Passenger side, large (rear) bushing has popped out of its place, any reason why it would do this? I am thinking of just taking the ca back out, pushing the bushing back into place and reinstalling it and calling it perhaps a fluke.

Has this happened to anyone else? (Prothane bushings btw).

If need be, I can post pics once I take some.

The first thing that comes to mind is that it was installed upside down (the bushing). There is a top and a bottom (flat corner or radiused corner), and if it's not right, I can see how it wouldn't stay in place over time.

I purchased them in the GP and had the bushings installed..... I will take it out this week and snap some pics

(btw I had no idea the bushings had a up and a down, learn something new everyday!)

IIRC, the radius goes on the top. The control arm should also have a slight radius on the top. It's also very possible that the arm has been radiused too much, or on both sides. Give it a good inspection before you put the bushing back in.

Isaak wrote:(btw I had no idea the bushings had a up and a down, learn something new everyday!)

oops. neither did i. i bet mine aren't installed correctly then.


my carDomain updated 3/2/10 Forged and Supercharged

It seems as though both are upside down, I do not have them out yet but as far as I can tell, the big part of the bushing is at the top... therefore the weight of the car is pushing down and the control arm is sliding down on the bushing. I will have them flipped and see what happens, I will take pics when I take them out.

i really dont see how installing it one way or the other would matter. the radius edge is only there for ease of installation and that part doesnt hold the bushing in place.

look at the bushing, i may have torn. a lot of times these bushings are so tight they actually tear upon installation. it sucks but this is why that radius edge is there.



All I want... is a little of the good life

I will check, I didn't install them, I bought them in the GP with the bushings installed. It is odd how both are doing it, and the arms are installed correctly (L & R). I will take pics of the arms in the subframe and out to show what the bushing/arm is doing.

Let me know what you find out about it and i'll talk to John.

^^^ i highly doubt that place would have let a set go torn. but i guess it is possible.



All I want... is a little of the good life

What place? John and I took care of the bushing installs.

z yaaaa wrote:i really dont see how installing it one way or the other would matter. the radius edge is only there for ease of installation and that part doesnt hold the bushing in place.

look at the bushing, i may have torn. a lot of times these bushings are so tight they actually tear upon installation. it sucks but this is why that radius edge is there.

The issue is that if the bushing radius is on a hard edge, it's not quite seated right, so it could cause issues. On the stamped arms, the radius is there because of the way the metal is stamped. On the aluminum ones, you need to radius a little on the top to fit that radius in the bushing. Not saying this is definitely what happened, but it's worth checking out.

Tinkles wrote:What place? John and I took care of the bushing installs.

I bought them through the ORG GP... I am not blaming anyone or saying someone should fix it for me at their cost, I just would like to know how this happened, and what I need to do to fix it so it does not happen again. I will more than likely remove them tonight and take pics of them... before I remove them though I will take pics of how the bushings sit now as when i remove them they will more than likely move around as I remove them from the subframe.

I should also point out these arms have seen maybe 10 miles of driving..... it has sat for awhile (winter) because it is my 3800 project car, but it made the metal on metal sound right away, as soon as I took it out on the road, it was the arm contacting the subframe (bottom of it).






Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Monday, April 26, 2010 2:30 PM

I did not end up taking them out tonight, but I did snap some pics of the passenger side to show what the bushing looks like...

almost looks smashed... as if the steel sleeve wasnt installed.

is it in there?



All I want... is a little of the good life

steel sleeve? the sleeve thing in the middle of the bushing?

It looks like it's a little chewed on the top side, but if you look at the underneath, you can see how it's kind of spread open. This is the radius sitting on the hard corner. This is why it's looking mashed. This is allowing play in the arm, and most likely how it ends up popping out.

So....... what's the fix? New bushings? The bushings do look alright except for the one pic that does make it look chewed up.

The bushings looked ( and were ) brand new when the arms went it and I didn't have to force them in, so I am not sure why it looks chewed, I will attempt to take them out tonight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, April 27, 2010 2:39 PM

When you get them out, see how they are. It's possible that you can get away with reseating them and reinstalling the arms. However, I believe Prothane will replace them if you call them. Do you have your factory arms in case you need to drive the car while waiting on new bushings?

Its my 3800 project car, I am just finishing up the engine (again) this weekend and am ready to drive it this weekend or next... but if I have to throw in stock arms so be it, but I can wait for new bushings... here are the pics.

As you can see, the top part of the bushing (passenger side), part of it is torn, not sure how it got like that but it sucks, there is no way I am reusing that bushing.

I might be wrong...But the pic with the control arm in the car "pic 2" it looks like a crack in the control arm...It may be dirt or something..

Just wear and tear on the arm

Sorry, but that's from pressing them wrong.
Let me show you what I mean and you'll see.

Notice how this looks like the picture above?




This was caused by not radiusing the edge of the control arm which has a square lip to it or edge.
If you don't radius it, this is what happens to the bushing and I'd believe this is what happened to your bushing.
It may have been installed this way in thinking that the bushing would hole.
It could have also been that even though they looked good after pressing them in, the damage was there with weakened sides of the bushings and the little wear they had revealed the fault of the install and failed.

Here's what I'm talking about damaged bushing waiting to fail if installed.


I've done alot of these control arm bushings and my pictures above are what happened when you don't pay attention to the edge of the opening and trying to press the bushing without radiusing the edge. And I greased the snott out of them, use a 12 ton shop press when I install so that wasn't an issue.

Good luck with the bushings and make sure that the edge is rounded slightly to help the bushing slip right in.


Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

^^ my thoughts exactly. still dont get the 'squished' other side though....



All I want... is a little of the good life