Control arm bushings

industrialstrength · Post by **industrialstrength** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:05 pm

Ok, finally I'm getting around to fixing (long over due) a suspension problem my car's been having. It's a vibration in the front driver's side and I narrowed it down to a control arm bushing (it's mangled and loose).
My question is about Energy Suspension. Has anyone seen the control arm bushings sold on cyberauto.com? I wanna order but I'm not sure about this. The bushings are for 87-96 models and the part# is 3-3154. I thought that the control arm design changed within those years. If so how can it be the same part#? Does anyone got info or opinions to share?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 02, 2002 6:00 pm

You are correct they changed in 94-96.
Allthough the rear axles are the same from 87-94, the control arms changed from 94-96.

I'm sure your talking about the rear control arm bushings. They are the vertical units. They wear out really bad compared to the old style.. As far as ordering parts for them, be careful. Most of the time the companys don't even have the 94+ style and will send you the old kind even though they say it's the right newer style..

I went to a local place and for (15/side I think) I got some Federal Mogul replacements.. But I ended up taking them back due to being near-impossible to put them in..

...

Now the Old style control arm's it was easy to replace the bushings. This new style has a metal sleve around the bushing that is pressed into the control arm. When you remove the old one you have to get the metal sleve out. That is problem #1. Then you have to get the new bushing in. that is problem #2.

The way they go in at the factory is the control arms come off the assmbly line still hot and they just pretty much drop the bushings in. Then they cool and contract tightly around them.

** You have to remove the old ones somehow.
Then You have to get the new ones pressed in. You could try it by hand and you will have to heat up the control arm in order to get them in, good luck as a blowtorch won't heat up the metal enough even.

** You could try taking them to a machine shop to have them press them in /out. But they will probably charge at least 30 bucks a side to do this if not more as they will even have difficulty doing this. And you risk damaging the control arms as they are almost sheetmetal thin type material...

The real Solutions:
1 Get all new control arms from GM. Find the Part Number by calling a dealership or something and order them off of GMPARTSDIRECT.COM and it most likely will be cheaper than a dealership.
They come with new ball joints and bushings allready installed. I don't think you need an alignment after replacing them if I remeber right..

2 Swap to the "better" old style control arms. This hasn't been done by anyone before but I think HeavyWoody said he was going to do this to his Z26 this spring. You will probably need the whole H subframe thing or whatever in addition to the control arms.
If you did this then you could get those Poly bushings and they would be easy to put in and never wear out! Hell the factory bushings in those old styles usually didn't wear out!

If you do the swap before he does please post info on how it went as I'm sure lots of people would like to do this as the new style sucks! I still have my worn bushings on as I just decided to leave them until the ball joints go out as well. Mine's not so bad off but it does go "clunk" sometimes...

Chris88CL · Post by **Chris88CL** » Sat Mar 02, 2002 7:01 pm

The only problem I could see you running into is the mounting points for the 3100 compared to the 3.1L. You'd need a 3.1L subframe (93 would be the newest you could get, hence the 3.1L) so it might not have the same mounting points as the 3100. I know the 3100 has that extra mount on the passenger side of the engine compartment by the coolant resevoir that the 3.1L doesnt have. Not sure about the mounts down low as Ive never pulled a 3100 before.

Chris
ICQ: 10833817
AIM: Chris88CL
lezarch@hotmail.com

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Mar 03, 2002 12:44 am

Erich is selling a control arm.. Check it out!

http://www.beretta.net/board....3;t=477

industrialstrength · Post by **industrialstrength** » Sun Mar 03, 2002 5:36 pm

I'd buy the control arm from him but I just ordered bushings and end links from cyberauto last week. I'll let ya know if they are the right ones and how everything goes.
I'm not too hopeful.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Mar 03, 2002 8:37 pm

Well if they are the old style see if they will take them back. I ordered some poly conrol arm bushings from springsnthings.com and called them and explained and they took them back.

If they do work, good luck getting them in. You will have to remove the control arms to do it. Becarefull!
And if you do get them in, tell us how you did and how hard it was (it will be), as poly bushings should last a lot longer than rubber. But I wonder if being so hard that they might pop the whole metal ring out of the control arm when under heavy stress and then that the control arm just won't be as tight anymore and won't hold the bushing in...

I wonder if they have changed control arm styles yet or if 2002 cars still get this dumb design...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Mar 03, 2002 8:57 pm

As it turns out, I won't be doing the swap this spring... I'm waiting until next winter, when I replace lots of things, to replace the front control arms with the older style (complete with Polygraphite front end kit, which includes bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends).

NVMYGTZ · Post by **NVMYGTZ** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 6:05 am

Putting poly bushings in is no big deal once the control arm is removed.
The easiest way to remove the control arm is by removing the sub frame. There are only 6 bolts on each side. Plus what ever motor mounts you have (dependent on year/model).
I popped mine out with a BFH and an old socket and a punch.

Good luck,

industrialstrength · Post by **industrialstrength** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 6:57 pm

Well today I got my control arm bushings and end links from Cyber Auto. The kit for the control arms contains 8 pieces of urethane, 4 metal sleeves and lube. I can't tell if it's the right kit yet 'cause the big bushing in the rear of the arm looks a little diffrent the the one that I'm assuming replaces it. I think it's diffrent looking because the design does away with some uneeded material. Instead of being a straight cylinder it's a little smaller in dia. and it's got a flang at the top. I'm gonna have my old girlfriends couzin look at it. He does nothing but suspension work at his garage.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 02, 2002 2:13 pm

If the bushings you got look like the front control arm bushigns only bigger, then that is the old style and won't work

NVMYGTZ: we are talking about 94-96 and up control arms. the rear bushings on them are really weird and fail quite soon and are #### near impossilbe to remove and replace.

Connect with your social network account