I have a set of front control arms that I'm going to rebuild. They will have x2 ball joints and poly bushings. My question is do you still Need to reuse the outer shells for the bushings or can new ones be used. And I did search this but I saw only very old posts and didn't know if anything changed. Also is there anything else I should do to them while their on the bench or are they ok as is. They will also be blasted and powdercoated
Thanks
Tim
I don't have any experience with pieces for Ford. However, I have a friend with a Z-28 who had issues either removing the shells you speak of or removing the old bushings from the A-arms.
He told me he had to pour gasoline on the old rubber pieces and burn them out.
have your new bushings in your possession before you do anything.
sometimes you can use a 5/16" drill bit and let it "walk" around in the rubber next to the inner tube of the bushing. it will work the tube out and then the rubber comes out easier. burning them out works too but it's messy.
x2 ball joints are for sn-95 spindles...
K thanks. I'm also switching spindles for 5 lug
I have always burnt them out. It is messy, but a whole lot less aggrevating.
I've done it both ways on mine.. when I did the fronts, I found it a lot easier to get the center piece freed up, think I got it hot enough to melt the rubber free and pushed it out... from there, it was quick work getting the rubber out.. heat, drill bits, and a wire wheel on a drill. I used the PST kit and had to reuse outer shells.
I just took mine to a machine shop and paid to have the bushings and ball joints pressed in and out. For all 4 bushings and both ball joints to be pressed in and out was around $60 for me. Took about 15 minutes to do. You might want to look into that before dealing with drill bits and buring the bushings out.
The outer shells must be reused or youll have to buy new factory bushings or new control arms.
What vehicle are the bushings made for ?
I'm thinking fox Mustang.
Forgive me if this is discussed else where. I have not searched.
I think your right I haven't got that far yet
'87-'88 TC uses the same front control arm bushings as '94-'04 mustang.