that happened to my control arms on both sides... just replaced them about a month ago then replaced my struts+springs to what i have now. only noticed that the bushings came out when i went to get an alignment today and the guy told me he couldn't do it because of this.

so:
new control arms?
new bushings?
press these back in?

You replaced them yourself or did someone else attempt it?

my mechanic replaced the control arms... they were already used.... the point is...

where do i go from here?

get brand new ones from a quality source

Seriously...

The things you guyz do....amazes me.!!....replacing used with used.

But i do'nt see why that its bad??? if you have a bent control arm, and you do'nt want to spend money for a new one, you get one from a junkyard and slap it on. I do'nt get why this is so bad? I would just get NEW bushings and have them pressed in. But remember that you're probably going to have to take the control arm of and press new ones by taking it to a shop or something.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...placement.html

check that thread out.

Most likely the Control Arm is from a wrong car. It does not look like it fits in there. There is a cavity on end of frame (closer to the middle of the car) where rubber bushing sits and the whole LCA simply can't just slide off like this, it has nowhere to move, WHERE is the nut, by the way?? Your little mechanic forgot to put the nut, sir?
Or maybe your "mechanic" fully ignored that end of LCA and just slapped the junkpart in from some Tercel or whatever, and now it is moving back and forth WITH the balljoint, of course. This situation can cause you some major trouble on the road, get this fixed ASAP.

No, you don't just "slap" a junkpart as your suspension component. If you are trying to save a buck, do not drive. There is always a possibility of worn balljoint or bad bushings on a junkpart. Worn balljoint is a potential disaster, by the way, ever seen cars with the wheel fallen off on the side of the road?

hold up........isnt there supposed to be a washer on each end of the bushing to prevent that from happening? I'm going to have to check mine again, I replaced mine with ES bushings awhile back. I didnt need a press to install them, I could do it with my hands and the provided grease.

I cant remember if stock had the washers but washers did come with the new set of bushings I bought. Now that I think of it, the stock bushing had its own housing/metal sleeve that got pressed in. That doesnt look like the OEM bushing IIRC since the one in your picture is a piece of rubber by itself.

the nut, SIR, is where it's supposed to be. this is clearly the other side of the bushing housing, SIR. and it is the correct control arm sir, its just missing a second washer SIR because my LITTLE mechanic wasn't aware that i had changed the bushing to ES instead of OEM bushings which have the metal sleeve.

SO, SIR, my mechanic did his job correctly in the conditons he thought he was working in. SIR.

yea that's what i've gathered so far from continuing to research. i should be able to remove the lateral links then push the bushings back in and place the washer there then replace the lateral links and all should be fine.

sounds like you've found your problem then. Hopefully the bushing isnt messed up but either way, looks like an easy fix.

That bushing is shot, there is no washer. The control arm is machined smaller at the end where the bushing slides on, up against a ridge.

You have two choices:
1) Buy new ES bushings
2) Get new control arms

You should also find another mechanic, he's an idioit for putting junk in your car.

you're the idiot for talking about what you don't know. when using this setup, you need two washers. the bushings arent shot, theyre out of place. plus he only installed what i gave him to install. its my fault for not letting him know to use a washer on both sides.

So you're paying for the repair now?
It was your fault...

what repair? he just has to unbolt the lateral links and add a washer then rebolt them.... its like a 5 min job on each side...

hardy har harrr i made a mistake... lets all point fingers at me and laugh like egotistical ********.

at least i admitted my fault.

Calm down Rex. Tom knows his stuff. Im pretty sure there is only 1 washer per side stock. The ES bushings are supposed to come with their own washers, 4 total. You are not to blame. Your mechanic should have read the instructions. There is a possibility your bushings were missing the washers, I believe it has happened in the past. Still your mechanic should have checked over his work.

To the OP- according to the picture you posted, the control arm does NOT fit your little car, I am sorry to disappoint you and your little mechanic is, in fact, an idiot, somebody mentioned that already (thank you).

thats not called for.

Just to be 100% sure about this:

They are indeed the right control arms for the car. The mechanic did not put on the washers that come with the ES kit. Here is my best pic of what is missing and where:

oh noess !!