Im getting ready to put the front suspension back together after much sanding and POR-15 (stirling silver rules!) and it's time to put new bushings in my upper and lower control arms. Do I have to get them pressed in at a shop? I have a bench vise and that does do the trick to get them in but im just not sure on the straightness I know they have to be perfect to get the right movement when they are mounted. If I press them all the way in with no space left they should be perfectly straight right? Thanks.-james

You really need a press to do it. Even if your vise is big enough to hold the bushing, arm, and two mandrels, you will likely break it. Vises aren't really meant for pressing. Often the threaded rod (or the halfnnuts) that moves the jaw will either strip or be damaged.
I have a BIG BIG BIG vise that was salvaged from LeBlond Machine Tool Co. about 50 years ago, I tried using it, and it quickly became apparent that the vise was not happy with me.

For your vise's sake, press 'em.

You can use a piece of 1/2" all thread that is long enough to go through the bushing. Put large washers on the outside of the bushing and pull the bushing in. Just like on a press you need a spacer to keep the lowers arm spread the correct distance. A little grease on the threads helps. The uppers can be hammered in using a piece of round material (cheep socket)and a large hammer. Put the first bushing with out the cross shaft. Make sure the cross shaft will go througth the opposite hole first. Put the cross shaft in the other bushing in place. Use the the edge of a the work bench hammer in place. This is a quick Readers Digest version but if you look at the pieces before you start and think about it you can do it your self with a trip to the Home Depot. For the rounds the local muffler shop has lots of drop offs in various sizes in the scrap metal can.

I use a standard bearing puller and place a 1 1/4" socket over the end of the bushing while pressing it in. I place a large washer over the drive hole of the socket so that the bearing puller center shaft(screw) has something to spin on.

I've installed several control arm bushings using 4-6" bench vises. I've never seen a vise strip from installing the bushings.

to tell you the truth...you know the ball joint presses you can rent at the parts stores? the last 2 front end rebuilds i've done i used one of those to do all the bushings and the ball joints......i used what came with the kit plus a few large 1/2" drive sockets and it took me a couple hours to do all 4 control arms

hth
Matt

damn that's gotta be hard to do!
i rebuilt my front end, and it was sooooo tough to push the lower ball joints out and new ones in! but i was only 17, and didnt weigh much.

http://www.codefusion.org/~legarcia/front_end_rebuild.htm

i was gonna try to do the bushings too, but the lower ball joints were so difficult that i didnt even try the bushings. i took em to a local shop that does lift kits and suspension on trucks. they pressed the old bushings out and new ones in for only a couple bucks! well worth it!

anyways good luck.

l. garcia :cool:

I did the vice thing along with the ball jointpress,it worked out ok but would pay to have them pressed in-out next time for sure.godd luck. :cool: