What's the procedure for replacing the axle side control arm bushings?

TJ4Jim said:
The bushings, axle and arm are all thru bolted and all I am saying is that in rust belt jeeps it all fuses together, your in the PNW and probably not used to that. I had my front axle out on the floor during my frame swap and it took an arsenal to disconnect the control arm from the axle.
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I know, and you're absolutely right.
His axle is also prettier than mine, and is already free from arms. A ball joint press is a good method from removing the bushings.
 
Had to beat mine out with a hammer and chisel. Pressed in the new one with a ball joint press and offset cups. Its no fun. Air hammer would have been handy at the time.
 
I've done this job twice in the last year. I found the easiest way was to just take a good sized drill bit and drill out the rubber of the bushing as much as possible. You might want to lay down a tarp as this makes a mess. If you can drill it out enough to pull out the metal sleeve you are golden. Once you have it drilled out a cheap chisel will let you smack the rim of the busing and start to collapse it in. After it is bent in pretty good you can start prying it and tapping it out with the same chisel. Once it is moving you can either keep prying and tapping it or use and impact socket of the same diameter and hammer to help tap it out. Be a little more gentle on the passengers side as it is possible to bend to mount.
Here are a couple of pictures of one of the bushings to give you an idea of how aggressive you need to be.
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06lj said:
I've done this job twice in the last year. I found the easiest way was to just take a good sized drill bit and drill out the rubber of the bushing as much as possible. You might want to lay down a tarp as this makes a mess. If you can drill it out enough to pull out the metal sleeve you are golden. Once you have it drilled out a cheap chisel will let you smack the rim of the busing and start to collapse it in. After it is bent in pretty good you can start prying it and tapping it out with the same chisel. Once it is moving you can either keep prying and tapping it or use and impact socket of the same diameter and hammer to help tap it out. Be a little more gentle on the passengers side as it is possible to bend to mount.
Here are a couple of pictures of one of the bushings to give you an idea of how aggressive you need to be.
View attachment 248431View attachment 248432
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Same, its sucks.
IMG_5489.JPG
 
Out with an air hammer. In with a ball joint press is how I've done it.
 
Anyone have a part number for the axle side bushings? Or a link to one even better? Have tried but can’t work it out from the parts manual.

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Ignore the black oblong I was watching Netflix when I took the screenshot haha.
 
I think that diagram is wrong because it shows the axle side UCA bushing as if it’s contained within the arm, which it’s not, even though that diagram came from the 2005 parts manual linked in the stickies
 
AjRagno said:
This is what I’ve been considering. It looks like a great option for the driver side but requires welding on the passenger side so I’ve held off so far because I’m not sure doing only one side is acceptable.
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If you're even considering these in the front axle, you have a welder already.
 
The best way? If you don't have a lift, and aren't completely masochistic, form a committee of one. Elect yourself chairman and appoint someone else to do the job. I spent two days trying to get the passenger side (the "easy" side) bushing out. I'm too damn big, my tools are too damn big, I just couldn't get at it well enough with what I had. Fuck it, the local shop did it, and it was a PITA for them as well! The "easy" passenger side bushing came out "like butter" - due to coincidence or my beating on it for 2 days I don't know; but the driver's side they had to do the hard way. No wonder there're people who actually remove the axle to do this...
 
sierradmax said:
If you're even considering these in the front axle, you have a welder already.
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I don’t have a welder and I’m considering it. From what I found, only the passenger side requires welding.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/front-axle-upper-control-arm-johnny-joint-bushing—will-it-fit.31051/

 
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