Front control arm bushings questions...

[BarryJB]

I've got a Bentley and have scoured Pelican & Google, and still have some questions.
My car is (as below) an '85 Carrera coupe with a 3.6 conversion.

1. I have a click from the front end on sequential L-R & R-L transitions, or over very undulating surfaces like driveways and speedbumps taken at an angle. Car had new ball joints & front struts this year. I've also read that the shoulder/lip areas on the rear front control arm bushings are prone to getting get cut due to crimp action during braking.

My mechanic had his helper rock the car while up on a lift and said it seems to be the front control arm bushings, so I bought a set of Powerflex bushings from our host that I haven't put in yet.

Is this clicking—it sounds like a loose socket wrench or large nut that (silently slides back and forth across and) hits the sides of the luggage compartment (I spent a while looking for one! Nope)—a well-known symptom of tired/worn/cut control arm bushings?

Based on the apparent location, I have an ERP FARB and thought it was end-play in that, or that the socket/nut was behind the gas tank, but disconnected the FARB temporarily—wasn't that...

2. Can one leave the ball joint in the arm and just separate the bottom of the strut by removing the cotter pin? I do have the ring nut tool and made up a bearing gizmo that lets me torque it off or on while jacking up on it, but if it can be left on, why remove it? I must be missing something here as all the guides I've seen say to remove the balljoint from the arm.

3. Bentley says to count & note the turns on the t-bar adjustment bolts. On reassembly, assuming the bushing housings are put back properly using an angle meter, does the control arm index with the t-bar also have to be marked/noted in some way, with say a scribe mark somewhere, before removing the control arm? Car will be realigned/corner balanced after replacing the bushings, but does R&R present an easy way to put control arms back with the exact same splines-to-splines orientation re the t-bars, so ride height, after reinstalling t-bar adjustment screws to noted turn count, is at least in the ball park?

Thanks!

[jpnovak]

Yes, Drive the pin out of the strut and then pull the ball joint down out of the strut housing. It might be stuck if you have not ever removed it.

you can easily identify worn control arm bushings if the torsion bar adjuster is not centered in the steering rack cross member. If it is offset to the top then the bushings are worn.

You can mark note the angle and number of turns on the adjusters. This will get you in the ball park. It just makes it faster to set ride height and CB once its all back together.

[BarryJB]

Jamie,
Thank you, that's all most reassuring to know, will order new pins etc., and tear into it next oppo now. I did the balljoints and struts this year with plenty of Cu antiseize so I anticipate plain sailing there. Car has 387k on body and I only had (what my mechanic reckoned were) the original rear wheel bearings replaced this year... I think all the F/R control arm bushings are original, so hardly a surprise...

Cheers!
Barry

[ben parrish]

You say new struts were installed. Have you checked the gland nut on top of the struts to ensure they are tight? When I rebuilt my suspension years back, I was very careful to make sure I torqued everything correctly upon reassembly. Within a month or so, I developed a clicking/rattle over rough surfaces and entering driveways while turning. It turned out to be my passenger strut top nut was loose. Not sure how it worked its way loose but it did.

[safe]

Good point by Ben.
But at 30 years the control arm bushings are toast, unless the car has lived on jackstands for most of its life.

[BarryJB]

Ben: I did that work myself this summer. Jae Lee at Mirage (San Diego) works on my car and has done or advised re most of the mods and last month he looked everything over re this clicking at my request while it was in for a g/box rebuild. I was convinced initially it was the ERP FARB—but wrongly—that either droplinks were snap-rotating on transitions, or it was side-slop in the bar itself. But all the strut brace & tower fasteners were checked at during that time.

Nonetheless I will go over all the strut tower stuff again.

Good point Magnus! Car was off the road '06–'09 for major restoration, but at 30 years + 387k (miles), 227k of which are mine since 1998—that's some ≈18k/year—so plenty of exercise. Rear bushings may have been replaced when I had coilovers & ERP 935 spring plates installed, have to check my files, and if not will do those too! If not, those would probably be the last major wear items not attended to. (I just did the door-hinge bushings 2 months ago). Amazing how long some parts hold out, even if not optimal any more.

Thank you both. As always, what a great site this is!
vbr
Barry

[BarryJB]

Just to follow up, it WASN'T the control arm bushings... was worth R&Ring them anyway (PowerFlex polyurethanes from our host—black is what you get), the rears by the adjusters were pretty oval, and crimped. Definitely felt smoother and tighter after—but still the front end clicked!

It was the blue plastic bushings on the bar ends of the Smart Racing FARB binding. They had a sort of black powdery/gunky residue on the surfaces that contact moving metal (bar & spacer), and this was causing stiction. Cleaned everything off, the bushings looked reaonable.

They're supposed to be installed dry, but that didn't seem to be working here. After testing a few plastic-safe lubes, Jig-A-Loo felt the best... reassembled everything... clicking GONE -and I hope it stays that way!


Lucked out w/control arm R&R. Using antiseize everywhere when replacing ball joints last year, the wedge bolts came right out, allowing easy xmember & arms drop in one lump without touching ball joints. New wedge bolts, washers, nuts, a bit of jockeying under the car, and done.

In process found a neat way to simplify R&R of control arms which I suspect is facilitated by Powerflex bushings, will post in appropriate place later.

Thanks for the help, everyone!
Cheers
Barry