yooper

My son's '93 90CS needs new ball joints and control arm bushings according to my indy mechanic. Parts/labor $660. Did a little search on this board and appears I need a special tool to remove the bushings. Is this correct? I'd like to do this myself, or maybe have a mechanic friend do it, but the special tool may prevent this, or would my friend likely have the tools to get this done? Looks like on-line source for parts is about $150, so I should be able to save a bit doing it myself. Car is just sitting now that my son is away at college, so if it takes me a couple of weekends to finish, no big deal, but how difficult for a novice DIYer to do this?

Thanks.

Mike P.

Cq20V

Ball joints are easy, just need a jack and wrenches. CA bushings require a press.

quattro.pilot

for you already:

<a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/374763.phtml">Control Arms 1</a>

<a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/371347.phtml">Control Arms 2</a>

<a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/371374.phtml">Control Arms 3 (written by Your'se Truly)</a>

<a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/353747.phtml">Control Arms 4</a>

<a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/321430.phtml">Control Arms 5</a>

And the list goes on.. I simply searched "Control Arm bushing" and attained 72 search results (and that was with the timeframe limited to 2005 and newer posts).

Finding those links took 6minutes of my time. At $170/hr you owe me $17.00, please Paypal to: r_turner@shaw.ca

q20v

The inner sleeve of my bushings were already conveniently detatched from the rubber, so i used a sawz-all to cut the outter sleeve, and a hammer and chisel to finish removal. If your inner sleeve is still attached, use a drill to remove some rubber, then you could use the sawz-all method.
As for installing the new bushings, i used a big vise and a short piece of pipe to accept the bushing as it came thru. If you need pictures i can send you some!
Good luck!

yooper

Thanks, but my search did not return the 2, 3, 4, or 5. I read no. 1 and there is not a definitive answer as to a special tool required. Never having done any type of control arm bushing work, I was looking for more of a confirmation that the special tool was needed or not needed. I've been reading this board and the BMW roadfly boards for about 8 years and have seen conflicting or outright inaccurate information on numerous DIY procedures. That's why, before I attempt something unfamiliar, I try to get as many points of view as possible.

Excellent write-up. That's just what I was looking for. Thank you very much. I think I'll try this project.

Mike P.

CvTech

<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/371418.phtml">https://forums.audiworld.com/9080/msgs/371418.phtml</a</li></ul>