Hi everyone,

So i just ordered a set of front control arms(upper and lower) with bushings included. Crown Auto part # CAK12. Are there any other parts I should need for a replacement?

 

The upper arms have bushings that are pressed in the brackets on the front end so you need to replace those .

 

I would have a look at the job, its a bit of an effort to get the old front bushes out & in from there location in the front diff housing

an air hammer/chisel is what is apparently the best tool

have a look on Youtube

I bought Poly bushes for this job that allegedly allow the metal shell to remain in place

( not fitted yet)

 

Unfortunately the crown automotive bushings are unavailable for a long time. Could i get by with a different brand? the crown auto control arms are meant to be stock so shouldnt they fit any brand bushing?

 

I have done the front end on two cherokees. One with poly the other with standard bushings. An air hammer makes the job much easier. The hardest ones are the bushings on the axle. You can get an air hammer/chisel in there. Be very careful with the metal sleeve on the passenger side axle bushing. Typically you crush the metal sleeve to get the bushing out. Like you said, you reuse the metal sleeve so you have to be real careful.

 

when I do my poly ones, I was going to drill out the old rubber ones, then scrape/burn/wire brush the remains out

I recently did a job that required removing a similar sized bush...I simply put my propane torch on it till it was flaming, let it burn for a bit, then it flaked out real easy

obviously I will keep a hose handy, but I suspect this will work pretty good ?

 

I thought I would drill them out aswell. There is simply no room to get in there with a drill. I had a hell of a time getting the new ones pressed in with a ball joint press.

 

I was able to drill out/burn the bushings on the lower control arms once I had them off of the Jeep. Those ones on the axle are tough. Like TrailerTrash said, getting a drill in there is tough. And burning works, but make sure you put some fireproof material to keep the flame from getting to anything on the engine. It's pretty tight quarters in there.

 

You are correct. Once the arms are out, drilling works great. If a drill bit breaks off at the tip or even halfway down just keep going it will still make hole if you force it

 

just to clarify, my arms have the bush in the rear of the arm pre-installed

its the ones in the axle housing that would be the challenge.

I have poly bushes for that do not require the metal shells to be removed, only the inner sleeve and rubber bush, the original metal sleeve is left in situ

So if its to hard to get the drill in, I will certainly just burn the rubber out

It seems like getting the steel sleeve out (and in) is the real challenge, which is why I went for the poly

after my recent experience of getting the radius arm bushes out of Jaguar IRS, a notorious job I have done many times, and even invented a special tool

my simple propane torch melted the rubber in about 5 minutes, and even expanded the inner metal sleeve so it could just be easily knocked of the mounting post which the bush is pressed on to

I sure was impressed with myself, and wondered why the heck no one else on the Jag forum had suggested this, that IRS system has been around from 1961 to ~1992

To get the Jeep bush in or out, I would use a nut & bolt with steel plate and a big socket to pull them in or out (if I was using a full metal sleeve replacement)