Alright I got my poly bushings for the control arms and the instructions made it sound simple. I realized after tearing into this thing that the ball joint on the end of the control arm needs to be removed with a special fork like tool...I was beating on it with a hammer and it just wasnt budging and i stripped the threads somehow so basically..I need to buy some new ball joints. Where is the best place to get these AND QUICK because I kind of wanted to drive my car this weekend.
ALSO...are there any other special tools i'm going to need to replace the control arm bushings? I need to finish this job ASAP.
How hard is it to install the bushings once I manage to tear out the old sh*t?

thanks.

 

TRW ball joints or MOOG from advanced auto will do.

 

do you have air tools?

if you dont, the bushings can be a pain.... ive never done them on a max, but if they are pressed into the control arm, you will need an air chisel to get them out.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....energy+control

Good luck

 

thanks kev.
yes i have air tools

 

i will run by advance tomorrow. I wish i wasnt such a damn hack and could have used that wedge technique...

 

If it's just the ball joints at the end of the control arm then you don't need a fork tool. There was one 14 bolt coming through the top of the bushing that can be taken off with a vice grip holding the bottom (if that part is broken). The other bolt is sticking out towards the front of the car and outwards. It can be taken off easily as well and then just replace the whole thing.

If I'm thinking about the same part as you are.

 

hmm. i donno. The ball joint is at the end of the control arm and connects under where the axle goes into the hub. I have the nut off its just that the ball joint is like pressed into that steering knuckle and I cant get it out. I took out the axle because I had to get to the top of the nut with my air-gun. I also made the mistake of disconnecting everything else first so I got the control arm and steering knuckle flopping around while i'm trying to get the ball joint out.
i'm gonna mess with it tomorrow and hopefully find a way to wedge something in there and get the piece of **** out. It looks like i gotta bring the control arms to a shop to have the new ones pressed in there?

 

Chillin014, when I did mine I used a torch to soften the rubber, but don't heat it too much - u don't wanna weaken the end of the LCA. Used a air chisle to get the rubber out, after it's all cleaned up putting in the ES bushings is as instructed--> good luck

edit: spray some wd40 on that balljoint that might help, we're really supposed to replace the whole arm so that ball joint is gonna b in there pretty tight. After i put my motor back together ball joints are on the list.

 

Rent a balljoint tool and it will prob make life easier.

 

ah i see i see...i didnt think getting the rubber out would be a problem, its pretty shot anyhow.

as far as the balljoint tool, if its just a generic tool i'll pick one up.

 

Autozone rents it. It's like 100 bucks but you get your money back when you return the tool

 

Oh wow wasn't expecting it to be that much, I will run by there and snag that then. And I need a shop to get the new ball joints in there, right?

 

You can,or you can do it yourself with a kit from Harbor Fright like this which is what I used...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38335

Auto Zone may have a tool you can rent as well.

 

Cool cool. Thanks.. I will definitely check for both those tools. I want to do this myself for sure.
What other bushings on the front end have you replaced? I don't think I'm going to do any more right now but in the future I might as long as I don't have to go destroying my ball joints again to get to them.

 

Yea that is the tool autozone rents

Ball Joint press

 

A pickle fork helps sometimes, but for the most part you won't need it if the rest of the suspension is disassembled. Take a large hammer, and give the bottom of the knuckle a sharp whack right where the balljoint sits inside it, that should set it free. Don't be a pansy, you've gotta hit the **** out of it. Might take a few times but it'll work. My ex's 73 Duster had original balljoints when we did a suspension overhaul early this year, two wacks got the 34 year old balljoints right out of the knuckle.

Also try letting it sit in penetrant (as in actual penetrant, not WD-40, don't know why people keep thinking it is) for a bit.

 

Hah I know man wd-40 must be some miracle all-in-one chemical. I've got some liquid wrench I can spray in there although ithought it was mostly just stuck due to it being pressed in there. I am not sure what you mean by whack it underneath where it sits. Wouldn't that push it further into the knuckle? I have hit it a good dozen times with what little area I had to swing my lil sledge hammer, right on top of the stud.
Yes the rest of the control arm is disconnected and floppin around.

So that tool removes AND installs the ball joints? That would be pretty kick ***.

 

I meant hit the part of the knuckle that the balljoint stud slides through.

If you beat the balljoint stud too much, you'll mushroom it to the point where it won't fit through the knuckle anymore..

 

hit the knuckle, whats that supposed to do? that thing is wedged in there. I'm going to try to pick up the tool shortly after dinner here...it better be easy!!

 

I take CA's to my mechanic and have them press the old BJ and Bushings out and the new ones in. You should really get the CA sandblasted and powdercoated, you may never need to replace them with Moog BJ and poly bushings.

 

Well its not like they were rusting or anything. I don't see why I'd need to get them powder coated. I'm at advance auto right now waiting in a rediculous line hopefully these bj's are in stock.

 

pmohr is telling you right --to hit the spindle on the side of the "hole " that the joint goes thru to free it. HIT IT, HIT IT, HIT IT & HARD!!! it should pop free.

 

surprisingly this worked for me a couple of times, the vibrations help to break it free.

All this frustration and running around is exactly why I got a new control arm with the bushing already installed.

good luck chillin!

 

Why should they be sand blasted and powder coated?

 

haha surprisingly is RIGHT. IT DID WORK! i was amazed, i didnt even whack it that viciously and it came out! I agree, bushings already installed would have been much easier...but 1. its too late now and 2. its good experience, plus now i can brag that the bushings are ES polyurethane lol. Not sure if theres even a difference though.

I'm not sure that I'm using this press right...there was 2 circular pieces and i was only using one, but later realized one of them was probably supposed to be going around the stud of the balljoint. I dont want to do this work while i'm tired and frusterated so i'm putting it off until tomorrow when my TDW balljoints come in. The press was working, but damn it was taking all my air compressor had to give (150 psi~) I hope they go in easier than they are coming out.
Also, I am trying to be careful with cutting away at that BIG bushing because in the instructions that came with my ES bushings it says be careful not to scratch the surface of the control arm or something like that....is this necessary? Or can I start man handling this sh*t cause its DAMN STUCK.

 

I think the thread I posted has good instructions on it, you are suppose to avoid cutting/scratching the control arm.

 

okay thank you, i just dont understand how scratching it might hurt it. Im afraid while trying to cut off the big bushing it might have slightly scratched that part of the arm.

 

alright guys, i've got ONE control arm stripped out. But before i re-assemble everything i'm a little confused about something. With my ES bushings I got 2 washers PER control arm. The instructions are too vague. There were no washers on the control arm EXCEPT for the front one where you take off that huge nut. But thats only ONE washer per arm.

Is there supposed to be a washer on each side of the bushing?

 

alright here's another update. I was worried about pressing the bushings in because the fit was not very close, but I guess thats how its supposed to be. I used the vice as a press and got them in there although they kind of bow out like they are in a bind. I then realized that metal sleeve still had to be pushed in...well this is something I just cant seem to manage to get in there cause it just makes the bushing cave in when i use the vice. It looks like i'm gonna need a shop to press that part in...sh*t. I thought I could do all this in my house.
I've got the other control arm out of the car and i'm gonna press in the ball joint so I can return this tool.

 

Did you get the bushing's outer sleeve out of the control arm? I just did mine a couple of months ago and didn't even need to use a press.

Also did you remove the c-clip from the top of the ball joint?

 

Wait...there's an outter sleeve? Maybe I didn't remove that...and that's why it was so hard to cram the bushings in there?
Someone pleeeease confirm. I didn't read nothin about an outter sleeve.

 

okay i'm home now. I did not remove any kind of "outer sleeve". And yes i removed the c clips on the ball joints (found out the hard way on the first one)

i'm going to take this to my friend shop so he can use the press but i need to know if I have the bushings crammed into a sleeve that should have been removed.

 

If there is no outter-sleeve to remove and the fit really is that tight I think I'm just going to remove the bushings and put the inner sleeve through one of the bushings first, and then slide that in the outter sleeve/control arm and then try to put the other bushing in there. I'm just afraid to rip or tear the bushings at this point.

 

Uh... looks first off.

I would sand blast and powder coat the control arms if you rebuild them with poly bushings and servicable BJ's. It costs me $50.00 (Blast Bros.) for both, now you never need to worry about it again. It makes a lot of sense in a cold climate, corrosion takes it's toll on stamped parts like Nissan CA's. Mine were starting to get really corroded. It still would cost less to SB/ PC, have a shop press out/ in the bushings and BJ's than to buy new from Nissan, not to mention you have a better product in the end.

 

Okay first of all, I live in texas and the only salt I see cows are either lickin' on or its sprinkled on my steak. Second of all I don't care what my control arms look like.

Please keep this on topic so somebody can confirm about the sleeve or not. I need these done by saturday.

 

Looks? You spend that much time under your car?
Its not the cold climate that causes the corrision, its the salt thrown on the roads for the ice. If your concerned about the corrosion from the salt on the LCA's then what are you doing to all the other portions of the vehicle being exposed to the same conditions?


Sorry to get off the subject chillin014.

 

Yes there is an outer sleeve, it's a real pain in the *** to get out. I don't remember where I saw the write-up but they cut two slits most of the way through the sleeve and use a chisel to remove this strip and thus releaving the pressure of the sleave against the a-arm.

Can't find the write-up but try this thread. I'm not sure if it helps I'm at work and the firewall blocks the linked pictures. http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....er+control+arm

 

Ohhhhh I think that is in the write up I just didn't understand what it was saying to cut... wow, that explains a lot.
Thanks a lot bobk I think I might not have to take this to a shop after all!!
Damn that's gonna be hard to get out of there. I do understand what your saying about cutting a strip out, it just seems like it'll be hard. Ill figure it out.
Thank you.

 

btw, this is the spot on the control arm im having trouble with. I think i burnt the rubber out of it but there was originally a sleeve that didnt get pressed out making the diameter too small to fit in the newbushings and inner sleeve.