Upper Control Arm Bushing Fell Out?

[TheRoaringEagle]

Hi, I was looking at my 67 Camaro's front suspension, trying to get an idea on how to lift the front end up. I've been looking over my car for a the past two weeks and to day I noticed that the passenger side upper A-arm is missing its front bolt and bushing off the shaft! So I've never did suspension before and was wondering if this is something I can fix or will I need something jurassic done? Like will I need to take the upper A-arm off and get someone to stuff a new bushing in? Also what parts will I need?

Thanks

[CoryM]

the passenger side upper A-arm is missing its front bolt and bushing off the shaft!

Scary. Make sure to torque ALL other bolts as if you/they missed one, there may be more loose. Dont be afraid to use blue loctite on suspension/steering bolts.
Is it one of the large nuts that came off on the front of the A-arm cross shaft? Or one of the 2 bolts that hold the cross shaft to frame? What kind of bushings? If steel or poly you might be able to just stuff one in but if its rubber you are going to have to take it off and press it in.

[TheRoaringEagle]

I'm pretty sure the bushings are all stock rubber. And the nut that came off is on the front of the A-Arm cross shaft, not on the frame. Can I replace it with a polyurthane bushing?

[CoryM]

I wouldnt stick a poly bushing in there. Sounds like you are going to have to remove the a-arm and get a new bushing in there. I am a little suprised that the rubber has come out though. Its pretty tough stuff but with a nut/washer missing who knows what happened. Dont suppose you have a pic of the area? To replace your upper control arm you do not have to remove the lower arm and spring. You have to leave a jack stand under the lower control arm, then remove the upper. Make sure there is no spring pressure on the upper control arm as you remove the balljoint or else you may hurt/kill yourself.

[MrQuick]

Yeah thats common and I hate when that happens. Most of the builds now get an off set cross shaft...big frickin nuts that don't come loose.

You might get lucky and get it back on. Glad it didn't happen when you were on the road.

[BRIAN]

That is common problem with poly bushings as the bushings slides out of the shell. If that happened with rubber set up you have a problem. Actually GM recommends tack welding outer shell when replacing bushings. If they are poly drill for castle nuts and use cotter pins. Good luck.

[David Pozzi]

Get the shafts with nuts on them. I'd rather have delrin, rubber, or solid bushings before I'd use polly on the A arms.

[zbugger]

Get the shafts with nuts on them....

Damn David. Just be glad you're not in the chat room. Man, that's just bad.....

[jeffandre]

Damn David. Just be glad you're not in the chat room. Man, that's just bad.....

Z,
You are way too fast!!!

[zbugger]

Hey, at least I didn't talk about him mentioning rubber too...... Ooops.....

[David Sloan]

Hee Hee Hee! he said rubber!!!!!

[TheRoaringEagle]

Okay I took pictures of my problem! It looks like I have rubber... right? Anyways I'm in Santa Cruz and the nearest Camaro specialty shop is up near S.F. and I can't really go up there since my car is down. So does anyone know if there is a shop in S.C./Capitola/Watsonville that sells the upper control arm bushing I need? And any shops who can press it in for me? Or anyone wanting to help me out themselves in my area for a fee that I can afford??

Well... Here's a picture of the passenger A-arm falling off the shaft... the rear bushing is intact here.
http://dicom.tv/test/Bushing1.jpg
This is the front of the same A-arm. No bushing!!
http://dicom.tv/test/Bushing2.jpg
Detailed view inside there...
http://dicom.tv/test/Bushing3.jpg

[David Pozzi]

If you have the money get a new pair of tubular upper arms like Global West, DSE, or Speed Tech sell. If not, any shop that does front end work, or any fab shop with a press can install your new bushings, stock rubber type bushings are available at any auto parts store.

You need to tidy up those starter wires, al the small wires should run from the starter then up behind the right hand cyl head up against the rear of the block, it's not good to have them running over the fuel line. The positive battery cable should run from starter along the oil pan rail and come up just forward of the fuel pump.

[TheRoaringEagle]

Yeah, I need a new wiring harness - the wiring now is so... terrible. But thanks for the info on how to do it properly. I had another question, so I should just remove the upper a-arm and the shaft together? Am I going to have to jack the car up a little and have a jackstand under the lower a-arm? Will I have to take the wheel off?

[David Pozzi]

Yes jack up and support the car under the lower A arms on both sides, then remove the wheel and unbolt the A arm at the shaft on the frame, keep count of the shims in there. Then you need to unscrew the upper balljoint stud and separate it from the spindle. A pickle fork is often used but it will damage the balljoint boot. If your upper balljoints are old, this would be a great time to change them.

If you want to remove without damage to the UBJ, jack the car up and support it by the front frame rails, then place a jack under the lower A arm with about 1" clearance, just for safety. Loosen the nut on the upper balljoint about 1/4" and smack the side of the spindle where the joint inserts with a hammer until it breaks free. After it breaks free, jack up the lower A arm until the rubber bumper underneath the upper arm is free of the subframe, then remove the nut and arm.

If you don't feel comfortable doing the above or don't have the tools, just take it to a shop, they will do the bushings fairly cheap. There is a lot of danger doing this work and you don't need to take chances.
I HIGHLY recomend a good manual for any work like this. The GM "Helm" manual is excellent but expensive. Chilton and Haynes have manals.

[CoryM]

David has you going in the right direction. The only thing I will add is to look over the A-arm very closely for cracks around both bushings. It may have jammed against the cross shaft and done damage. Also use loctite and a torque wrench.

[TheRoaringEagle]

Sorry one more lame question... I started removing the A-arm but I'm stuck with it being attached to the spindle still. How hard do I have to smack the spindle side to get it loose? I don't wanna break anything, it seems really pressed in there.

[CoryM]

What you do is leave the balljoint nut loose, but still threaded on the balljoint. Then you lower your jack under the control arm. Keep your fingers clear as the balljoint may loosen at any point and bang the spindle down onto the nut HARD. If you dont leave the nut there, your spring will slam down the lower control arm and possibly bounce out which is pretty dangerous. If it doesnt free up by itself you have to hit the spindle where the balljoint goes into it. You hit it from the side so that when you hit it, the oval hole that holds the balljoint in distorts slightly. It should release like that. Then you jack up the lower control arm until the nut is loose again then remove the upper A-arm. Leave the jack there until the job is done. If you are leaving it for a while, stick a stand or wood under the A-arm in case the jack settles.
Clear as mud??

[Norm Peterson]

This job goes much easier if you're using at least a 2.5# hammer instead of a 12 or 16-oz toy. More hammer mass moving slower works better and is more controllable than less mass with more speed. I generally use about a 3# hammer with a soft punch* to minimize scarring of the spindle, with the added bonus of getting your fingers a little further away from the point of sudden activity.

You might also try jacking the upper arm up a little with your floor jack and a short length of 4x4 to put a little more load on the upper balljoint stud's taper, that also helps. If you use this procedure, I'd recommend loosening the balljoint nut by no more than 1/8", as when the joint "breaks free" it will do so with greater force.

*brass is perhaps ideal, but even a mild steel bar is softer than lots of hammer heads. A short length of 3/4" or larger diameter aluminum rod would probably work, too.

Norm

[gchandler]

I recommend getting a pickle fork or taking the car to someone who does.