The Achilles Heel Of The Classic Era Mopar - The Dreaded Lower Control Arm Bushing 

The air chisel actually works nice to remove them old bushing steels. Also the inner ones come off pretty easy if you heat them with a torch and use an air chisel to push them off the shaft.

Many many years ago I talked with Global West Suspension about bushings for Mopar control arms; they produce the Del-Alum bushings for other makes; they said it could not be done properly for the lowers because of the strut rods. The control arm can't move up and down on its pivot in a perfect single plane because the strut rod makes it move slightly forward and back during travel, and the 'give' in the rubber bushing was needed to prevent binding (or bending) of suspension components. Urethane has a little bit of give (Global West's delrin bushings did not). I've never tried urethane but I do remember spending many hours trying to replace the stock bushings (with new stock bushings) back then.

You are over thinking it. I pop those out with an air chisele in seconds.

I did not finish your video before commenting, but that poly bushing is what I used, worked great. Don't expect much resistance when installing the pivot pin.

Suspension is hard dirty job on most cars Old or New the same.

Hi T, with all of the deepest respect. All control arm bushing are locked in place, and the arms rotate around the rubber bushing and not the bolt. The rubber bushing flexes rotationally and keeps pressure on the inner sleeve to maintain its position. This is why you have to "load" the control arm with the vehicle weight, and the spring/T Bar in place, if you don't and tighten the control arm you will over torque the rubber in the bushing when you have the vehicle sprung, leading to premature failure, or the vehicle will have the "Carolina Squat". Also you are right, one bushing was never enough for a heavy car like this, Ford trucks use two bushings. Anyway not trolling, just adding knowledge at no extra cost 😉 Blue Mule N.C.

This is exactly the reason why I sold my '74 Scamp. I kept having issues with the front end wandering all over the place and I had no idea what to do to fix it. I replaced every bushing on the front end but couldn't get it figured out. I believe the K member was wollered out. I ended up selling the car and getting back into Mustangs. So my dive into Mopars was short lived. That lil 318 ran great though. I eventually saw the car a few times on the highway and was excited to see that it was still alive.

Also, dont know if you knew this but the 1960 and 1961 chevy C10 pickup had torsion bars but they learned their lesson and went to coils!!!

Dang, even I have a press. Get one from Harbor Freight, on sale for ~$150 for the 12-ton.

I spent the first 16 years of my mechanical career doing suspension, both standard and high performance. Those were my biggest hate. Unfortunately word got around that I knew how to do them and I was doing them constantly.

I just rebuilt a '63 Fairlane front end; the lower control arm is not that bad. The Coil Spring could kill a man. Be careful on a ford coil spring. I love the adjustable torsion rid. Cool Engineering.

In high school, we had a friend bring in his 1971 charger into auto shop to replace those. Apparently the teacher knew what he was in for because he put the car in a spot of the garage where it could sit for a while. Took a couple months worth of classes to get those torsion bars out and the job done.

Awesome, good to know because I will have a 66 67 charger one day.

My workshop manuals in Australia say to wind a tap can't remember the size, into the shell and then press the tap and shell out from the T/B socket. Agreed though , it's a lousy set up. On freedom to move in operation though, The LCA pin nut should not be tightened until the vehicle is at the required ride height. The degrees of rotation the LCA goes through in service is well below the sheer point of the rubber bushing, so it allows the LCA to 'spin' about the center line of the LCA pivot pin without tearing either the rubber or it's vulcanized bond to the inner and outer shells. Just as crucial is the strut rod rubber. If it is sub par it will allow the LCA to move around just as badly with the corresponding effects on suspension geometry. And don't get me started on those aftermarket radius/strut rods that have a pivot located no where near the intersection of a line drawn through the LCA pin forward to a point where it bisects the plane of the 'K' frame, which is the geometric center of the radius/strut rod bushing.,

I had a '65 Barracuda you couldn't do a front end alignment to because of that same bushing issue!

Chrysler, Ford and GM all at some time had some less than desirable front suspension designs, nice video, nothing like some factory inspired cold chisel action.

Well Tony they are fairly hard to replace but I think they lasted at least 20 years, and do you have some kind of better design that would work for that lower control arm?

Have you considered replacing with a machines bronze bushing and drilling a grease fitting?

Tony this is my own sore burn! They suck, so many failures on that damn bushing and the surrounding metal.

There's a few cars with a bushing that "twists" when the control arm moves up and down. Pretty crap system, but with the Mopar's that pin is so big it doesn't leave a lot of bushing for movement!

I've done those on my 69 roadrunner , they suk badly. Sloppy strut rod bushings causes those to go. And overtightening torsion bars which gives too much height does it too

Tony,why not have a machinist make a bronze Oilite bushing and add a zerk fitting?

i did them on my 73 Charger . Worst part was removing the inner bushing from the pin . I hated more changing Ball Joints . Those screw in ball joints are the worst . Why did Mopar decide to go with GM style Ball Joints ? What a curse .

Thanks for the info

You got a part # on the slip fit bushings, tony?

The bolts get rust welded into the sleeve inside the bushing nightmare hate it Sometimes you have to stick a blade in between the mount flang and the Bush and cut the bolt off to get Them out It's like a 1/2 A-day of suck if you're fast on a lift On the ground it's like take a break every 10 minutes and go spend 40 more dollars On saw blades

How many years are these type of bushings in ?

What's the go with digido music in the background

I wonder how the PST bushings would survive. Graphite impregnated polyurethane bushings that are self lubricating.

I never did a lower control arm bushing,,,,,and now I really don't wanna do a lower control arm bushing.

Better than disassembling the entire car to replace a timing chain.

I think the most surprising thing to hear this time is that Tony doesn't have a press. I have one, and I do one half of one percent of the stuff he does. And mine gets used on occasion.

An old tractor mechanic I worked with many years ago showed me you could shrink a bushing or a bearing race by welding inside it with a stick welder.

I raced stock body Mopars on circle track for 25 years and they held up well. I even used Mopar racing torsion bars. I can't say it's a bad design.

That's the first thing I replaced on my 66 Satellite. I went with Mancini Racing greasable pivots and bushings. Time will tell how well they hold up.

I did a complete tear down on my 73 Challenger and used the PST poly bushing kit with the grease pivot pins. Made a world of difference

Tony I just pulled my set out of the mailbox for my 67 GTX about ten minutes before you put this video up! What are the odds???? Carry on I'm watching! LMAO!

I actually don't mind doing these on Oz Valiant, one of those jobs people despise, but I'm cool with them. The "Special tool" we use, is a 1-3/8" tap. Screw it into the outer shell, then press out the tap. Welding a washer in, is another accepted practice too. One point to remember, is to only tighten the main nut fully, after the car is at ride height and settled. Hope it all goes smoothly Tony.

That’s one of the first things you should replace Besides the brakes. And also all ball joints. Including the tie rods. Steer and stop should be at 100% then figure out powertrain/electrical after the foundation is set.

I definitely want to see a video of those non press fit bushings!

I'm running the urethane bushing kit on my Dart including leaf spring bushings. Seems like it works pretty good. Ride is more harsh but handling is better.

Late 70s running A body cars with B body front clips on oval tracks we would torch the rubber out of the bushings and machine a UHMW plastic bushing and reassemble. Self-lubricating. zero looseness, never had a problem after that.

I remember a dude in school went over a speed bump coming into the lot, and the right side didnt come back up. Blame rust,it ripped the arm and torsion bar out of the body.

They are not that bad Tony. I have done them a bunch of times. But to my advantage, I had at my disposal a press and a lathe and a drill press. I usually turned both sides around in 3 hours, wheels off to wheels on.

Steve Dulcich has a trick to rebuild these. There is a video out there where he does it. Weld a washer to the bushing and use a hammer to knock it out with a big bolt.

And things get worse with those fine replacement parts we have today...

Tony, I went through that the first time on my 1969 Roadrunner. What a treat! I used a thick washer welded to the metal outer piece and pressed it out. I have 3 more Mopar's getting the rebuild. Go over to Harbor Freight, or Northern tool and get yourself a 20-ton press. I know you are a way more experienced mechanic than I am, but it'll save you some aggravation. I believe I will try the newer style ones on my 70 Road runner. All the best from N.C!

Thanks for the tip on welding washer into the bushing. Would have saved a lot of chiseling

While it's apart, don't skimp on changing, or at least checking the radius rod/brake reaction rod bushes too.

I know back then you didn't see very many 440 & 426 hemi Charger, Most of them was 383 & 318. I love your Charger

Used the Prothane bushings many times easy to install.

The upper control arm bushing ain't no treat either. Not as bad as lowers..

I was watching Roadkill Garage and Dulcich had a special tool he made for this......worked pretty slick.

I did a total rebuild/restoration on a friends 69 Barracuda. I had crossed this bridge, too. I have a press so the job wasn't to bad. However. I am a GM guy and never have I ever worked on a more Mickey Mouse, messed up, dumb ass engineered platform in my life. Those MoTars are a joke in my opinion. Never will I ever do another MoTard again. Like the styles of some of the cars but despise the engineering of them. Garbage.

Quit crying about something you feel is a bad design when it has lasted HOW MANY DECADES??????? These cars were designed to last 7-10 years and again, HOW MANY DECADES????? Sheesh!!!

GM really did win this round with the massive lower "A" frame instead of the strut rod.

Thanks for shedding light on this and showing how the torsion bar is attached. I have a couple of C-bodies from the era and I’m as yet not overly familiar with Mopars from this era.

I did one on a dart a while back and it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t too good either but it wasn’t the worst thing I ever did at work. The bushings were completely gone and I replaced the worst side for my sales guys personal car. I just remember having to take a lot of stuff off and put a lot back but overall wasn’t terrible job… my snap on air hammer and a torch was very helpful with this job.

I deal with similar bushings quite a bit , I usually run a die grinder down the outer shell ( just enough to weaken it ) then use a sharp chisel next to the cut to collapse it . Care is needed, but it works good

Yeah seems you're just whining about doing maintenance on a fifty-year-old car every car has a bushing that doesn't spend when the control arm moves they all wear out

WHY are you not demonstrating it? Or at least showing the replacement bushing? This is just a rant, UT.

I know there is an actual bearing kit for those that gets rid of the bushing and replaces it with a spherical bearing. I think that is likely what I would do in these cases.....screw the cost, once and DONE 5 ever....that is twice as long as 4 ever. LOL

2007 Chrysler 300 same problem front end is junk never had that problem with the old cars

It probably helps to leave the pin to k member nut loose until it’s back on the ground resting to eliminate some of the deflection in the bushing.

Nightmares of my youth doing them with no press. But on these rusty northern cars usually by the time you actually got the torsion bar and the arm out the actual bushing was the least of your worries.

These are a piece of cake. You don't need a welder. I thread an 1-3/8" tap into the outer shell, and press it out. Works every single time. I've been doing it that way since the early 80's and it's literally painless.

I can see where that welding a washer onto the bush to remove them could be used in other situations, thanks for sharing, all the best to yous and your loved ones

I worked at K-Mart Automotive in 1974. Almost all the work I did was front end work and brake jobs. Mopars were my bread and butter with the front end stuff. Nearly new Dusters, Satellites, Chargers and Road Runners would come in and I could make money betting the front end was worn out already. Lower ball joints seemed to be the biggest offenders, but control arm bushings and idler arms were right up there in the frequency of needing replacement. I'd put it on the rack and invite the customer to accompany me while I inspected the suspension because I knew I was going to sell them some front end parts. I jiggled the idler arm of a road runner once and the thing literally fell apart in my hand. It was a wonder there hadn't been a tragedly already. As impressive as Mopars were in most ways, I was least impressed with the quality of the front ends they designed.

upper control arm bushings are another pain in the backside. They also are changed twice in a lifetime of the vehicle.

get a press, a top notch mechanic like you, Mopar figured you'd have a press.

Less talking and let's see more work.

Install a front clip from a 2nd gen Camaro, bob's your uncle.

I thought you were going to say the Achilles heel was the upper ball joints...at least on the A bodies. It seemed like they didn't last as long as they should. I loved almost everything else about the cars though and I didn't even mind changing the other front end components when they eventually wore out. The only other complaints I had about Mopars was all the electrical power being fed through the bulkhead to the amp meter and those pesky wiper pivot seals leaking. Man I always wished I could rebuild a transmission myself and rebuild the bottom end/short block of an engine myself. I was fine with the top-end but I never did Master the bottom end. Keep up the great videos Tony.

I bought and installed a poly-graphite kit from PSC in my old ‘68 Dodge Coronet in 1990. The outer shell of the lower control arm bushing stayed in the lower control arm. The car was from SoCal and I was lucky because there was no corrosion on the car. The suspension cleaned up with degreaser. That same suspension set up is still on the car today, and I have put over 20,000 miles on it with no issues.

Seems like it should be a steel pin and bushing with 2 grease zerks?

Trying to use a front coil spring compressor on a 70 to 81 camaro or firebird with out killing your self or innocent bystanders is way down on my having fun with old cars list.

Every expensive tool I ever bought I ended up using it way more often than I ever anticipated.

Been there Many times brother! 🤦 Without a press too, it's definitely a fight. Fortunately I bought a press; and I remember the first set of these I did with it...SO Easy! 😳I was like, dammit why didn't i do this Sooner!

A very similar design and, thus, a similar problem is on 1st gen WD21 Nissan Pathfinder/Terrano. Maybe Datsun 720 pickups, 4WD D21s as well. I live in a salt belt and oh boy, getting out the bolts that go through the inner bushing sleeve was a Herculean task. Spent two days with a die grinder and sawsall just to cut the bolts remove the control arms, then fabricobbled a hole saw from a piece of tube to cut out the rubber and only then was able to push out the outer sleeves. It's a freaking pain on these IFS designs.

Spot on, if somebody has the arm out already....most shops would charge some stupid low fee to get them out and in, assume they come out good. Would save i'd guess HOURS of pain.

The bushings don’t have a center sleeve correct ?

If you go with the polygraphite bushing you just remove the rubber that’s all jacked up and leave the bushing sleeve in place . Grease up the poly bushing and slide it in . I picked up the set from Rockauto with the oversized (bushing side) pivot pin and the best thing of all is it’s greasable . ProForged 12010003 I use a ball joint press to push the old units out .

I have a 99 Dakota that does exactly what you described tony. As my (wretched) roads curve and the newer top coat in the center of the road dips and bows it pulls my truck hard. If I let my hand off the wheel for a second at 55 the truck tries to kill itself. Not ever road does this to it but the half-assed roads that need to be re paved between counties are the worst. The truck must have flirtin with disaster playing on repeat somewhere at all times. On the expressways it's fine, but I don't have torsion bars in that truck. And I know the rubber could be bad but it's passed inspection every time and they never brought it up meanwhile theyve mentioned my rear axle has a slight clunk if you push the driver side wheel in and out but there's hardly any movement. Just the nature of the c clip

64 Dodge shop manual recommends using a 1-3/8 inch tap, inserting it half the depth of the bushing. Then use a hand press and a blunt drift to force the bushing out. I thankfully haven’t had to replace mine yet.

I have a 63 Dart GT that's No.3 on my project list. Everything in the front end is toast. I've had all the parts sitting around for a few years now, and for the reasons you stated, they'll likely sit around a few more.🤨

I wonder if the bushing can be replaced with a bearing...

You'd absolutely love the kingpin retrofit for jeep ball joints, think it's available for dodge trucks too. Much like the urethane control arm bushing it will last longer and perform better. Yet another Achilles tendon undone.

The polyurethane bushings are the only way to go IMHO. 20 years ago I replaced the lowers in my '71 with them and never looked back. Grease the crap out of them with silicone grease when you put it together and all that friction and wear you were talking about becomes a thing of the past. Those bushings are the 'fix' for the the lousy design. Period.🏁🏁

I had my Coronet front suspension rebuilt with poly-graphite bushings. It was a huge improvement, but squeaked all the time afterwards.

Interestingly enough, my 1972 International Harvester Travelall Station Wagon has torsion, bars that go to the upper control arm, BUT it uses identical control arm bushings to a vintage mopar.

I feel you brother. On my 1966 Satellite in high school, I had to do these and after failure after failure, I had to finally pay somebody to do them. Then 15 years later, I had a 1974 Duster with shitty lower control arm bushings. Now this is still "pre-youtube" years and I bought a tool to do them and it still sucked more than Texas in the summer time. Now, 35 years after high school I have a 1965 Barracuda that had bad lower control arm bushings. I said in no uncertain terms, "screw that I'm not dealing with them" and replaced both the upper and lower control arms with QA1 arms LOL. Problem solved forever!!

I re-bushed and rebuilt the front end of my 73 nova with sledge hammer on a tree stump. Took two days and a huge amount of determination. I was 19 or so. I still have the car.

I’m a Pontiac guy but I friggin love your videos , but I have to say that control arm design is absolutely awful lol I’ll stick with my springs . Lol my buddy is a mopar guy we always talk shit on each other lol

Can you do a video on 79 duster front suspension

Every manufactured piece of equipment has its WORST DESIGN PROBLEM!!!!!!

It’s been a decade or three for my last mopar bushing experience and I know your pain. Usually when they were gone I’d be replacing a lot of other equally worn out parts and it offset any headaches I’d have with these. Just one of those wtf things that cause the high rates of divorce and alcoholism in the trade. I’d like to see those fancy ones mentioned. Mandala? Sound nice and precise.

Being a dentist way back I took the lower control arm's of my Roadrunner to the surgery. Lunchtime I used the turbine drill to cut a groove into the metal housing and got it out fairly easy. Now I'm retired and my '66 Fury needs it's bushings replaced🙈. Just hate even the thought of doing it. Thanks for the great videos Tony👌

Waa, waa waa, my 57 year old bushing went bad and I gotta replace it. Maybe I'm over reacting but I wish they over engineered the bushing too so I wouldn't have to change em because I hate doing bushings. Let me stop crying and change em. Happy Motoring and Happy Bushing Repairs.

because you need a good press to install them ? Back in the day i just bought some polyurethane bushings , brought the lower control arms to my local auto parts place and they installed them for 20 dollars . not an issue at all . The Mopar front suspension was designed for stock car racing ! Tony thats a Cool trick to remove outer bushing collar if you have a welder , never saw totally gone rubber bushing , but i worked on them in the 80's to early 90's., my own cars that is .People may not like how this suspension takes bumps and pot holes , but i near the end of owning one found that front drag shocks made the ride amazing ! Adjustable Drag Shocks ! Yes on the street for bumpy roads ! no more bottoming out ! they fight the front end from collapsing and allow upward travel ! Its like stock shocks on this suspension system is designed to destroy it !

First. Nothing like pulling the hub , torsion bars, and strut rods just to replace a bushings. Love it lol