top lower control arm bush

[kiwi-red]

Hi

went for my annual inspection and it failed because the
top lower control arm bush is worn. They also said that the ball joint
is getting worn and it might be worth having it looked, at the same time.

Anyone know what the top lower control arm bush is? I'm guessing its
something to do with the steering. The mechanic had the front end
jacked up and was able to move the wheel. Any idea where to get the part
and is it available in Oz

Its a SP311 67 1/2

cheers

kiwi

[notoptoy]

Upper and lower spindles are available from the vendors and on-Ebay fairly easily. The spindles are where the bushings are, I think that the Roadsters have metal bushings - no rubber.

[Lee2000]

Yep...threaded, steel bushings which are a real challenge to replace. Don't know what is meant by "top lower control arm bush" since the the control arms run front-to-rear on our cars. Maybe he means the front bushing since the control arm is slightly tilted down at the rear?

[kiwi-red]

thanks guys

I have a friend coming around, so I'll ask him for an opinion too.

Maybe he'll be able to translate what the mechanic said into
something that you guys will understand.

So when the car is jacked up, if you are standing facing the
side of the whell and grab it top and bottom, you can move the wheel
a couple of mm towards and away from you

kiwi

[notoptoy]

That sounds like ball joint to me, not bushing - but again, always hard to tell without being there!

[kiwi-red]

My mate came around and had a look
and thinks that the A frame bush seems to be the culprit.
They seem to be a straightforward job
assuming I can get the parts. Anyone in OZ
know if they are available locally?


the guy who did the inspection said that the ball
joints were starting to wear, so maybe I'll have to
look at that too.

[Lee2000]

Looks like you'll need to replace BJs and "spindle nuts"(I believe they're called). BJs are easy to replace, but expensive. Spindles/nuts are a little cheaper, but much tougher to replace. If may look straight forward, but you'll need a strong vise and lotsa muscle to get er done. Those nuts are semi-threaded into the A arm with a rather tight interference fit. And don't forget the little grease seals too.

[fj20spl311]

http://www.datsunparts.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" has these kits for $80 US all Nissan Parts.....which means they should be available from Nissan to save shipping.

[Lee2000]

I believe that kit is the upper only...when I redid my front end, I had to reuse the lower spindles with new nuts/bushings/seals/zerks. The lowers are a bigger size than the uppers and more expensive IF they can be found.

[fj20spl311]

I believe that kit is the upper only...when I redid my front end, I had to reuse the lower spindles with new nuts/bushings/seals/zerks. The lowers are a bigger size than the uppers and more expensive IF they can be found.

That's correct.

I think he said the upper is what he needed.

[dbrick]

From what I've seen and read, if not maintained, the upper control arm bushings are the first to go, followed by the lower ball joints. The bushings were pretty bad on the 64 when I swapped in the disk brake spindles. Luckily I had a spare set of upper arms with good bushings, so I swapped the whole arm. Had to remove the body mount bolts and raise the body a little to get the assemblies out, but not too hard.
I tried to remove the spindle nuts in a bench vise, my whole bench rotated away from the wall, they are TIGHT.

New parts are always best, but if you can source a set of upper arms with good bushings, it will be much less labor. Mark and reinstall the shims, and you WILL need an alignment after.

Funny enough, although they were very loose, when I rotated the spindle 180 degrees and retested the play was gone, although that would probably be a very temporary fix

[pebbles]

From what I've seen and read, if not maintained, the upper control arm bushings are the first to go, followed by the lower ball joints. The bushings were pretty bad on the 64 when I swapped in the disk brake spindles. Luckily I had a spare set of upper arms with good bushings, so I swapped the whole arm. Had to remove the body mount bolts and raise the body a little to get the assemblies out, but not too hard.
I tried to remove the spindle nuts in a bench vise, my whole bench rotated away from the wall, they are TIGHT.

New parts are always best, but if you can source a set of upper arms with good bushings, it will be much less labor. Mark and reinstall the shims, and you WILL need an alignment after.

Funny enough, although they were very loose, when I rotated the spindle 180 degrees and retested the play was gone, although that would probably be a very temporary fix

Thats some great info Dave.
The spindle nuts are tight all the way out, like an interference fit. I thought I was destroying mine while disassembling them. But I was lucky. Lots of cleanup as the grease was rock solid throughout the grease passages. 10 hrs of cleanup and all was good in the end. The spindle threads into the nuts on both ends. I used a dab of anti seize on the OD of the nuts reassembling the nuts to the A arms. The lower has no lock tab and the upper does.

[Blinds04]

I'm doing the same thing.
Those spindle nuts are really hard to remove as everyone has stated.
Good vise and an impact gun is how I removed them.
Here's my parts list from the dealer.
Hope it helps.

[sunbeam590]

The Spindles and bushes are avail from DSOA in Sydney, did all my front end a while back, fairly straitforward job,anything you cant get in Aus is available from vendors in USA, dollars good at prsent, usually delivered in a week from ordering.

[kiwi-red]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Best I contact Syd/Andre and get some prices.

I put some grease in while i was looking and thought that the
left side improved but the right side didn't so much

I'll do some photos when I am doing the work so that anyone else
having a go will have some guidence

kiwi