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control arm breaks, hilarity ensues
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Posted by Quill (more from Quill) on Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:53:34 Share Post by Email
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The driver's side control arm snapped on my 89 turbo last week, while my wife was driving back from another night out in the east village. Thankfully noone was hurt, just the saab. By the time it was over the tripod bearings were destroyed and the shock bent. So I order up a new driveshaft, new control arms, control arm bushings, and new shocks all around. I arrange a tow to the shop. The car shows up sans exhaust, so yell at the tow people, and order a new muffler and tailpipe.

The hilarity that ensued?

"apply soapy water to the new bushing and press it into the bracket"

HA HA HA yeah right. That took a few hours to figure out, and I destroyed two bushings in the process. What a joke. I tried the 'spring-compressor' method with hose clamps and sheet metal, no go there, that ate a bushing. I finally ended up making a tapered-entry alingment tube out of a bronze bushing that had an ID that matched the bracket ID, and an OD that centered it in the bushing counterbore (we got a lathe in the shop). Then it was easy-ish but no fun. The bronze tube was tall enough to completely contain the rubber bushing, and I was too tired to estimate the depth of insertion, and totally smushed one of the rubber bushings. What a royal PIA. I've pushed in some bushings, but that sucked.

I don't remember what else went wrong, but replacing the two front shocks, control arm, and driveshaft took like 5 hours. Maybe 6. I don't think I left the shop until midnight.

The next phase: the back of the car & the exhaust.

"Remove the shock's lower mounting nut and bolt."

HA HA HA HA yeah, give me a couple hours, a hammer, sawzall, jigsaw, and finally a cutting torch. Watch that gas tank, now.

"Remove the shock absorber from the body."

HA HA AHA AHAHAHAHAHA

After all that, the exhaust was easy, and I was home by 9.

And the car rides like a superstar. The new Boges added what looks like an inch all around to the ride height, and made it feel much more ready for the NYC pothole explosion that's going on these days.

Of course the steering wheel is canted 15 degrees - an alignment is definitely necessary.

And I imagine that the swelling in my left hand will go down in a few days. It's bad enough when you hammer your hand trying to hit a drift pin, but to do it multiple times is really, really, ridiculous. I felt like a simpsons character.


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