ES poly front bushings ('92-'97)

[Lincolnmania]

Hey...I'm replacing my upper control arm bushings and just wanted to confirm that the 4.3153 bushing kit will work on my 82 LTD with a police package...I read that it has threaded bushings? Thanks....

you will need a set of civilian upper control arms

[Brown_Muscle]

thanks Scott, and just to confirm what Thain said...you dont have to replace both the upper and lower arms with civilians, just the uppers? I heard if you dont replace them in pairs it could affect the alignment enough to make it unalignable (is that a word lol).

[1987cp]

Hey...I'm replacing my upper control arm bushings and just wanted to confirm that the 4.3153 bushing kit will work on my 82 LTD with a police package...I read that it has threaded bushings? Thanks....

Brownmang: here's an illustration of what happens when you order 4.3153 and attempt to use it with civilian box-body upper control arms. Two of the upper bushings won't fit, one on each side, because the corresponding shells are 1.175" ID instead of 1.250".

Currently on IM with Scott, and he says I should have bought PN 4.3150, as it is identical except for the two bushings that are smaller ODs.

[Brown_Muscle]

ah so when i get the civi uppers i will get the 4.3150 kit... thanks 1987mang

[2pac8]

Hi, i found this forum when looking for some info about control arm bushings. I have a 91 towncar and planning to do some suspension work , also changing the bushings. At first i bought a set of OE rubber ones, but they turned out to be the wrong ones, same size while i have different size bushings. Then found this topic and decided to go for poly bushings because the job seems to be much easier without bothering with flared outer shells.

Anyway i bought this ES 4.3150 kit:


My concern is that two upper arm inner metal sleeves are missing, so my 1st question is: can i reuse the original inner sleeves for upper arms? Don't know maybe inner sleeves have to be perfectly round and solid for poly bushing so they could easily slide without much friction, while the original sleeves are probably too uneven or rusty(?).

2nd question: are original inner sleeves pressed on or they may actually rotate on a shaft?
Here is one of my upper arm bushings and a closeup:

I cant see the inner sleeve except some small shiny area on a shaft, suggesting that the whole bushing is rubbing against the shaft, maybe this inner sleeve is loose, not pressed on (?).

3rd question: wouldn't be better for poly bushing to rotate in the outer shell then inner? Outer shell = more working surface thus better life of the bushing. So why aren't they constructed in a way to lock on inner sleeve and work against outer sleeve?

I hope i'm clear enough, thanks for your input.
Tom

[Lincolnmania]

you must save the outer shells.........clean the outer shells real well, use as much of the bushing lube as you can

[gadget73]

You're probably not going to be able to save the inner sleeves. I would also suspect they're a different size. You really want the correct inner sleeve for that bushing kit. Contact ES and tell them the pieces were missing.

The original part has serrated edges and grips against the washer on one side, and that 'step' in the shaft on the other. It doesn't press on, but it doesn't rotate on the shaft either. It might have rusted fast to the control arm shaft but thats about the worst of it.

As for the construction, NFC. It might be better, but it could simply be a case of it was easier to do it the way they did it.

Also, you want new nuts for the control arm shafts. The originals are a single-use self locker and they may come loose if you try to recycle them. I think its a 5/8-11 nut, self-locking type. Not the kind with the plastic insert, I think they're called thread-deforming self locking nuts or something like that. mcmaster-carr sells them for not much, I can dig up the part number if you'd like. i think they come in a bag of 20 or 25 though

[2pac8]

you must save the outer shells.........clean the outer shells real well, use as much of the bushing lube as you can

Of course, that was my my point, not to mess with removing factory outer shells. Replacing only poly inserts seems like a good idea. Too bad i can't reuse the inner sleeves.

You're probably not going to be able to save the inner sleeves. I would also suspect they're a different size. You really want the correct inner sleeve for that bushing kit. Contact ES and tell them the pieces were missing.

i see, so original old inner sleeves have no use anyway, so i'd need to buy or custom make extra two sleeves. I bought this ES kit at ultrarev.com a few months ago, and i live in Poland (Europe) , when i order parts i usually get them very delayed due too shipping or somebody bringing them to me.

The original part has serrated edges and grips against the washer on one side, and that 'step' in the shaft on the other. It doesn't press on, but it doesn't rotate on the shaft either. It might have rusted fast to the control arm shaft but thats about the worst of it.

Thanks for this info, i've noticed these serrated edges on OE ones, i think i read somewhere to grind a few small teeth on ES inner sleeves too, so they would be locked.

As for the construction, NFC. It might be better, but it could simply be a case of it was easier to do it the way they did it.

thats what i thought, in such case the outer shells would probably have to be replaced with new ones, making the whole conversion more difficult.

Also, you want new nuts for the control arm shafts. The originals are a single-use self locker and they may come loose if you try to recycle them. I think its a 5/8-11 nut, self-locking type. Not the kind with the plastic insert, I think they're called thread-deforming self locking nuts or something like that. mcmaster-carr sells them for not much, I can dig up the part number if you'd like. i think they come in a bag of 20 or 25 though

that i diddn't know! Now i think i'll pass on this project, at least for now.
My plan was to do a complete front rebuild, i already have these parts: all tie rods, lower/upper ball joints, bar links, idler/pitman arm and i thought it would be a good time to renew the bushings.
But as i said, at first i bought a set of OE rubber ones, and they were wrong, now ES with missing sleeves, and it just turned out i need new nuts too, well i read it as a sign to hold on with this bushes mod. I'll only replace those steering/suspension parts i mentioned.
Thank you for your input guys.

[Piece-it pete]

I did a bunch of research when I changed my SOs control arm bushings on the PC Cruiser, you can use marine grease (instead of buying extra ES grease), use the heck out of it. Also the black ES bushings are commonly graphite impregnated, the red ones aren't.

After feeling the difference I'll never use rubber bushings again.

Pete

[Brown_Muscle]

OK so i just re-read this thread with the new info....if you order the poly bushing kit you need new custom made inner sleeves for them to fit...???? and new lock nuts as well? I'm a little confused about the inner sleeve part... can ssomeone please clarify?

[gadget73]

OK so i just re-read this thread with the new info....if you order the poly bushing kit you need new custom made inner sleeves for them to fit...???? and new lock nuts as well? I'm a little confused about the inner sleeve part... can ssomeone please clarify?

No custom made anything. The kit comes with all the parts you need, just put it together. 2pac's kit happened to be missing a couple of pieces, and he lives in Poland where simply getting the parts wouldn't be so easy. Normally though, its just a case of assemble the parts with what comes in the box.

The nuts are just an insurance thing. I didn't replace mine, and I found they were actually turning on the control arm shafts when the suspension moved. I fixed it with loctite, but I do plan on replacing the nuts now that I have some on hand. Nuts are cheap, I just ordered a bag of them for Scott when I was placing a McMaster order.

[Brown_Muscle]

No custom made anything. The kit comes with all the parts you need, just put it together. 2pac's kit happened to be missing a couple of pieces, and he lives in Poland where simply getting the parts wouldn't be so easy. Normally though, its just a case of assemble the parts with what comes in the box.

The nuts are just an insurance thing. I didn't replace mine, and I found they were actually turning on the control arm shafts when the suspension moved. I fixed it with loctite, but I do plan on replacing the nuts now that I have some on hand. Nuts are cheap, I just ordered a bag of them for Scott when I was placing a McMaster order.

ahh thank you for clarifying that Thain! Did you happen to have that part # or a link to it by any chance?

[gadget73]

bag says 91837A268 pack of 25 goes for 12 bucks. 5/8-18 toplock nut is what you're after.

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks Thain!

[Piece-it pete]

Just to be clear: the kit I need for my 85 towncar (all stock) is 4.3150? Are there any other bushings I should change while I've got the control arms out? Thanks.

Pete