No need to remove the lower control arm from the vehicle to replace the lower front bushings. Both sides can be replaced in about 30 - 45 minutes, so long as you have access to air tools and have a little bit of patience. No re-alignment necessary afterwards either.
I usually jack up the whole front end and support it on jack stands when I know I have to work both sides of a vehicle. Never trust a jack only for support. Use it for the lift only and support the vehicle on jack stands. Your choice though. So once you jack up and support your vehicle on the jack stand(s) and remove your tire(s) - the only tools needed are the following:
Penetrating Oil such as PB Blaster, Wire Brush, Impact Wrench, Air Chisel with a hammer (flat head) bit and a chisel bit, T55 Torx Bit Socket, 21mm Wrench, Small Hammer, Pry Bar(s) - a 12" and 16" are all I used, and a small piece of 2x4 or even a large deep well socket will suffice, and a very little bit of grease. A torch comes in handy if you run into a stubborn bushing.
Always start by giving the bolts and the bushing edges a thorough squirt of penetrating oil and let them soak while you gather the rest of your tools.
If I am going to be working both sides of the vehicle, I tend to always start on the passenger side but it doesn't matter because the process is the same for either side.
Take the impact wrench with the T55 Torx Bit and a 21mm wrench to remove the bolt that runs through the bushing and set it aside to be replaced later. Take a pry bar(s) and work the arm out from in between the mounting tabs. Once you get the arm clear of the mounting tabs, shim it out with the 2x4, or socket, between the arm and the frame. You do not need to pry it out any further than to just get the bushing ring out past the mounting tabs.
Take the air chisel and very carefully start to hit between the surface of the arm and the lip of the bushing - aiming more at the lip of the bushing to force it to start bending upward. Work it around on each side. Be careful, you do not want to gouge the arm. Once you get the lip to start bending upwards, then start working the air chisel inward and upwards and the bushing will pop right out of there. Make sure you are chiseling in and upward as to not gouge the arm in any way - I cannot say that enough - this is where the patience come in. Take your time and do not rush the process. Let the tool do the work.
If the bushing is being stubborn and not moving, then you may want to try using the torch at this point. Go ahead and heat all around the outer edge of the bushing. It only needs to be heated, not glowing red - you are only trying to provide enough heat for expansion. You aren't trying to heat it to sear a steak for lunch (LOL). Be very careful if you do this because the rubber will more than likely catch on fire. Unless it is absolutely needed to free a stubborn bushing, I don't suggest using a torch though. That is only because of fire safety and I don't like working on, or around, hot car parts.
The shim may fall out a few times while doing the chiseling part so you may have to put it back in there if you do not have an assistant to help hold it in place. Even if it falls out, the arm will not slam back in between the tabs or back to the frame or anything like that but you still need to make sure your fingers stay away from pinch points because the arm does have enough pressure to cause you some pain and suffering if the shim falls out.
Once the bushing comes out, take your wire brush and clean the entire surface of the bushing mounting area - top and bottom. I usually do this with an air grinder with a wire wheel but a regular wire brush does just fine.
Take your new bushing and you will notice that it should have a slight greasy/tacky film on the metal ring. Take a little bit of grease (I use wheel bearing grease just because I have a can lying around) and apply a very very light coating to the metal ring and then put it in place on the arm to be knocked in. Take the hammer and lightly tap around the outer ring of the bushing to start the process. Change your chisel bit out to the hammer (flat head) bit and start hammering the new bushing into place. Take your time and work the hammer bit all the way around the outer ring of the bushing while trying to keep it evenly spaced so that it goes in relatively straight.
Again, the shim may fall out a few times and need to be out back in place.
Once the new bushing is seated, remove the shim if it didn't already fall out one last time. Take the pry bar and put the arm back in between the mounting tabs. It will go in on an angle and you will be looking to put the bolt back in the from the bottom once the bottom hole lines back up. Once you can push/tap the bolt back in as far as it will go, take the pry bar and go between the front of the arm and the mounting bracket and pry a little bit to get the bushing to line up with the top hole. At that point you should be able to take the hammer and tap the bolt in the rest of the way.
It does not take very much effort to get the bushing and mounting tab holes to line up. Install the nut on the bolt and then take the impact wrench with the T55 Torx Bit and the 21mm wrench and tighten it up. Just make sure that it is secured to about the same tension/tightness that it was at when you removed it. It does need to be fairly tight but we aren't trying to squeeze blood from a turnip here.
Repeat the process on the other side - note that the bushing is facing the opposite direction on the opposite side of the vehicle so don't be alarmed when you see that. It is correct. I believe the bushing goes from top down on the passenger side and from bottom up on the driver side. On either side - the bolt still goes from bottom up (nut on top) regardless of the direction that the bushing is installed
I just did this exact procedure yesterday on my daughter's 2004 Grand Prix and even with taking multiple smoke breaks during the process, I was still able to get both sides done in about 40 minutes. I have done this before on other vehicles but I used a standard bearing press tool and it took forever it seemed. My standard wheel bearing press tool kit does not have a ring adapter large enough for these particular bushings to pass though. The outer ring size on the bushing was the exact same OD as the largest ring in my kit. I was not going to stop what I was doing and go purchase a new adapter kit for $160, and I wasn't going to remove the whole control arm so I could press it out with a hydraulic shop press either. Both of those options were a waste of time at that point as I was trying to get this completed in a timely manner. I had to adapt and overcome at this point because I'm too stubborn to have given in to the idea that I couldn't get it done without having to purchase another tool set just for one adapter ring. This process was way faster than I had imagined it would have been and I did it without an assistant. Cleaned up and test drove the vehicle. Compared to the way it rode before, I thought I was riding on a cloud.
I hope this helps anyone else that runs into the same predicament that I did with not having a ring adapter that had a large enough ID to allow the bushing to be pressed out.
Originally Posted by REDCOMPG
