I would like to replace the bushings in my 87 2wd pickup with poly-urethane bushings. However last weekend when I tried to remove the driver side upper control arm I ran into a silly problem.

Once everything is loose I can't seem to be able to actually move the UCA away from the wheel well. I either have to remove the steering shaft/gear and/or bend or cut the wheel well sheet metal. Saddened by this unexpected turn of events I put everything back together and bear the squeeking and wasted original bushings for a little while longer ;-) (with 225K+ miles on the odometer!).

I haven't found any mention online or in the haynes and chilton manuals about this particular issue. Am I missing something obvious? is there some special way to turn and twist it so it can be removed? Do I first have to remove the control arm shaft? That'd be difficult, considering the bushings are kinda hard to remove.

Note, this is 2wd and I suspect the passenger side UCA would still be stuck by the wheel well sheet metal.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Unbolt the BJ. And remove the 2 bolts where it mounts to the frame. Make sure not to mix up the aligntment shims.

Where are u trying to unbolt it from?? Its not that hard to do.

 

i agree with jetas, get the ball joint loose. i've pulled a bunch of them at junkyards and they come out easy with the balljoint loose.

just take out the 4 bolts that hold the balljoint on.

 

Do you mean that when the balljoint is removed there is an opening at the front of the UCA so you can slide it out? I considered that but I looked closely at the control arm and it seemed like even with the balljoint removed the thing was still closed (loosely resembling a triangle).

 

Dont u have bolt in BJs? If so unbolt it from the UCA and leave the BJ bolted to the spindle. And if the BJs are pressed in then bust em loose from the spindle and remove the UCA.

 

"If so unbolt it from the UCA and leave the BJ bolted to the spindle."

I actually removed the balljoint from the spindle, and it was still attached to the control arm. I also unbolted the shaft from the frame.

The problem is that I can not raise the control arm high enough to free it from the frame before it hits the sheet metal, in addition the steering column is making it impossible to turn it so I can get it out. In effect the frame's mounting bracket is blocking removal of the control arm.

 

I think I had to bend the inner fender metal a little bit to get the control arm out....



But thats the least of your problems. Getting the bushings out of the UCA is a battle all itself.

Have fun!

 

OOOOOH YEA!!! Just bend the metal. U can always unbolt the steering shaft. I forgot mine came off easy cuz the body was of the frame. Lol

 

"I think I had to bend the inner fender metal a little bit to get the control arm out...."

I guess I'll have to do that then, bummer.

"But thats the least of your problems. Getting the bushings out of the UCA is a battle all itself."

Yeah, but I am keeping the metal sleeve in the control arm. I've got a 12 ton press I used to press out a rear axel bearing which I think will come in helpful. Otherwise I think I'll use a torch.

A month or 2 ago I replaced the rear leaf spring bushings with poly ones and I used a portable bearing pushing tool (it's one that has 3 "legs"). I did have to apply a lot of pressure but eventually the bushings, including the metal shell gave out with a loud bang.

 

I had the same issue and gave up because i didn't want to mess with the body panels.

Can you please post up how things turned out and maybe take a pic or two? I replaced every other bushing on my truck but couldn't figure those ones out

 

Haven't had a chance yet to work on it, but I'll post an update once I'm done.

 

I just finnished up the drivers side about an hour ago.
heres what I did
with the upper contol arm unbolted at the cross shaft and the ball joint unbolted the arm WILL NOT COME OUT with out doing something that you'll regret or cost you money or you can do it the right way and unbolt the steering shaft at the rag joint and the arm will twist out real easy
if you look at the way the inter fender is made you can see the shape of the arm in the cut out and this is the way the japs had in mind to pull it out

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I was suspecting I had to do it the way you describe. Though because the Haynes manual didn't mention this I thought may be there was an easier way that I just happen to miss...