LCA bushings?

[73 Charger 440]

Hey guys,

Last year I changed all the suspension parts with the exception of the LCA bushings, I dont know why I didnt change them at the time... Anyways Ive got the torsion bar off (doing one side at a time), the old bushing was pretty worn so it just came out (and LCA slide right off). I still have the LCA hooked up by the balljoint (new balljoint so dont want to break it). Only issue is the LCA wont slide over the last centimeter or two.

Any ideas? Ive tried hitting it in but no luck... I dont want to use heat on a new bushing...

Thanks in advance.

[Chryco Psycho]

use 2 hammers & hit the lower control arm where the ball joint goes through itwill separate without hurting the boot
if you are using a poly lower bushing you can heat the old rubber one & pry the pin out with a pickle fork & leave the metal shells in place, if you are using an original rubber bushing you will need it pressed in & out 

[73 Charger 440]

Thanks Chryco,

I took a break and managed to get both in place without removing the LCA at the balljoint, good idea on the two hammers though. The hardest part was getting the new poly bushings in... I slide them over the "pin" first (which is still in its original spot), then angled the LCA to go over the poly bushing and hit it with a sledge hammer, once it started going then I took a cable puller and put pressure, then gave it a few wacks, tighted the cable some more, a few more wacks and it goes in.

Hopefully this helps others out too.

Thanks again

[chargerguy111]

Where is the best place to buy LCA bushings?Are they usually wore out to the extent of needing replaced?

[Mr_fixit]

If it squeaks when you push up & down on the front end ( metal against metal ) they're shot...

The only way I've ever changed Charger LCA bushings was to take the lower control arm off the car...  Use torches to very carefully cut the old out( verrry messy & stinky).....And use a press to put them in ..

[Mopar2Ya]

I've used American Muscle tools, I did replace their threaded rod w/hardened. http://www.americanmuscle.biz/parts.html

[chargerguy111]

My lower control arms have the sway bar mounting tabs cut off of them.My question is,do I need these tabs if I go with an aftermarket sway bar?I was leaning this way any way because someone already changed my calipers over to a single piston and they mount on the front of the rotor.From reading on this forum I understand that this will cause mounting problems with a factory sway bar and if I did use a factory bar,then I would have to switch spindles from side to side so the calipers would mount on the rear,which some people then say you will have trouble with your brake hose,so I would rather not do that.Thanks for the info.

[Mike DC]

 
In the big picture, re-routing the brake hoses are way less of an issue than monkeying with changing sway bar systems IMHO.


As for sway bar mounting setups, I would go with the E-body (and 1970 B-body) setup if you're gonna customize anything.  It's compact, it works great, and it's by far the most heavily supported in the aftermarket.