After reading through all of the threads on bushing replacement, I STILL did not know how far I had to cut into the bushing until I hit the metal band. I was nervous about cutting too close to the control arm (those things are expensive), so I used a hacksaw and a pair of pliers to peal the outer rubber layer off of the original (89) bushing. Knowing the amount of rubber left between the control arm and metal sleeve, I felt confident that I could cut it off without damaging the control arm. Here are a couple of pictures for those of you that are contemplating doing this. Sorry about the low quality of pics, I only had my old bb. There's about a quarter of an inch of rubber outside the metal sleeve, and a bit less than that sandwiched between the sleeve and the control arm.

 

i always drill out the rubber between the control arm and the inner metal barrel. gotta be careful not to hit the control arm, but drilling a couple spots, but the bushing in a vice, and twist it while pulling, comes right off every single time. its a pita no matter what, but it works.

Lloyd

 

Not to raise an old thread, but i was doing this last night. I ended up getting a torch and burning it out and then prying it the center piece of the bushing out. That took a lot of effort.

This is exactly what I was going to do next, but I think I'm going to use my dremel for the passenger side lol...

 

Burned mine out then just used a hammer and chisel to get the sleeve out. Then wire wheel and polish up the inner bore, grease it up, and push your new bushings in. The thing that sucks most about the job was taking everything off just to get the control arm out. And realizing how shot your DTSS bushings are when you see them...

 

REAmemiya_fan: you're talking about the wrong bushing.

I just used a bearing separator and used a harbor frieght hydraulic press and the bushing was off in literally 30 seconds. you could probably do the same thing with a bearing separator and a jaw puller.

 

^^^ using mechanical advantage got me the best results when i did my poly swap

 

my bushings look alot like that guys, does anyone have a good source to get the lower control arm bushings?

 

Like magus2222 said, theres no real easy way to get these bushings off. I usually remove them like the OP did to avoid damage to the control arm.

I carry polyurethane bushings and stock OEM rubber bushings for FCs. I dont have OEM bushings listed on my website yet but I do carry them. Check out my website www.j-auto.net.

 

or you can get some delrin bushings (solid but self lubricating). they might be a bit rougher than poly, but don't bind as easily and don't need re-greasing.

MMR-Direct.com
Mazda Race UHMW & Delrin Bushings by Drop Engineering

 

My experience with delrin bushings is limited to FDs who's owners come in to replace them with SuperPro or Powerflex polyurethane bushings. All of these come in creaking and popping and are generally very loud. Some of these FDs had delrin for less than a year and these were supposed to be self lubricating, maintenance free bushings. I imagine FCs would be just as loud with delrin but I have no direct experience with them on this chassis.

I've had SuperPro bushings on my FD going on 6 years now and have never had to re-grease or do maintenance on them since I installed them. They're just as quiet as the day they were installed. My customers have never complained about these bushings either. Energy Suspension and Prothane are a very hard polyurethane compared to SuperPro's poly formula. Even then, my FC customers have never complained about ES or Prothane making noise or needing re-greasing. I mainly sell and install bushings and speak only from my direct experience with these products. Delrin bushings definitely have their place but I personally feel that a street car, even a dual purpose car, is not one of them. Whatever the case, you guys should read up on all of these bushings and get a ride in an FC, if possible, that has these bushings installed to come to your own conclusions.

 

Oh my bad now I see what one you're doing

 

Exactly the experience I had on my FD...****** sounded like a conestoga wagon rolling down the street.
Replaced all the delrin within 6 months with Mazdacomp/stock rubber and it was such a relief.

 

The FC does have a lot less bushings than an FD does, but yeah, I can't argue with anything you said other than your results may vary with poly.

especially in the rear (I know you're not replacing those at the moment, but that arm does not pivot linearly, you can't use poly or delrin)

I have poly bushings (super pro) on my corolla and it's not bad, but I've only had them on for a couple years and don't drive it terribly often.

The major thing that's different about the FC front control arm is the rear bushing doesn't have a metal sleeve, so it's pressed onto the actual control arm.which is barbed... maybe that does weird things to them.

I have delrin on the front of my FC and yeah, it's a little noisy up front, but I assumed that was because of my rod-end tie rods and my dual bearing GC camber plates

 

i never had a problem. about a year of driving, quite a bit of spirited driving as well. a hell of a lot quieter than the stupid red poly urethane bushings i had!

Lloyd

 

are you using delrin bushings?

 

the entire car had delrin bushings, adjustable everything. never had an issue. my sway bar end links clicked in reverse, but thats it.

Lloyd

 

have non lube groove delrins for diff and rear subframe bushes .. FC daily driver //
i grub locked them and added a cross drill ,a grease nipple and grease .. no unacceptable noises or harshness.... yet