I've recently been getting a clunking noise from my front driver side when I hit small bumps like man hole covers. Since I noticed that, I've noticed that the highway handling has been getting sloppy. I've checked all my control arms to ensure nothing is loose, but today noticed that the driver side upper control arm bushing on the axle seems unseated and that they appear pretty worn out. Could this be slipping around and causing my trouble? Is this the way the bushing normally sits? Thanks.

Jake

 

I just changed that bushing a couple weeks ago. As far as the depth, it looks pretty OK. That's a thick mount and the bushing only goes in up to the little shoulder that's on the actual bushing sleeve. As for the firmness of the rubber inside, hard to tell.

The day I changed that, my air hammer earned it's keep. I had to basically fold the bushing sleeve like a heart and then burp it again from the inner side to get it out . But it didn't take that long either (I love that tool).

Installing it is kind of tough too. Jeep has a special installer tool, but I used 2 - 3/8" pipe flanges, 4 - 2.5" electrical locknuts for spacers, and a 1/2 x 4 and a 1/2 x 6 grade 8 bolts and nuts for a draw stud and then hit it with the impact gun. Getting it straight in the hole was the hard part, but again, it didn't take that long.

And yes...bad control arm bushings will make noise and cause a loose feeling.

-bob-