My friend Mark is doing his '68 Dart right now, his first car that he still has 41 years later. He asked if I could do his LCA bushings for him......So I had some time at work and decided that it would be a good opportunity to share..
I can't take credit for this method, it's simply my adaption of how a few people over the years explained it to me.
First off, you will need the following tools or variants of them;
- Ball peen hammer (16-32 OZ depending on your preference)
- Small Die Grinder (3" cut off disc preferred, pneumatic or electric)
- Small chisel
- Welder or a buddy who can
- Press (I've used the weight of my truck and a bottle jack with some scraps of steel, but obviously, that's you're decision to make) I've used a 6 ton A frame before, used the 40 Ton at work, and now have a 12 Ton at home.
- Blade screwdriver
You will also need the following;
- 1/2"x 2 1/2" UNC bolt
- 1/2" UNC nut (x2)
- 1/2" flat washer (x2) (you can goof around and see what fits best, more on that later)
The start, a set of original 1967-1972 A body swaybar LCA's
IMO LCA Bushings are one of the most overlooked and often ignored suspension components on Mopar's with torsion bar front ends, mostly due to the effort required to remove the torsion bars in order to remove the LCA's, however they play a pivotal role in the handling of the car, it's ride height, spring jounce and alignment.
In the center of the pivot pin (where the letter "M" is), is the backside of the pivot pin. That is what we are going to push against to press the pivot pin out..
To push out the pivot pin, I like to use a piece of solid steel rod, you'll need the press now... This is a piece of 1/2" rod for reference..
Here is our pivot pin after being pressed out of the bushing, you'll notice the inner bushing sleeve is still on the pivot pin, we'll deal with that in a bit...
Another view of our pivot pin after removed from the bushing...
Now you'll need to remove the rubber from the bushing shell, I usually can put a screwdriver in down the edge and gently pry it up and out...
After the rubber bushing is removed we are left with the outer shell still pressed into the control arm... This will need to come out before a new bushing can be installed...
Another view of the ragged bushing and pivot pin with the inner sleeve still on it
I usually use a 1/2" flat washer and 1/2"x3" bolt with two 1/2" UNC nuts, you'll see what they do next...
I can't take credit for this method, it's simply my adaption of how a few people over the years explained it to me.
First off, you will need the following tools or variants of them;
- Ball peen hammer (16-32 OZ depending on your preference)
- Small Die Grinder (3" cut off disc preferred, pneumatic or electric)
- Small chisel
- Welder or a buddy who can
- Press (I've used the weight of my truck and a bottle jack with some scraps of steel, but obviously, that's you're decision to make) I've used a 6 ton A frame before, used the 40 Ton at work, and now have a 12 Ton at home.
- Blade screwdriver
You will also need the following;
- 1/2"x 2 1/2" UNC bolt
- 1/2" UNC nut (x2)
- 1/2" flat washer (x2) (you can goof around and see what fits best, more on that later)
The start, a set of original 1967-1972 A body swaybar LCA's
IMO LCA Bushings are one of the most overlooked and often ignored suspension components on Mopar's with torsion bar front ends, mostly due to the effort required to remove the torsion bars in order to remove the LCA's, however they play a pivotal role in the handling of the car, it's ride height, spring jounce and alignment.
In the center of the pivot pin (where the letter "M" is), is the backside of the pivot pin. That is what we are going to push against to press the pivot pin out..
To push out the pivot pin, I like to use a piece of solid steel rod, you'll need the press now... This is a piece of 1/2" rod for reference..
Here is our pivot pin after being pressed out of the bushing, you'll notice the inner bushing sleeve is still on the pivot pin, we'll deal with that in a bit...
Another view of our pivot pin after removed from the bushing...
Now you'll need to remove the rubber from the bushing shell, I usually can put a screwdriver in down the edge and gently pry it up and out...
After the rubber bushing is removed we are left with the outer shell still pressed into the control arm... This will need to come out before a new bushing can be installed...
Another view of the ragged bushing and pivot pin with the inner sleeve still on it
I usually use a 1/2" flat washer and 1/2"x3" bolt with two 1/2" UNC nuts, you'll see what they do next...