A-Arm bushings...

[News]

News

[Stats]

Stats

[swampwrecker]

My Xterra needs new bushings for the A-Arms.  Is it worth spending the extra money for Poly bushings or just stick with the stock bushings?  Also, with the Upper Control Arms, the camber bolts had to be cut off when I replaced them with Aftermarket ones.  Will the A-Arm bolts also need to be cut off to remove them.  And finally, does the entire A-Arm need to be removed to replace the bushings or will there be enough movement to replace the bushings without having to remove the entire A-Arm?

Thanks,

-Michael

[Reserector]

In my experience, the poly bushings tend to get squeaky, and they wear out quickly.
The rubber stock bushings are more difficult to replace.
If I were running IFS, I would use the rubber bushings.

Having an older HB, I am unfamiliar with camber bolts, but I believe you will have to unbolt the UCA pivot in order to replace the bushings.  If they are already poly, you may be able to work them out one side at a time without unbolting.  I have done it in the past, but it is not necesarily easy.

[akcelr8]

You are going to need to take them all off unfortunately.  There is no way to get new bushings in there.  I'm also pretty sure you can get Urethane bushings - they are better than poly and last forever.  They do have a tendency to need grease though so perhaps not the best in a stock application unless you find a way to fit a grease zerk on the stock arms.

This will be a long job as you will have to pull your t-bars off to.  This would be a good time to do your ball joints if you have not already.

Don't forget an alignment after you are done.

[swampwrecker]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I was afraid I'd have to remove the whole arm.  The ball joints are a few years old, however since I have to remove the entire arm, I will probably just replace the entire a-arm.  I already have a set of new stock arms, I just didn't put them on, opting just to replace the ball joints instead.

I expect it to take a little while as I have a few other things to do as well.

Res - In the Xterra and the Frontier, the camber bolts have a tendency to rust weld to the bushing sleeve, requiring the camber bolts to be cut out when replace or removing the upper control arms.  Took me 9 metal cutting sawzall blades to cut mine off.

Thanks again,

-Michael

[OffroadX]

By A-arms, you mean the LCAs?  Yeah, expect to have to cut them out.  Mine are pretty shot too, Pat wants to replace 'em for me.  I picked up a spare OEM set years ago and I'll probably have him tackle it in a couple of months.