Cracked lower control arm bushings

[Jimmy9190]

I took a good look under my Dakota today in preparation for my upcoming Christmas road trip. I saw that on both lower control arms the front control arm bushings are really cracked and split around the outer edges I can see between the frame mounting brackets. Is that an indication that the inside of the bushings are shot too?

I'm stil trying to eliminate a bumpy/somewhat harsh ride problem that developed a few weeks ago. Is it really necessary to remove the entire control arm, wheel, caliper, rotor, shock and spring just to get the control arm out? Or can you just loosen the bolts on it to drop it down and replace the bushings with it still mounted to the steering knuckle?

I can borrow a spring compressor at Autozone for the job if it is necessary. Do you also have to remove the lower ball joint too? My Haynes book says remove it but my Dodge FSM does not mention removing the ball joint. And do you really need a special tool to remove and install the bushings or can they be hammered out of the control arm?

I really need some info on this one guys. I could do it here at home but if it's all that involved I wonder what a tire store would charge for it. I am wondering if I might do better to pay to have this done. But I can't even be sure yet that the bushings are causing this bumpy ride condition. The rest of the lower control arm bushings and the upper bushings all look OK. I don't know enough about it so I really appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[bdcardinal]

can you even get the bushings separate? a lot of times you have to get a new control arm assembly.

 

[Chris142]

You gotta pull the arm off to take it over to a press to get the old ones out and the new ones back in. Impossible to do them properly on the car.

Shouldn't take more than 45 mins per side to r&r them. seperating the ball joints from the knuckles is easy.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Autozone sells the bushings separately. I can tell that they can be removed from the control arm. And I looked at it again and I see that I do need to separate the ball joint off the steering knuckle. It's riveted on. I have a pickle fork set but it would damage the ball joints so I may try to buy or borrow a ball joint remover, if there even is such a tool.

Is there a hand operated or tool-operated press tool to get the bushings out and the new ones in? Like a c-clamp type tool? My Dodge FSM shows a removal/installer tool but I know that it's a proprietary Dodge tool. Can't beg, borrow or steal that one.

I can do this job myself as soon as I have time. I'm off work for 4 days at New Year's. It would take me a lot longer than 45 minutes to do but I could get it done. I'll check at the tire place tomorrow anyway to see how much they would charge. At 45 minutes per side I'm guessing probably 200 to 250 bucks in labor. I already bought the bushings. $6.50 each from Autozone. I'd rather not pay to have it done if I can do it myself for $13.00 in parts.

Do you guys think these split and cracked bushings can cause a rough and bumpy ride problem? The outer edges that I can see are torn and split pretty badly but I don't know if the inside is that bad or if just the outside of the bushings is the critical part?


Thanks for the help. I appreciate any other ideas and info on it.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190




Do you guys think these split and cracked bushings can cause a rough and bumpy ride problem?



No. The lower controll arm bushings generally never wear out. Definatly won't cause a rough ride if they did.


No need to unrivit the ball joints to get them out. Just remove the kotter pin, loosen the castle nut and smack the knuckle with a hammer next to the castle nut.

It will drop right down then you can remove the castle nut and pull the knuckle off.

The only thing that can change the ride to rough is the shocks. My jeep had the same problem. One of my shocks was "stuck" and wouldn't let the axle move much. Have you replaced the shocks?

 

[Jimmy9190]

Yes I installed 4 brand new Monroe Reflex shocks about 6 weeks ago. They ride a lot better than the old Sensa-Trac's I had before. But the truck still has a bumpy ride, I feel it from the front end, not much from the rear. On new and really smooth roads it's not bad at all but on the average road around here it's still kind of rough even for a pickup truck with 99,300 miles on it.

It didn't always have a rough ride, it started about 6 weeks ago. I first replaced the shocks which helped some but not a lot, then had the tires rotated and balanced and also replaced both front tie rod ends--one was loose so I had them both done and an alignment. Still had the problem so I researched here and other sites and thought it could be a tire problem. I had looked at the truck and a couple of tire places looked at it and found nothing wrong. Last week I got a set of new Firestone Destination LE's and those helped it out a lot. The ride and handling/traction is much better than it was. I had Michelin LTX's with about 55,000 miles on them before the Firestones. The Firestones are turning out to be a good tire for me, I just could not spend $700 for another set of LTX's this time.

It still has a bit of a rough ride but I just attributed it to the age of my truck and the fact that it's a pickup truck--I know it ain't gonna ride like a Lexus. But when I saw the split bushings it made me think maybe that is what causes the bumpy ride. No one, myself included had noticed the worn bushings when inspecting the truck. Either that or maybe they are just worn but not really worn out and I'm the one who doesn't know what to look for or what to inspect on control arm bushings?

Truck rides OK for its age. If I won't see any benefit from replacing the bushings, I'll leave well enough alone. Any other info you guys can offer is greatly appreciated..

 

[andyd]

Maybe apples and oranges , but on my 528e, when the LCA bushings go, the ball joints on the other end are shot too.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Ball joints all appear OK. There is no slop/movement/play in any of them. Wheel bearings are all in good shape too. Truck drives and steers fine. No noise or vibrations from the front end at all and there are no noise/clunk, pulling or wandering problems at all with the steering. In fact this truck steers better than any other pickup I have owned and is in very good shape for its age. I take exceptional care of it. All the other bushings in the front end look OK.

I have no idea why I still have this bumpy feeling from the front end of my truck. I know I had unseen tire problems with the Michelins because these new tires improved the handling and ride so much. I am about to just attribute this to my own misconceptions about ride quality and write it off to the age of my truck, and tell myself that's as good as it gets and get used to it. We don't exactly have the best roads in the world around here anyway and I'm driving a Dodge, not a Lexus or Cadillac...

 

[Chris142]

How much air pressure is in the new tires?

 

[Jimmy9190]

35 psi

 

[Jimmy9190]

OK so 2 different tire stores both told me today that the worn out lower control arm bushings can cause a bumpy and rough ride condtion. Are they right or just trying to make money?

 

[Jimmy9190]

OK I'm done with this now. I now know that if the control arm bushings are bad the front suspension will squeak and groan and have noise. I have no such noise. I am leaving this alone until or unless there is some other problem with it.

Thanks to everybody who pitched in to help me.

 

[02Pilot]

Failed control arm bushings can have many different effects on the suspension, depending on the design. I have no idea what your vehicle uses, but some of the problems that can be caused are noise, vibration (both constant or only under certain conditions, like braking), and generally imprecise or rough handling caused by too much movement being allowed. The easiest test is to see how much deflection there is in the bushings when you apply moderate pressure with a screwdriver or prybar against the control arm. If the bushings are soft, replace them; if you can move them by hand, think how much more movement is occurring when 3000+ pounds of vehicle are pressing on them.

 

[parimento1]

put the car from Drive to Reverse and let the car move, and watch for the wheels to wiggle/jiggle in place. If this is so, most likely control arm issue. this will happen when you go from reverse to drive, there will be a difference in deflection/movement. it is a little hard to explain, but i hope you understand.