found that only made the problem worse. When they replaced my shocks they put a universal bushing in but I don't think it was a correct fit since it sounds terrible when in certain temps. I can't believe a simple bushing could make so much of a difference. Does anyone have an idea of what the best replacement brand of bushing to put it would be? Or better yet the best brand of control arm assembly I can get and where to get it? I can't stand that noise!

[Dr_Snooz]

Short answer is that Moog is the best replacement brand. However, I'm not sure that your problem is related to the upper control arms or bushings. You might want to start a new post with a thorough description of the problem.