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Rear Control Arms


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Hi from the UK, was wondering if anyone’s got any good advice for replacing the rear upper control arm bushes. Keep sliding under the car to have a look and can see this being one of those jobs that you wish you had never started!

Do you think dropping the axle is the best way to go or just persevere with drills, chisels and various other tools?

I’m kind of thinking that I might just do the lower ones as I’ve bought the arms complete and leave the top ones alone.

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Do you have the complete upper arms as well as lower? Or do you just have bushings for the uppers?  I haven't gotten around to this on mine yet so I may not have the best advice, but you can lower the axle if you are looking for more clearance, but that is going to be a lot of extra work if you lower it all the way to the ground. I'm pretty sure that would require disconnecting the shocks, and your springs would fall out...also I think that may damage the brake line on the axle if not prepared for it.

 

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13 hours ago, 72RustBucket said:

Do you have the complete upper arms as well as lower? Or do you just have bushings for the uppers?  I haven't gotten around to this on mine yet so I may not have the best advice, but you can lower the axle if you are looking for more clearance, but that is going to be a lot of extra work if you lower it all the way to the ground. I'm pretty sure that would require disconnecting the shocks, and your springs would fall out...also I think that may damage the brake line on the axle if not prepared for it.

 

Just the bushes for the top arms. Do you know if I need spring compressors to remove the rear springs, as I want to put new rubber seats on the top of them while I’m at it, or just lower the axle a bit with the shocks and lower arms disconnected?

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will you be using a lift or doing thisnon the ground.  If i rememebee correctly tou have to raise the vehicle. with the rear held up remove the arm bolt and loosen the shocks. let the rear down and the springs will come loose and you can seperate the arms. 

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On the floor with axle stands and a trolley jack. Not sure how ‘compressed’ the rear springs are in situ, don’t want them flying out if I try to lower the axle a bit to improve access to top bushes.

Can’t seem to find any step by step info anywhere 🤔

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When I changed out the rear springs I jacked the car up and put it on jack stands. I put the floor jack under the axle housing to hold it in place. I removed the shock nut on one side, pulled the shock out of the housing and then lowered the floor jack. That takes the tension out of the rear spring. With the pressure of the spring you can remove the spring or if you are just replacing the cushion you may be able to get a hand up on top. The raise the housing back up and replace the nut. Then to the other side. It worked for me, there may be a better way that another member can confirm. Good luck

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These guys are all correct! Jack stands on the frame to elevate the rear, jack on the diff to ease it down when the lower shock bolt has been removed. There is nowhere near as much tension on the rear springs as the front.

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Thanks for the advice guys, so if I’m going to do the top bushes as well I guess I’m better off loosening one side at a time to gain a bit of extra access and keep the axle stable.

I’ll post some pics of how it goes as soon as I can get in the garage.

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