MVS Moderator Made In Japan wonders out loud if it’s better to buy control arm bushings and use a press to press them into the existing control arms, or say ####-it and buy new control arms.
MadeInJapan » So, I’m going to load up some pictures of my wife’s ’04 V70 with 167K miles on it…it rides smoothly and nothing seems out of the ordinary. It has fairly new front struts, with all new IPD spring seats and end links in front and new shocks and end links in the back. All shocks/struts are Sachs/Boge (blue label) and about a month ago I installed the poly bushing tightening pieces in her sub-frame bushings. Tires wear evenly too, but our roads are pretty decent here in TN.
Here is one of her front (passenger side) control arm with the front facing bushing…
This is a close up of the bushing
Personally, I think it looks pretty decent for the age of the car. I don’t think it needs replacing…yet.
So my son came over today and I did some maintenance work on his car. While under It, I saw his bushings and they were torn on the left and right sides (up and down) on each of his front bushing (passenger and drive’s side) as I could see light through them…the top was attached but still the bushing was torn, or it seemed. Maybe that’s okay… as long as the top and bottom are attached? His is a ’07 2.5T – really the same car as my wife’s V70 except for in the sedan format so I don’t think that his bushing would be any different, or are they? His car has about 112K miles on it now while hers has 167K (65K more) miles so that’s another odd thing regarding why one seems torn and the other is not. If you ask me which drives better, his does. There are no suspension issues, nor is there any strange tire wear. I do not know the history of his car’s suspension work- I assume it’s all stock from the factory. But none-the-less, his car is a pleasure to drive!
After all of this, my question is, should I work with him to replace that front bushing, or is it better to just replace the control arm altogether? Or is this unnecessary? I’m thinking we still have some time but if the rubber bushing is already torn, it’s a matter of time before it deteriorates or causes other bushings to wear out too, or am I wrong here? For those who have been through this, is it typically for just that one bushing to go or does the rear one on the control arm also go? With that answered, should I replace the arm, should I also be looking at replacing the ball joint, or can I resuse it if it’s still good? All of this can add up to some $$’s, right? I’m inclined to just go after the front bushing in his control arm if the other components still have life but need to know if that’s practical or not.
Any comments/opinions from those who have been through this? If I’m just replacing that bushing, I know I have a lot of choices: from Volvo, Lemfoerder to name just two, and now, Powerflex makes a poly bushing for that spot (eeuroparts.com) and all of them out there (except for Volvo’s) are fairly reasonable. Oh, and I forgot, there’s IPD’s HD control arm too which seems pretty reputable. I was reading on another site that the thing to do is replace the front with Powerflex and the rear bushing with Volvo’s, if we are pushing out and in bushings in the original control arm. I have no issue with pressing the bushings. I have access to someone who does this everyday so that doesn’t scare me. Anyway, the scenario’s go on and on. I’d just like to have some discussion here about this and get your input so I’ll know what to do when it’s time to deal with these control arms.
Thanks in advance,
-MIJ
oragex »
Most people agree that installing these bushings is a PITA.
Being stubborn, I still went my way.
First problem: rear smaller bushing is not available in Lemforder. The front biggie one is sold by Lemforder. I don’t know if Volvo sells them. Someone bought these off Ebay. He reported the front one died soon (poor install or fake product?). Maybe the seller puts Febi bushings in Volvo bags?
From another listing I purchased ‘original’ Volvo front one for S60, and ‘original’ Volvo rear one for XC90. While the front one has kept up well, the XC90 one is not a full bushing and the steering is not tight enough.
>Second problem: one needs special (read: nowhere to be found) adapters. These adapters can however be home made.
I’d suggest taking a few shots before removing the front and rear old bushings.
I took my rubbers and went to a small garage. The guy didn’t had the adapters, so he used some random adapters he had at hand. He also had a 6t press although some people say it takes a 20t press. So he did it only with his impact wrench and a thick rod. At some point the wrench wasn’t strong enough, so the guy grabbed a massive hammer, put the adapter on the outer bushing metal ring (actually, he started by smashing the inner ring 😮 and when I said Hey! he goes like, see, that’s why I don’t let customers come watch me. Yeah right 😆 ). To resume, he punched the bushings in with no trouble, even with no grease. I was surprised. So with proper adapters, this can be done.
As for removing the old bushings, I had another funny experience. Reading over the net about burning the rubbed with a torch, I grabbed mine and put the fire on them. Those guys took the fire like a boss, I was really impressed. But they were still in one solid piece, only toasted a bit. So I grabbed my drill and in 5 easy minutes there was no more bushing. A groove is then cut in the outer ring which is not that thick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
If going the new Lemforder control arm, I’d check the small rear bushing is not Febi. I don’t trust Febi after my spring seat failed within less than 6000 miles.
As for the poly bushings, they are not cheap and I’ve read about people reporting a little harshness in the suspension. Not all brands do last, Powerflex seems to be the reference.
Whatever the choice, make sure to get 4 new front control arm bolts (cheap from Volvo). They are not the same length on each side, and on drivers side I think the transmission has to be lifted a little to clear the bolt.
When the CA is removed, the ball joint can be checked by hand. It seems the original ones are very durable. When installing the new CA, I prefer removing the two large lower strut bolts.
New Front Control Arms or just bushings?
See this interesting freezer/oven method for pressing in bushings.
