Poly Control Arm Bushings on 1st gen W-body

[xtremerevolution]

Here is a rough idea of what you need to do to make your life easy with this part of the mod.

 

 

The black is obviously the control arm itself. The red is the bushing. The bushing is too long, which means you can't just vice press it through and expect it to work. As adam said, it is a VERY tight fit, and unlike rubber, polyurethane doesn't compact very well, especially with a metal sleeve inside. The bushing **will** get longer because of this once it is pushed through by at least 1/4" so you can't accurately cut it to size before pressing it. You can cut it a bit to minimize the length you're pushing through if you really need to.

 

The brown/tan is the outer sleeve from one of the 4 "extra" bushings. This kit is made for the 88 RWD Cutlass, and as a result comes with 4 upper control arm bushings. You'll be using the outer sleeve from one of those pressed against the control arm as shown. You squeeze the bushing through by getting a long bolt, nut, and two large washers that are each bigger than the extra outer sleeve. You tighten the nut and bolt to push the bushing along. You can do this with a vice if you really want to the way Adam did, but as he also pointed out, you need a very good vice to do it.

 

Most importantly **Grease the bushing before pressing it through!!!**

[AWeb80]

cut the bolt and bushing to 2.24" long. When you get it pushed in, the bushing will expand. Cut off what squeezes out.

[xtremerevolution]

cut the bolt and bushing to 2.24" long. When you get it pushed in, the bushing will expand. Cut off what squeezes out.

 

The bolt? Or inner sleeve...

[AWeb80]

inner sleeve and bushing

 

then cut what excess of teh bushing squishes out

[wickedbuick]

Hi there everybody. I thought I'd post this as it may help others do this mod easier.

 

I found a LOWERS ONLY KIT on http://www.energysuspensionparts.com for about $33 USD

 

It is a Lowers Only Version of 3.3156 and the Part number 3.3171 and can be found at

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=3.3171&PARTNER=gbase

 

If you don't need the "extra" bushings to seat the bushings being used this is a great buy. Just wanted to share as this is the route I'll probably take. Looks like its only available in red though. Does anyone notice if they start to squeek after being installed for a while?

Edited April 27, 2010 by wickedbuick

[xtremerevolution]

Hi there everybody. I thought I'd post this as it may help others do this mod easier.

 

I found a LOWERS ONLY KIT on http://www.energysuspensionparts.com for about $33 USD

 

It is a Lowers Only Version of 3.3156 and the Part number 3.3171 and can be found at

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=3.3171&PARTNER=gbase

 

If you don't need the "extra" bushings to seat the bushings being used this is a great buy. Just wanted to share as this is the route I'll probably take. Looks like its only available in red though. Does anyone notice if they start to squeek after being installed for a while?

 

Mine don't squeak at all, and I've had them in longer than anyone else has.

 

I can't stress enough how much you need to follow my writeup for this and have everything prepared. Your car will be down for at least 1 day, maybe 2, depending on how well prepared you are. Do yourself a favor and memorize every step. It sounds like a simple modificaiton, but there are technical details you have to pay very close attention to, and techniques you'd be wise to follow.

Edited April 27, 2010 by xtremerevolution

[WrathOfSocrus]

Looks like its only available in red though.

 

It looks like they come in black as well. Add the suffix G for black and several places come up with a search at $29.9X. It seems most places tend to advertise the red because people can show off their upgrades. More often than not a search by changing the R suffix to G yields results with ES poly parts. Thanks for the info!

[Dark Ride]

I just wanted to bump this thread up as the information is very good. Having just done this mod I want to thank Xtremerevolution for doing it first and making a detailed write-up for the rest of us. Also the link to this thread is broken from the write-up on the main page, and we should add the note about buying the lowers only kit into the write-up since I missed that and that would've saved me some money.

[xtremerevolution]

I just wanted to bump this thread up as the information is very good. Having just done this mod I want to thank Xtremerevolution for doing it first and making a detailed write-up for the rest of us. Also the link to this thread is broken from the write-up on the main page, and we should add the note about buying the lowers only kit into the write-up since I missed that and that would've saved me some money.

 

Glad it worked out for you. I was actually waiting on WickedBuick to chime in on how it worked out for him. He bought the lowers only and I haven't yet heard back from him regarding how that went, so I don't want to recommend them if they are indeed different from the ones that come in this kit.

 

So what are your impressions? How much of a difference did you notice?

[Dark Ride]

Well, I haven't tried them yet, there isn't a motor in my TGP:lol:. It was one of many mods I've been doing while the car was apart. One thing that made it easier for me was I did it at my dad's work with a 50 ton press. It never got over 1 ton of pressure, but I was able to not only press out the fronts and press the new in, I also used the press to press out just the rubber of the rears and press the poly in. No torching rubber for me.

[xtremerevolution]

Well, I haven't tried them yet, there isn't a motor in my TGP:lol:. It was one of many mods I've been doing while the car was apart. One thing that made it easier for me was I did it at my dad's work with a 50 ton press. It never got over 1 ton of pressure, but I was able to not only press out the fronts and press the new in, I also used the press to press out just the rubber of the rears and press the poly in. No torching rubber for me.

 

But torching rubber and playing with the blowtorch is half the fun!!!

 

In either case, do post up your impressions once the engine is back in.

[Mach 5]

Ive got this mod on my car. It def helps alot turn in is much better and the car will actually oversteer a little. I wonder whats available to mod the rear

 

89 TGP

mods-

addco swaybar

250 rear springs- custom coil overs

front poly mod

intrax fronts

KYB struts

Edited October 8, 2010 by Mach 5

[xtremerevolution]

Nice!!! 5 people have done this mod so far!

[BXX]

Aboot to be 6 soon:thumbsup:

 

Doin this mod will definately tell you how flimsy our stock control arm bushings really are. I can vouch for it as I drove Andrie's car quite a bit.

[jman093]

Hey guys, the ES part number listed on page 1 says it includes bushings for the G-body lower and upper control arms. So I take you're using only half the bushings in that kit? ES makes a kit with just G-body lower control arm bushings for half the price. $32 on summit:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-3-3171G/

Edited October 14, 2010 by jman093

[xtremerevolution]

Hey guys, the ES part number listed on page 1 says it includes bushings for the G-body lower and upper control arms. So I take you're using only half the bushings in that kit? ES makes a kit with just G-body lower control arm bushings for half the price. $32 on summit:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-3-3171G/

 

That has been noted, but it has yet to be confirmed that the bushings are exactly the same. If you want to pick up the kit, IIRC its $26 on amazon, and do so at your own risk. In otherwords, don't come back to me saying the writeup doesn't work. WickedBuick bought that kit, and I'm waiting to hear back from in on whether or not they work.

[rich17]

Could we sticky this please

[pshojo]

Yes agreed

[GOT2B GM]

It's already stickied

[Crazy K]

The bottom kit works. I just need to install them!

[rich17]

Thanks who stickied. I know Andrei did a complete write up but cant find it. Could aslo be stickied with a link to this thread?

 

 

I'll aslo try to take pics of my install next weekend for a more clear picture layout

[rich17]

Totally forgot pics but this went smoother than I thought. It helps alot that I work at a semi truck dealer and had the guys press in the bushings. And when I did the job I had air tools. The forward bolt came out just fine but the rear had to be cut out. I only did one side since I was borrowing shop space but I had to do that side imediately since I hit a curb and bent my control arm. I'll do the other side as soon as it is nice out enough to do it in my own driveway.

[Turbocharged400sbc]

you put the old one in my backyard scrap pile yet?

 

i still have a stack of the Bult field 1/2 mile flyers sitting here

[White93z34]

http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/41614-The-Official-Poly-Control-Arm-Bushing-Writeup

[rich17]

you put the old one in my backyard scrap pile yet?

 

i still have a stack of the Bult field 1/2 mile flyers sitting here

 

Left it at PAF. It had axle grease on it and didnt want to deal with it