I was not having any luck removing the upper control arm bushings per the repair manual so I took my grinder with a cut off disc, cut off the large flange, pressed the remaining metal tube back through the bushing, used my vice to squeeze the bushing together so that it wouldn’t scrape the housing wall, and then was able to press it on through, in the same direction it was installed. Pics below may describe it better.
With control arm removed, remove bushings with grinder, vice, and press
- Thread starter ccasey
- Start date
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have you seen timmy the toolman's method on the 4 runner control arms? his video is on YouTube. you use a bearing splitter to catch the edge of the control arm. it works really well. your method works too though and doesn't require a bearing splitter.
- Thread starter
- #3
Oh yes, and I chuckled when he said he didn't understand why the service manual said to "use a chisel and hammer to pry up the flange."
That's because I'm fairly certain that when he made that video, he had never replaced Land Cruiser bushings.
The 4Runner bushing (top picture) is not pressed in flush to the arm like it is on the LC (bottom picture), giving the bearing separator something more to hold on to as you apply pressure to it. The FSM picture doesn't describe it well, but you're not pulling on that flange, you're pushing on the arm just underneath that flange. I tried this method first, but gave up on it. To be fair, I had a cheapo Harbor Freight bearing separator that had poor casting, so a better tool with a finer edge may have given better results.
Video in reference (this is part one... they have a part two)
Bushing removal starts at 21:30.
Yet I consider this a terrible idea.
The bottle jack inside the a-arm will spread open the a-arm's ears.
Yeah as @ccasey says, the bearing splitter method doesn't work because the bushing flange is pressed right to the control arm surface. Good quality splitter or not, there isn't enough to grab on to. Maybe if you deform the flange a little, but that's what I consider the hard part since there isn't much surface to get a chisel on, especially if you're trying not to mar the control arm.
I did the same thing as ccasey showed in the first post. Used a 6 inch cut off disc on my grinder to lop off the silver outer part like he showed. But I took another pass once that silver disc was removed to further cut down the metal center of bushing so it was closer in height to the bushing flange.
Here's what I did differently. I switched to an aggressive flap disc (36 grit) and grinded away the problematic flange. It was easy, and with a little control you can avoid ever contacting the control arm surface where the bushing flange meets it. The flange gets visibly very thin and then peels away when down to a fraction of a mm.
I liked this way because there was no beating anything with a hammer and drift or chisel. Then just press out very easily.
I second that @cumminsBase. A bottle jack will definitely f up the upper arms. I wasn't going to try with the lower arms so I did this grinding method all around except the frame mounted bushing, which I considered easiest with the right setup.
I did the same thing as ccasey showed in the first post. Used a 6 inch cut off disc on my grinder to lop off the silver outer part like he showed. But I took another pass once that silver disc was removed to further cut down the metal center of bushing so it was closer in height to the bushing flange.
Here's what I did differently. I switched to an aggressive flap disc (36 grit) and grinded away the problematic flange. It was easy, and with a little control you can avoid ever contacting the control arm surface where the bushing flange meets it. The flange gets visibly very thin and then peels away when down to a fraction of a mm.
I liked this way because there was no beating anything with a hammer and drift or chisel. Then just press out very easily.
I second that @cumminsBase. A bottle jack will definitely f up the upper arms. I wasn't going to try with the lower arms so I did this grinding method all around except the frame mounted bushing, which I considered easiest with the right setup.
PapaGoose08
SILVER Star
I am about to try this but don't have a hydraulic press . My plan is to use the cut-off wheel on the bushing flange - but do you think it can be pressed out after that with a c-clamp style ball joint press?
if you cut the bushing you should be able to knock it out. maybe with a hammer and cold chisel. or press if you can find the right sized cups for it.
PapaGoose08
SILVER Star
For anyone else trying this - I got the bushings out using the method described by Qtonic with the flap wheel, but I did need to use a press rather than just a c-clamp.
When using the flap wheel you can grind the problematic flange down to a point where you can see a very fine groove appear and then it sort of peels away after that.
In the pictures below you can see that I used the cut-off wheel to remove the top flange and then the flap wheel to remove the majority of the lower flange.
From there I used a screw driver to peel away the remainder of the flange.
I ended up buying a 12 ton press for $129 from harbor freight to complete the job because the I couldn't get it out with a c-clamp style ball joint press.
Ahead of time I had purchased used OEM UCAs from a member on this site - so was able to have both arms refurbished with new bushings and ball joints prior to replacing mine. Its probably easier to just buy new ones - but at least now I have a press. If any one wants to buy used OEM UCAs to do this at home - I will be selling my old ones.
In the picture below you can see the groove when you are getting close.
With some heat it finally broke loose.
When using the flap wheel you can grind the problematic flange down to a point where you can see a very fine groove appear and then it sort of peels away after that.
In the pictures below you can see that I used the cut-off wheel to remove the top flange and then the flap wheel to remove the majority of the lower flange.
From there I used a screw driver to peel away the remainder of the flange.
I ended up buying a 12 ton press for $129 from harbor freight to complete the job because the I couldn't get it out with a c-clamp style ball joint press.
Ahead of time I had purchased used OEM UCAs from a member on this site - so was able to have both arms refurbished with new bushings and ball joints prior to replacing mine. Its probably easier to just buy new ones - but at least now I have a press. If any one wants to buy used OEM UCAs to do this at home - I will be selling my old ones.
In the picture below you can see the groove when you are getting close.
With some heat it finally broke loose.
