Upper control arm bushing...

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MatthewDavid

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So we're about to go on a trip and I took our 97' Mark in to get it inspected... they said most things are good but the upper control arm bushing's going bad... they said it wasn't cracked or anything just shows wear... so my ??'s how hard is that to change?... they gave me an estimate of 300 for the parts and 150 for labor then an alignment... sounds kinda high?... what do you guys think?...
 
the uppers are F7LZ-3085/84-aa list for $156.17 each and cost you $112.44 each plus shipping
Max
 
Upper control arm bushing? I cant say I have heard of those going bad, they are a very hard compound. The upper ball joints, thats a different story. The bushing, if they fail, should not threaten the safety of the car. There is not much stress on them and the bolt going through them is pretty strong.

If you feel like replacing, you can do it yourself and I dont think you *need* an alignment when replacing he uppers. It would be a good idea, but there is not adjustments that can be made to the uppers. They are pretty static and replacing them should not change the position of any other components.
 
I don't think $150 in labor is bad for both sides. Kind of a pain to get the bolts off especially the drivers side with the master cylinder etc in the way.
 
That's the thing it was only for one side... it was like 450 total for one side... I was like damn!... but you think I'll be alright for a bit?... I looked under there and it's still there just a little worn... you think it's not that hard?... I know most of this kinda stuff is pretty self explanatory it's just gettin all the crap outta the way so you can get to it.
 
yea 450 for one side is RAPE.
the labor is 1 hour..1.5 hours TOPS and that would be a "first timer" that had never taken one apart.

We did "both sides" on my car in an hour {both upper control arms)
160 in parts and one hour labor.
 
Yes, I think you will be fine for your trip. The upper control arm is more of a "guide" for the knuckle. Its keep the top of the knuckle upright and parallel to the car. If that makes sense. There is no real stress on it unless you are pulling some hard turns and driving like a racing pro. Even then the bushings could be gone and the bolt would still hold it in place as a safety catch. The majority of the vehicle's weight goes into the air shock and lower control and as you can see the LCA is much more beefy.

If you get to replacing it, plan on taking the air shock out. It may not be needed, but I did mine as part of a front end rebuild and I believe not having the air shock in place made it a much easier job.
 
Hmmm... ok I think we could handle this ourselves... how bout the safety issue?... you think I'll be ok?... there's some bumpy roads we're gonna be going down but it isn't that bad... nothing more than I'm already driving on.
 
If the bushings were that bad you would have some clunking or some kind of noise. I wouldn't ignore it all together but if you are not getting any noise and the ball joints are ok then I would enjoy your trip and worry about it when you get back.

If this isn't a shop you know and trust I would be wary of the diagnosis as well. The ball joints on these cars usually wear out before the rubber is bad enough to warrent replacing them.
 
Yeah I trust them... I guess it's a back one?... and I don't hear any clunking but they said it was loose... I called them up and asked if I should be worried they said not really just keep a watch on it so yeah... is this something I could easily do when I convert my suspension to coils?
 
Upper control arm bushing? I cant say I have heard of those going bad,
Click to expand...

On my car '98 with 113K. The upper bushings were worn out. The ball joints were tight,but both of the boot's were ripped.

The lowers had good bushing, but the ball joints were flopping.

I R&R'd everything.
 
MatthewDavid said:
Yeah I trust them... I guess it's a back one?... and I don't hear any clunking but they said it was loose... I called them up and asked if I should be worried they said not really just keep a watch on it so yeah... is this something I could easily do when I convert my suspension to coils?
Click to expand...

Since you will be R/R the struts to go to coils then yes is should be a little easier to get at the upper control arms and you can probably save a couple bucks going with t bird arms as they are pretty much identical minus the t bird arms not having the provision for the ride height sensor.

Why are you going to coils anyway though?
 
one of my bags kinda has a leak... I had them check that too... they didn't find it but I think it's only when it expands... cause when I hit a bump it makes a noise like air's getting out... I redid the o rings... and it's a little less but still does it... and it stays full... and you can bounce on it and nothing but you lift up the car just a little and you can hear it... and since it's a daily driver I figure it would just be more convenient even though do like the ride... and I've read I might like it afterward... but yeah... don't really know what else is an option besides gettin new bags
 
the upper control arm bushings do certainly go bad, they will cause the front tires to move forward and backwards under braking. dont replace the bushings, buy the whole control arm from advance auto they are $82 bucks each for TRW parts, same as whats on the car and take about 30 minutes with basic tools to install. the price you got was rediculous if it was for one side.
 
+1 my front tires moved *slightly* frontwards and backwards. I also had a crap front end. Drivers side sucked balls, I got impatient and cut a hole in the splashguard with my dremel. That was because I didn't have the proper extension/u-joint for it.

+1 unity pointing out the airshock. I had problems with these little "flags" on the bolt that was behind the airshock. I took it out, got the flags off, and easily removed em.

There is a right up here http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00097.html

Honestly its not a tough job. I just tried tackling it without the right tools. Going at it again I could probably do both sides in an hour and a half or so, a long handled 18mm wrench would've made my job a lot easier for the bolts under the hood. Long story short pick up the trw parts from advance. You can save a few bucks picking up the arms for the tbird. The difference is the stud on the side for the ride height sensor, if you're handy you can reuse the one on your old control arm. Looking on advance's website shows the cheapest mark viii upper control arm being 103.....at least for my zipcode. RockAuto shows em in the 80 dollar range though. There's a coupon on the site as well....man this turned into a long post!
 
i just picked up new upper control arms because my upper ball joints are shot and im sure the bushings are as well.

i originally picked up the moog mark viii uppers for 116 each, but then i came home looking for a thread to aid in installing them and I came across this saying you can just use the thunderbird ones which are 85 each. I don't have air ride so it doesnt matter right? I got like 56 bucks back after bringing the mark ones back for the moog thunderbird lx ones.

question, do i need to swap the air ride studs or whatever it is from my old mark uppers onto the thunderbird oens i just picked up or just put on the bird ones wth out touching the air ride sensor, seeing as i dont have air ride anymore? And they are the same part in strength right?
 
Ya, the Mark uppers with air suspension need the ball stud for the sensor. If you dont have air suspension, T-Bird is fine.

Of course if you can braze you can just remove and install the ball stud to T-Bird ones.
 
na i have a coilover conversion so i dont need them... Tools needed are 18" box/open wrench either or 18" inch socket swivel 3/8's extension and ratchet, screw drivers hammer/mallet anything thing any else im missing?
 
So your saying when you replace the uppercontrol arm you should take out the strut...do you have to or know how much of a difference does it make...so i know when i do my control arm on thursday...
 
I took it out because it made my life a little easier. If you can get the flags off from behind the strut more power to ya. I couldn't
 
i read that if you have the coil conversion you don't have to take out the strut... but if you have the air ride you do? Does that make sense? Taking out the strut isn't hard but it screws up your alignment.
 
If you do take out the air struts, don't worry about it screwing up your alignment. The strut mounts aren't used for setting the alignment in any way. Just mark the top mount where it was with paint etc, as it does move a little, and you should be fine...
I've had mine checked after two different sets of struts and it's still within limits. Sensor raising and lowering the car will change it more... I still am getting it set to the settings I want though once I get this oil pan done one more time :rolleyes:
 
if you take out your struts doesnt it move your LCA which would in turn mess up your alignment? either way i dont have air ride so hopefully i can make do with out taking it out. i have to get more familiar with the suspension, i just know we took out my struts when we did my LCA and my alignment was terrible afterwords.... marking the strut with paint makes sense i should try that next time thanks icarus
 
No, the arm isn't attached to the strut at the LCA that would affect alignment (one bolt through it.) Your alignment was probably out because of the replacement of the LCA itself, which will affect everything.
It takes longer to put the car up on stands than to get the strut out imho, lol... (esp. on my lowered car!) A paint touch up container with the lil brush work great for this as you can get right around the whole mount easy.
Only real hard part is the lower bolt, as they can be a pita to get out sometimes, and you need to tighten it with the weight of the car on it.
This would be easier for a stock height car here too as you wouldn't need to keep jacking it up, just pop the wheels on, turn the air ride switch on and let it level, and drive it up some ramps and tighten.
On mine, the lower bolt I snug it up lightly, then jack the front up real high and slid wheel ramps under the wheels, turn the air ride switch on to fill the bags, and tighten them then. I turn the air ride switch off again and jack it up off the ramps and drop it, as I can't drive off them as the car is too low...
 
so your saying theres know way to get the bolts out with the airstrut in place?...
 
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