Budman68

I removed one side of the suspension today. Everything went pretty text book. My question is, I am going to remove the center link, so what is the best way to do this without tearing up the boot? Is there a tool for that? Also, how much will a shop charge me to insert the new bushings? My friend has a press, but I am not that confident in it.

Jughead

I think that's the 'Ol "farm it out or do it yourself" question. Are you going to remove the metal sleeves too? At first I took my CA to a local shop that said they'd done these before. After a few days they called me back and said they could only get one bushing and sleeve out. I admit I was a little intimidated by what I'd read here on the forum. Well I sucked it up and proceeded to drill the rubber parts out and remove the metal sleeve using a control arm service kit that I bought from Harbor Freight. I'd have a go at it with your friends press provided he knows how to use it. There have been some horror stories on the forum about mis-aligned pieces flying out of a press! :eek:

MikeC

the best way that I know of to remove ball studs with out ruining the boots is a two jaw puller.

BeaterShark

What is the "center link"? I'm assuming that it is the rod where the two inner tie rods connect and the boot you are worried about is the tie rod boot. I think you can get replacement boots at the auto parts stores (Auto zone, Pep Boys, O'Reily's, etc).

For the bushings (control arm, right?), I had my old ones pressed out and the new ones pressed in at Plano Auto Supply and it was about $6 per bushing.

Noel Carboni

Buddy, it's not too late to put poly bushings in there. :)

Seriously, on removal of my A-arms this weekend I found that my old poly bushings, which probably have 100K miles on them, are still nice and tight!

If you DO decide to go poly, you can do it yourself, provided the old shells aren't corroded or deformed.

-Noel


[Modified by Noel Carboni, 2:47 PM 2/18/2002]