Front control arm bushing holes not lining up

[mailman23]

Hello,

I'm currently replacing my front control arm bushings with akg poly and I cant seem to get the holes lined up. I've already pried the lollipop over using a center punch & flathead but I cant get the last bit of it into the inserts located on the frame. Any help is appreciated :).

Photos attached here (https://imgur.com/a/Qtlm0If)

[RobertFontaine]

From the picture, it looks like you are there. Stick a screwdriver in one hole and wiggle a bit till you can hand thread in the other stud if so. Optionally, loosen the other two bolts if you have them tightened up. A second man to pull on the strut helps too but you can use a jack to move it a tiny bit to line things up without suffering from a lack of three hands.

[mailman23]

Thanks for the response,

After countless attempts im still only able to get 1 hole popped in. Wether its the inside or outside hole, im able to use a flathead to get it lined up, but after that its almost impossible to get any more mobility out of the bushing using my hole puncher and flathead, making it so that I cannot get the other hole to line up.

Could I heat the bushing a little to get a more mobility out of it? I'm afraid that hitting it with a torch would damage the bushing itself. For reference they are 95A AKG.

[bluptgm3]

Do not torch the bushing.

As stated above it looks as though you are there.
Same bushing bracket that came off the car?

Poly bushings are not compliant, if is going to be a struggle.

Start a fastener by hand, couple of full turns before applying a wrench. Snug it up and tap lightly with a mallet to get it to drop into place, if required.

[RobertFontaine]

Have you loosened off your other bolts on the control arm so it's sloppy and do you have a friend who can wiggle the strut for you?
If you have one bolt in what happens if you tighten them all up... All else equal it should pull into place.

727883 727884

If you look at an OEM bushing you can push and wiggle in and out but with the poly there is no "give" to line it up easily.

If you have a look at the new Powerflex and Turner Motorsport Poly Bushings their design give you that little extra wiggle with the two piece bushing design.

In your picture it looks like you have the bushing on as far as it will go but try giving it a couple of taps with the dead blow to see if you can buy another 16".

I am assuming you have the other two bolts for the control arm in place but not tightened.

[pbonsalb]

Hard work. You guys aren’t the first. I don’t have any secret techniques to share, but I have gotten stock, powerflex poly, akg harder poly, Delrin, and adjustable to fit. Have some UUC bearing bushings as well but they fit sort of loose so I never fully installed them.

The secret I have for you is that FCAB are not the secret to a nice suspension. Replace every bushing, ball joint, end link and mount under the car with stock or near stock and you will have a supple ride. Cheap coilovers are not the solution but rather just bring all the other problems to light.

[RobertFontaine]

Always the voice of reason.

[Eric93se]

Why do they look upside down?

If they are not upside down then I would toss them.

[bluptgm3]

Why do they look upside down?

If they are not upside down then I would toss them.

I believe the bushing needs to be ‘captive’.

[JDStrickland]

My thoughts on this are that the holes on the bushings are spaced differently than the holes on the car.

[mailman23]

Thanks for the replies everyone, i'm currently out of town but ill be able to get another try at the bushings this weekend.

The bushings are not upside down, the lollipop marked "L" is on the drivers side and the one marked "R" is on the passenger side, and the side with the inserts facing up towards the frame of the car.

The lollipops I have came with a front suspension rebuild kit from ecs tuning, and they came with pre-pressed Vaico bushings. I'm switching to poly as I really liked the effect they had when I swapped my rear trailing arm bushing to 95A.

Would ordering new control arm brackets be a good idea? Or should I go to solid rubber altogether?

[mailman23]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the responses

after hours of attempts, I finally decided to put rubber bushings back in the car. However, the passenger side outer ball joint wont line up with the spindle now. The car was in an accident involving a passenger side hit, but I was able to previously install a new front suspension, including control arms & bushings, so I don't see how im unable to get the outer ball joint lined up in this instance.

I've already tried turning the wheel whichever way, as well as pushing the strut back and forth, both to no avail. My thoughts are to unbolt the tie rod and sway bar to get things lined up, but im afraid doing so will make things more complicated.

Here are some images depicting the situation
(https://imgur.com/a/4MfSBGJ)