How many of you changed out the control arm or at least the bushing when doing your struts/coilovers? I'll be installing b6 struts on my 07 with 106k miles driving solely on glass smooth Florida roads.
​​​​​​Wondering if you guys' bushings were shot when you did yours. Thinking it might be worth the extra time to take the whole arm off and replace it. Maybe poly bushing for the inner but I usually shy away from poly anything

 

I have nismo on the inside and poly in the outside, going to SPL on the outside this year. You should do them even if you don't need them. They will fail eventually.

 

This.

They fail eventually, you don't want to go back to an area you were just putting time/money to. They're inexpensive, I'd do them.

Mine were going out at 118K miles, but kinda kept driving on them thinking I'd be fine, then I forgot about them. Then after doing Akebono BBK, my front bushings/balljoints/tierods were shot to hell with the increased stress from hard braking.

I went with Energy Suspension oversized polys & Whiteline polys throughout the front suspension everywhere. No issues to-date other then an increased in feedback from roads.

 

I found some rubber ones that are 150% stiffer than stock. I'm going to go with those since I have a press. Is the lower ball joint the same as the upper ball joint?

 

For what it's worth, my 185k mile Z has completely blown out front lower control arm bushings and I can't even tell when driving. I discovered this while getting my car aligned the day before my last track day. Even on track I couldn't tell the bushings were wasted. Nonetheless, I have Energy Suspension poly ones ready to go in the next time I put the car on jack stands.

 

FWIW #2 to the above.... If/when my car ever needs it, I'm going this route: https://conceptzperformance.com/spd-...kt_p_27792.php


I like easy. And find no real need to add any additional harshness into the suspension. Works great as is and comfortable enough to drive for days at a time. But with only 77k and maybe a couple thou miles a year, it'll be many years before this happens.

 

I just don't like putting in new stuff that connects to old bushings. A lot of people ignore the bushings. I build cars for the "feel" of them and the bushing refresh always make the car feel much more connected to me.

I looked at getting a whole new arm but saw a lot of reviews saying like "this one is heavier than stock..." or "the cone for the ball joint doesn't fit correctly..." and so on. So I will just stay with the stock arm.

​On another note, th se bushings seem to be the type that allow for some axial force. Whenever you see a conical end shaped bushing it's meant to pivot some like a ball joint. Replacing those with poly is usually a bad idea as you screw with the suspension geometry. Or so says my suspension guru friend who literally builds his own coilovers.

 

Hence why I'm doing SPL and have nismo on the inside they need play room. Only beef I have with the SPD stuff is the rubber boots on my ball joints went quick. That's why they even sell them with ES boots now. Which I am also doing soon.

 

since you have to drop the arm in order to remove the strut assembly its worth it to replace the lower control ams. be carefull and make sure the sway bar link is in good shape too.

 

Sway bar links were good. I could not get that castle nut off to save my life. I felt like I was going to break my breaker bar it was bending so much (I am quite strong). Was hoping to get th arm off so I could take it to my boss's machine shop to press out the bushings.

Since I already have upgraded rubber bushings and can't get off the arm, and also don't want to heat that nut as it will destroy the grease in that ball joint under it, I am going to burn out the bushings and press the new ones in with the arm still on the arm. Shouldn't be too hard as these are small. I've done far worse bushings on BMWs. BMW bushings are huge.

 

Still have a metal sleeve, but should be doable with a c-clamp and some sockets. Alternatively it's the perfect time to replace the ball joints too.

 

Not a bad idea to replace them, but I would think your typically 1/2" drive big boy torque wrench will break it off. Haven't had issues as long as I can fit that thing on anything.

If anything, PB Blaster, give it a good all-round shake (vibration helps loose the bonding) with a hammer/mallet around the area.
I know one method someone does is actually tighten it a little bit to get out of that seized spot, then he undoes it and loosen it. Crazy I think, but looks like you gone with burn-it route. Good luck!

 

I was actually going to cut the shell out with a Sawzall. That's the way I've done it in the past, my mustang buddies say you can bend aluminum arms trying to press stuff out of them. I don't know how much truth there is to that but I know two notches with a Sawzall will pop it right out with no negative effects

 

Well I made my own press out/in tool with some grade 8 bolts. I got one in and out. It was such a bear I decided, I think very wisely, to just stop at the one and I didn't think I would get so lucky on the other three. I'm either going to buy new arms or just grab an electric impact to get that one bolt off