Changing GTV upper arm bushings and spring shims

[Alfajay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew I added 7mm shims to both front springs (.280" on the left; .275" on the right). LF: up 7/8" RF: up 1/2"

[Andrew]

Yep, agreed; I'll measure after the TT and see where it is. I'm surprised at how uneven right now, but it could easily be the "set" of the torqued new inner upper arm bushes, springs in the upper and lower rubber carriers, etc.

Andrew

[rockiemosley]

FYI-according to my experience front shimming reacts to a change by 2.8 times- for example a 10mm shim raised the front 28mm.

[Andrew]

I'll remeasure it in a couple weeks after I take it to the timetrial and it has time to settle in. The inconsistency side to side does suprise me.

Andrew

[BlpltGTV]

Andrew,
How the heck did you get the upper A-arm to release from the body? I got mine all apart, and the thing would float around a little, but will not come out of the body. The original ones came right out, but these are not going anywhere. It took me all of about 10 min to get everything apart and ready to remove the upper a-arm, but no, its happy. I tried pulling on it, spraying it down with PB blaster (I used plenty of anti-seize when I installed them hence the easy bolt and ball joint removal) tapping the ball joint end with a small hammer, then a larger one. I then pulled a crowbar out to try and dislodge the thing and it does little more than float around. It seems like the inner metal tube that the bolt goes through is stuck some how.

Any ideas other than a hacksaw blade and 10 hours?

thanks,
Will

[rockiemosley]

It sounds as if you have the dreaded FRAP brand of bushings in your inner control arm bush. They are notorious for having the rubber migrating out of the sleeve, or the inner steel sleeve moving inside the rubber. You control arm is probably being held in place by the rubber having moved back and forth. No easy answers here. Probably hours and hours going back and forth with a hacksaw blade. It may be worth a try to get a big slide hammer and attach it to you control arm and try to jerk it out laterally, as it is probably being held by the rubber. Creative use of a come-a-long might work as well. Dont use the crappy bushings that come with new adjustable control arms.

[Andrew]

Yup. You did remove the inner upper arm bolt from inside the engine cmpt, yes? If the rubber has migrated fore or aft, it binds on the short tube sections that the inner bushing fits within.

On my Super, I first used a sawzall to cut the rubber, then burned it, then finally chiseled it with a sharp screwdriver to get it to clear. Not a fun day, but go slowly and eventually you'll get it.

On my GTV, one side came right out, and the other took a bit of wiggling but came out without special effort. The longer the bushing has been in there, and the farther it's migrated, the worse it'll be to remove.

Here's the worse of the two on my GTV, so you can see how the rubber becomes a collar around the protruding bolt tube on the chassis. My Super was about 50% farther out than this.

Andrew

[BlpltGTV]

Yeah, I have the FRAP crap. They have been on the car for about a year and a half, and the bushing has migrated out the front. It has migrated so far that there is metal on metal on the back side, and the A-arm rubs against the body. I only tried the drivers side last night, but it sounds like I'm going to have to do a car swap so I can pull these things and still have a car to drive. I don't really want to resort to burning anything since the original paint in the wheel wells is really nice.

How do companys get away with selling crap like this? People shouldn't have to rebuid a part before its used just so they won't have to rebuild it a year or so later after it fails with normal use.

Thanks,
Will

[rockiemosley]

Yeah, I just installed adjustable upper arms on mine from Centerline- and based on the info on this board regarding the FRAP crap, I replaced both inner and castor bushings with urethane bushings from IAP. I called the folks at Centerline to ask about the bushings being of poor quality, and needing replacement after a short time- they acted like they had never heard of such things and furthermore, if they were of poor quality, they would have heard since they have sold so many of those adjustable arms. Yeah right, so I bought Urethane bushings from IAP.

[Andrew]

I think the main thing that worked for me was getting it hot enough with the torch to chisel well with the sharp screwdriver afterward. The sawzall was difficult, to say the least, and you probably wouldn't want it rattling around on a really nice car. My Super's wheelwells are not pristine, plus I was getting desperate. The torch didn't seem to do any damage, and I had wet towels all over the inner fender, as this was on the carb side. None of this is really recommended, but it worked.

Andrew

[Andrew]

As above, I used lower A-arm bushings from Centerline. They are plastic and metal; inside kind of like a Heim joint with a plastic swivel surround instead of metal.

Andrew

[rockiemosley]

Another idea might be to sharpen an long screwdriver and heat it red hot with a propane torch and use that to nibble away at the rubber. or hook a come-a-long to your old arm and hook it to an immoveable object to pull laterally.

[Andrew]

I used a slide hammer repeatedly to no effect; the rubber caused it to bounce back each time. I would worry about pulling too hard and distorting the attachment box and inner fender with use of an "immoveable object."
Andrew

[rockiemosley]

Sounds like the only way is to nibble away at the rubber somehow. The hot screwdriver trick or maybe a long bit on a dremel tool. Mcmaster.com lists some long 1/8 bits about 5 inches long that ive used in other applications, maybe you could grind away at if if you can reach it. Or saw at it -there used to be a wire saw they sold at camping places- basically 2 rings for holding it with a rigged wire stretched between for survival camping to cut limbs, maybe loop something like that around and saw away at the rubber. No easy way here.

[daveydog]

Not a great photo, but here's mine in obviously good shape. I remember when I installed the upper arm, I applied anti seize to the shaft of the bolt to help it retain some lubrication as the arm travelled up and down in it's duties. New plastic spacers on the caster arm help to keep it within design specifications as well.