Control Arm Bushing, custom alteration.

BlueBaron · Post by **BlueBaron** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:00 pm

My car has about 115,000 miles on it, and every 2 years or 20,000 miles, I needed to change the control arm bushings. The last set was urethane, and they still failed. (Was the Energy brand which might not have been a good choice, but anyway...)

But my Dad came up with the idea of simply changing the design altogether.

http://thebluebaron.homestead.com/SubFrame.html

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:49 am

looks good, I've thought about adapting Sundance LCA's myself, but haven't gotten around to comparing them side by side yet.

Adionik · Post by **Adionik** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 4:00 am

That is hella interresting...let us know how it rides and turns out

It's your road salt that kills your LCA bushings though. I have no problems at all with mine here in Texas holding up.

BlueBaron · Post by **BlueBaron** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 4:12 pm

occasional demons wrote:...I've thought about adapting Sundance LCA's myself, but haven't gotten around to comparing them side by side yet.

I've looked at the frame off my LeBaron in pictures compared to the service manual illustration of the Neon frame. Between the design and mount locations, I doubt anything would line up right. So I quickly dismissed that idea a while ago.

NiteHawk · Post by **NiteHawk** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:26 am

i see one major flaw in the idea. now you only have 2 bolts holding up the entire k-member.....

while your idea is stronger for the control arm itself, it leaves the k-member rather loose...

cutting out the "bottom" part of where that used to go and putting a bolt in the stock location BEFORE installing the new control arm design would hold it in place, and still allow you to run your new design...

BlueBaron · Post by **BlueBaron** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:21 am

There is a brief mention of the bolts, but it's vague. And I didn't take any pics with them in place.

We have replacement bolts that go into the stock location just under the new hinge. There is also a second layer of steel there now, so the frame should be fastened to the car just as well as before.

NiteHawk · Post by **NiteHawk** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:55 am

then i see no flaw in your idea

good work

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:25 pm

Very interesting... i'm curious to hear how well it works (if you notice any changes whatsoever).

01NeonSnooZer · Post by **01NeonSnooZer** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:25 pm

I think you would have to reinforce the flange above the LCA bushing to be stronger so that the K-Member won't crack and you might have to cut the welds on your pretty new bushing hole and offset it downward another 1/4 of an inch. The way it looks to me is that the LCA with the modified bushing would hit the head of the bolt above it when going over big bumps or around hard corners. But all in all, it looks solid. If you'd be interested in the work, I bet lots of people on this site would be interested in a mod like that. It's not like it would be hard to source a K-Member from a salvag yard in good shape for not much money. Just make sure you have it professionally aligned. You may even have to take it to a frame shop to have it tweaked by their machines.

Let us know how it turns out.

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:07 pm

why not just weld up some tubular control arms with hiem joints? Then you wouldn't have had to modify the frame.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:23 pm

This is a GREAT idea !! Thanks for posting this link & pics.

http://thebluebaron.homestead.com/SubFrame.html

- Nick

BlueBaron · Post by **BlueBaron** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 12:46 am

The frame where it bolts to the car is twice as thick. Another layer was added there. The bushing end was tweaked already to make just enough clearance for the arm to move quite a ways before contacting the bolt.

As for a Hiem joint, I feel this would make it work the opposite way they are meant to. In this position, I think they would work side to side, and offer some movement up and down. Whereas all the movement I need, is just the up and down motion.

Winter is prob'ly the wrong time for this project.

It's all done now, and waiting for me to feel like installing it.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:33 am

BlueBaron wrote:Winter is prob'ly the wrong time for this project.

I may not have much choise.

I think I will have to do mine soon.
Either that, or end up going psychotic from all the noise.....

Let's see.... it was 1 deg.F. / -23 C. when I got up this morning.....

- Nick

BlueBaron · Post by **BlueBaron** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:38 pm

The suspension is in!

My Dad's friend let us borrow his welding shop on Sunday for a warm place to work.
Of the 7 hours we were there, I'd say about 4 of those hours was spent on loosening or tighning bolts! The rear frame bolts did not want to let go. You know that crack-crack-crack sound you get when you really push on the 3' bar you have on the breaker bar? Anyway, somehow the bolts did come out. More time was spent with tight bolts on the steering rack. We undid them while the frame was in the car, so as to not touch any more of the suspension than the ball joints.
The new frame went into place ok, but the arm on the passenger side didn't want to go in. We loosened frame bolts a bit, and needed to hammer on the arm with a 2x4 till the joints were in their housings. Then we just tapped on them with a hammer to line the holes up for the bolts.

When the job was done, I drove home. The steering wheel was cocked to the left about 20 degrees, and it felt like really bad toe-out. I had to almost manualy straighten the wheel after making a turn. So Monday morning I took it in for an alignment. They asked what I had done, as it was obvious the shiny new parts were just put on. I explained it all, but they didn't seem impressed lol.
Anyway, the alignment went fine and the car drives great. I had a fear that they were going to come into the waiting area and say that they took the adjustment to the limits and it was still out.
*phew*

And did I mention how quiet the car rides without the clunks and rattles of failed bushings?

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:49 pm

Grats yo. Being free of rattles and clunks is always a good thing

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:24 pm

BlueBaron wrote: They asked what I had done, as it was obvious the shiny new parts were just put on. I explained it all, but they didn't seem impresssed

Don't you love it?
Some times you get a thumbs up, and other times they're like "So what? You want a cookie?"
Nice work!

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:18 am

Interesting idea. Very cool that it worked out. I would LOVE to go for a drive in your car.