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Re: '81 242 control arm bushings[ALL/1998] posted by Richard Langis Jr. on
Sunday, 9 March 1997, at 4:20 p.m.
: I have a 1981 242 with 265K on it. I had the shocks and struts replaced only to find that the tie rod ends and steering rack were shot. I replaced those myself and am now faced with replacing the control arm bushings. This operation makes me a bit ne rvous. Anyone with any experience in this sort of thing? Will I need to use spring compressors to keep the springs in place? Do I really need to have the bushings pressed on at a machine shop? Any advice would be much appreciated.
I'm about to do the same thing to my '81 242 - Replace shocks, struts, tie rod ends and bushings...
I don't think you need to compress the strut spring to remove the control arm - just jack up the front of the car, remove the sway bar control rod (make sure _both_ sides are off the ground, otherwise the bar will be loaded and may sproing on you), the 3 bolts that hold the strut to the arm, and the ends that attach to the car and the arm is off. At this point you'll be able to see if you _really_ need to press the bushings on/off, my guess is that they will. But while you're at it, give IPD a call and get some polyurethane bushings for the sway bar grommets - cheap considering everything else you're doing.
Good luck!
-Richard Langis Jr.
Re: '81 242 control arm bushings[ALL/1998] posted by John Laughlin on
Monday, 17 March 1997, at 3:05 a.m.
Also, if your belly pan is cracked or missing, it might be a good idea to replace it. I'm pretty sure that my old alternator died because of the pan missing on my '81 242DL with 230,000 miles. I put one on about a week ago to prevent my alternator from dying again. Gonna have to do some suspension work to my 242 soon. Planning to do a '79 242GT upgrade to it.