Hi guys and gals

I installed second hand rear lower control arms yesturday to take a swaybar, my '95 GX ej18 didn't come with a swaybar so the original control arms didn't have the required swaybar (swaybar links) mounting brackets on them.

Anyway, when taking the old control arms off and then installing the new ones i noticed that they are very hard to move in the way that they would while driving. I know they have torque up specs (which i didn't follow due to poor access) but i don't think this would even help in making them move any better.

Should I have maybe lubed the pivot bolts and inner tubes up to make this motion fluid?? Or are they normally this ridiculously stiff to move?

Cheers Dan

 

hmm i'd like to know the answer too. The same thing happened to me a while back with my eclipse. I had to install new control arms because 1 was messed up and then I noticed they were hard to move by hand... I just ended up loosing them up a bit but they were still firm.

 

I wonder how freely control arms move once people fit polyurethane bushes?

Instinctively i think that all the linkages should move freely as all they do is hold the wheel in the right orientation so that the spring and damper can take all the applied loads. The smoother their motion the better the spring/damper can do their job.

Just did a bit of reading and it seems like silicon grease is good for rubber bushes in terms of lubricating and stopping the rubber from drying up.

On the other hand the sticking of the control arms would be due to metal on metal rubbing (tube/pin, arm end/bracket) so a white lithium grease like that used on polyurethane bushes would be more appropriate.

I'll give this a go when i install the sway bar.

 

the control arms should be stiff to move up and down. if they were loose there would be more unwanted deflection in the suspension system(except for pillow ball suspension). when you change any suspension component especially control arms you need to tighten them with the suspension loaded at the correct ride height. if you tighten them with the suspension at full droop, when you lower it back on the ground you are adding even more stress on the bushings.

EB Turbo

 

Thanks for more good advice EB Turbo, you're a champ!!

I had the wrong idea about rubber bushes, I thought that they rotate about the inner tube crush tube but really they are bound to it and allow for the rotation of the control arm around the crush tube by the rotational flex (shear) in the rubber itself. Only poly bushes rotate about the inner tube, thus the needed grease.

I guess applying silicon grease to the visible rubber on the bushes will revitalise them to a certain extent and protect them from drying up so it’s a good idea anyway.

I'll have to get under the car again and tighten the control arms w the suspension loaded like you mentioned so that the rubber bushes aren't under any shear most of their working life.

Cheers

 

Yeah, there should definitely be some resistance to movement as mentioned. However they should move smoothly without applying to much leverage. If they bind/stick at all, they should be greased.

 

Yes, this applies to polyurethane and sperical suspension components but, not rubber components. rubber bushings have the center sleeve fixed in itself not allowing it to move. the durometer of the rubber determines the amount of movement the bushing has. this cannot be changed unless the bushing is replaced. so lubing rubber components is unnecessary.

EB Turbo