90 XJ 4.5" 33's Open

Whenever I hit a bump, crack, line, grain of sand I hear a clunk coming predominately from my front right (pass side). When I am backing down a small incline or just rolling backwards, I can feel the clunk. I can feel it most when I'm backing up and hit the brakes. I can feel it in the floor so I'm assuming it's the upper control arm bushing area.

Today I was under my Jeep and grabbed a hold of the UCA on the pass side and the high side of the arm (attached to the unibody, not the diff) moved on the bolt. Almost as if the bolt is too small. I'm using the same bolt on one side as the other and only have movement on the pass side.

I have a new bushing and have a stock UCA bolt from another jeep. When I put the bolt in the bushing, it moves freely similar to how the one installed on my jeep does now. Pic below.



So I found a bigger bolt that would fit nice and snug and prevent this movement. Pic below.



The only problem is the small bumps inside the bushing sleeve are just big enough to not let the bigger bolt slide through (below).



My question is, can I just drill the little bumps out to fit the more snug, bigger bolt?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

That shouldnt be a problem. I would buy a set of new bolts, nuts and washers as well, probably grade 8 or similar.