One very ugly repair on a 80's vintage XJ is replacing the control arm bushings. The bushings are nestled in a place where it's very hard to reach. Then, if you can get to the bushing how do you get it out? Remember Jim of Agape Graphics and his 86 - Orphaned XJ from the Jeep Creep Column? He's put more time in fixing that XJ than almost anyone else who's written into the Jeep Creep column. Jim may be a Graphics guy, but he's also got a good head on his shoulders. Jim's problem is the same as yours, or mine.. it is the lack of money. So what does Jim do when he needs to do a job? He asks God for help. That may seem completely insane to some of you, but it's worked in my life. When pursuing my BS degree I felt know God helped me complete my lab assignments. So why shouldn't I believe Jim when he credits God with this fix? Who am I to argue with his logic. In any case, you all get the benefit.

When Jim asked me how I would remove the bushing my heart sank. I know Jim's broke, and the best way to do the job is with a tool. Tools cost money. My answer was:

"Hey Jim,

Do you have enough room to get a hacksaw blade into that rubber bushing? If so, then cut the bushing in half lengthwise and then drive it out with a hammer and socket. I've had to to that a time or two with spring bushings on the CJ, and it works. I've also used a propane torch to literally burn out the bushing. That's messy, but it works. Just melt the darn thing out! But I like the hacksaw routine better and it's quick and clean.

Let me know how the install is coming."

That reply is a whole lot of solace, isn't it! The only other way around the job without a press is to cut the bushing with a hacksaw blade and start taking it out in pieces. Without a press, my first sentence stands in this articles; it's one very ugly repair.

Now I don't know everything there is to know about Jeeps, I just know how much I don't know. But there's an old adage that came into play that "Necessity is the Mother of Invention." Jim said that he'd looked at many C-clamp type presses. I bought mine from Northern Tools, and it was only about $30. It's great for U-Joints and Ball-Joints. It's saved me $30 many times over.

The only U-Joint I have had to have "professionally" replaced took 1.5 hours of shop time, broke the mechanic's press and almost broke his hand. Then they handed me a bill for $15. I was elated, it was only 20 minutes worth of their shop time and I didn't have to pay for the broken press. You've got to love Wisconsin rust. That's when I bought my press.

Jim didn't take that tactic. He wanted to do the job for less money, and better results. These U-joint and Ball-Joint tools usually are no more than an engineered specially hardened C-clamp with a swivel on one side and a cup on the the other. They do a nice job for a guy like me. But Jim said that when he looked at the tools, though they would work, he didn't feel that there was enough room to place the tool and still do the work. He was right, the area is very tight, and you could get the tool on the part. Then it would be very hard to put torque the tool to remove the bushing. There just wasn't enough room.

Jim came up with an elegant answer for the problem for less that $16. With a little careful shopping, I'd bet he could do it for around $10. That's a whole lot less than I paid for that reduced price U-joint removal. This tool Jim built does a slick job of bushing removal. That's fine, but then how do you get the new joint back in? Well, it's pretty simple, you simply reverse the tools and reinsert the new bushing. Two jobs for the price of one $16 tool!

What a wonderful fix!

Parts needed:

• A piece of pipe about 1/2" to 1" longer than the bushing and with a inside diameter only slightly bigger than the outside of the bushing at it's largest point.
• Two pieces of steel plate at least 1/4" thick which are just big enough to cover the end of the pipe.
• A piece of 3/8" "all thread" which is at least 8" long, a couple of nuts and some washers the right size to keep the nut from pulling through the 3/8" hole you are going to drill.
• Several large flat washers as close as possible to the size of the hole in the axle housing. The bushing must be able to go through the hole.
  

Let's take a look at the tool!

What do you think?

Pretty elegant, isn't it! It is simple, a clean design and all the parts are easily replaced (if needed).

The only thing I can see that might need to be replaced, every now and then, is the threaded rod. Problems can arise with the threads being buggered up by the nuts if the bushing is very, very difficult to get out. As you can see the tool is compact. This tool would be much easier to work with than a commercial U-joint or Ball Joint tool. If you use iron pipe and a cap, just be aware that those threads are sharp, and can cut. Once the cap/pipe is assembled, you may want to dull those threads.

Here's how Jim assembled the tool:

• Weld the plate steel over on end of the pipe (Jim used a screw-on cap for this pipe as he did not have a welder).
• Drill a 3/8" hole dead center in the cap/plate.
• Drill a 3/8" hole in the second steel plate.
• Put the threaded rod though the hole in the pipe.
• Put a washer and a nut on the threaded rod.

Now you are ready to pull out a bushing. Put the tool on the bushing (some bushings will have a lip that prevents pulling from one side). Place the pipe over the bushing with the threaded rod coming out the other side. Put those four washers on the threaded rod, and a nut to hold on the washers on the threaded rod.

Your all set. If you've done this right you'll have more threaded rod extending out the bushing side than the cap side just like the picture above. You're going to pull the bushing out into the cap using that threaded rod.

Now simply start turning the nut against the cap. This will pull the bushing out toward cap.

When you're done, you should have something like this ending up in your hand.

Now your ready to take the tool apart and remove the old bushing and start to reinstall the new bushing.

Put the threaded rod back in the flat plate, and put a nut on it. Extend the rod all the way through the bushing and axle bushing housing. Remember that there's a flange side on some bushings You have to align the bushing so that your not trying to press the flange side into the hole. That is not going to work, no way, no how. As you can see from the picture, the new bushing will sit into the cap, and be drawn OUT of the cap to the plate.

Now install the cap and washers on the other side of the axle bushing housing. Snug up the tool by taking the using the nut to draw up the excess rod.

Slowly tighten the nut on on the axle bushing housing side of the tool. By doing this you'll draw the bushing out of the cap, back into the axle bushing housing. Soon that bushing will be snug as a bug in a rug.

It shouldn't take more that a half hour per side to do the job.

Special thanks to James Gaylon for the pictures and ideas!