Hey guys, I noticed when I was doing my brakes that when I turned the wheel there was play in my passenger side upper arm bushing. It was side to side play. Is it possible for the sleeve inside the bushing to go bad and allow side to side movement within the bracket or is the problem something else? It looks like the bolt is tight so I dont think that is the problem but I may try to tighten it even more and see if the play goes away. Question number 2 is are these bushing expensive and do you need any special tools to remove them out of the upper arm.

Thanks! J

 

Yes those bushings do go bad over time. Mine were worn at 120k miles. I wound up buying new upper A arms.

The 2 bushings themselves are around $60 ($120 for both) from Ray at Malloy. However, the ball joint is not replaceable and at 120k/15 years it wasn't worth doing the rubber bushing and leaving an old ball joint. The whole arm was around $200-250. Not bad when you consider tools and labor and time spent to try and replace the old bushings.

The steering felt much better after replacing them and a few odd noises went away.

 

My car only has 36K miles on it but I guess it is still 15 yrs old so **** happens. Just odd how the rubber looks fine but it just seems the the metal sleeve inside the rubber came loose or something.

Thanks for the info.

 

At 36k miles, the ball joints are probably OK. Rubber degrades over time not just use/mileage.