upper a-arm questions

[William S.]

I have the upper a-arm out for a rebuild. The a-arm and the shaft came out as a unit. ( I removed the bolts from the ends) I assume held together by the bushing. Can I use a air hammer on the bushing to remove it with out hurting the shaft? I have read several threads about thr removal of the bushings but none talk about the shaft being held in place by the bushing.

[Kenny C.]

Re: upper a-arm questions

No do NOT hammer them out. They must be pressed out using a proper jig to prevent bending the arm or mashing the end of the shaft. If you do not have the proper shop and tools please take them to a machine shop or front end shop that is equipped to do the job correctly. You will be happier in the end getting it done right and not destroying perfectly good parts.
Regards
Kenny

[Joe L.]

Re: upper a-arm questions

I have the upper a-arm out for a rebuild. The a-arm and the shaft came out as a unit. ( I removed the bolts from the ends) I assume held together by the bushing. Can I use a air hammer on the bushing to remove it with out hurting the shaft? I have read several threads about thr removal of the bushings but none talk about the shaft being held in place by the bushing.

William-----


You can use an air hammer with a SHARP chisel attachment tool to remove the bushings with virtually no damage to the arms, but there's a real technique to it. I don't know that I'd recommend it for a "first timer".

Otherwise, the procedure to remove the bushings and shafts is well covered in the Chevrolet Service Manual. Special tools are specified which are no longer available, but can be improvised.

The bushings have to be removed in order to remove the shaft.

[Gene M.]

Re: upper a-arm questions

William,
The bushings are press fit into the sheet metal A-arm. Bushings are slip fit on the shafts, but age and rust make them as one. Burning out the rubber and then pressing out the remains is about as easy as it gets. Another way is to drill around the rubber if you want to avoid the smoke and smell. Care must be taken not to bend the sheet metal arms as you remove the bushing steel shells.

Arbor press and some steel blocks to use as spacers and supports is most helpful. Surely a messy brute force job, have fun......

[Terry M.]

Re: upper a-arm questions

I have done over 50 bushings with an air hammer with little or no damage to the control arm, but as Joe said there is a technique to it. You really need someone to show you how to do it, words will NOT work.

Getting them out is only half the battle. You will have to get the new ones in. That requires some tools which can be fabricated easily -- just look at the FSM (Factory Service Manual) to see how the Kent Moore tools work and fab something like them.

Suspension work is the closest thing to black-smithing we have now days, but it is not for a Neanderthal. It does require a little forethought and a lot of grunt work.