Lower control arm fiasco
 

I think I might have done something stupid. After removing the old bushings from the LCA's of the 115 and finding rust, I proceeded to dremel and POR the eyelets of the LCA. At the point of inserting the new bushings, I came to find that they were very resistant. So, I considered that the layer of POR may have reduced the clearance for the bushing, and that it needed to go. Proceeded then to remove hours of work with the dremel again, taking it down to metal. Most of the bushings went in, but some of them would pop all the way out after releasing the all-thread. I used dish soap to lube them, and one bushing will sit overnight with the all-thread in place to see if it will dry out and stay put tomorrow.
The thing is, I managed to get right front axle half assembly back in place. That was a wild enough experience in itself :eek: I had that spring wound up tight with the Klann but it held, thank God. Manuevering the lower control arm into place to slide the bolts through was the difficult part, but it came around.
So, I'm wondering if I jacked up the LCA's with my over zealous dremel adventure. Really I tried not to take too much metal off. I suppose I could have stopped everything and got some spare LCA's out of the junk yard but the Klann has to be returned soon.
What symptom may I notice if the bushings malfunction in the LCA?

*Interesting note on using the spring comp. and the 115 chassis. You have to insert the comp. through the spring dome and suck the spring upward. I wonder if the failure of the Klann would be less catastrophic because the spring would shoot downward.

Hello,
The bushings are very difficult to seat in the LCA, but I was apprehensive about your post that you had painted the eyelet with POR-15. I think it will be OK now that you have scrubbed off the paint.
The LCA bushings on these cars are always *tied down* with wire/cable ties on new LCAs, so it may be that there is a tendency for the bushings to pop out :confused:

Thanks Nachi, I know you've probably been through a few front ends on 115/114's

I won't worry about it too much. With the prohibitive cost of new LCA's ($674), it will have to be okay.

I would have only treated the part that was rusty, as those bushings pop out badly if the control arm is shiny smooth.

As long as you got them between the "horns" on the frame, they are fine.

We left my brother's rough, just scraped the old rubber off and stuck the new ones in with a bit of silicone lube, and still have trouble.

Peter

psfred,
I managed to get both control arms back on. I hope dish soap doesn't encourage rust on the bare metal. I should have used silicone lube as it says it prevents rust. :(

Fortunately I wasn't doing this job alone, much easier with two people.

Getting the control arm lined up while holding the bushings in is a PITA, but doable.

At least they cannot pop out once you get the bolt through....

It will drive MUCH better now!

Peter