SPORTLINE CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS
After time, the
rubber parts of our cars dry out, crack and/or just fall apart. This
was the case with my lower front A-arm bushings. Most people when
faced with this project just replace the arms ($200 each) I elected to
keep my arms and replace the bushings. Easier said than done, the
bushings need to be pressed into the arms and most shops don't have the
proper "jig" to do this. I finally located a suitable shop (Genesis
Motors in Kirkland) and they only charged me $75. I purchased
a set of Sportline bushings to use for this project.
I am almost ready to remove the arm now. You can see the hub has
been removed from the ball joint of the a-arm in this picture.
Another view of the hub assembly removed from the ball joint of the
a-arm
Here is the a-arm removed from the car. You can see on the far
end, the stock metal bushing and next to it is the rubber Sportline
bushing that will replace it. The bushing on the closest end (in the
picture) was rubber but of a different design
This is the a-arm with the new Sportline bushings installed. I
don't have pictures of the exact process of pressing the bushings into the
arms as I dropped these off at Genesis Motors for the process. Once
the bushings are pressed into the arms, the sleeves need to be pressed in
and the ends rounded down (to hold the bushings in place) this is where
the specialized "jig" comes into play
Don't expect your local stealership to be able to install these for
you, they of course will attempt to sell you new a-arms and that is an
option if you don't want to deal with finding someone to press your
bushings or if your ball joints require replacement as well.
Once everything is back together, your first stop should be the
alignment shop. You can see here I am having a full 4-wheel
alignment done. I chose to use the alignment specs of the 190E 3.2l
AMG as it had the most aggressive alignment specifications geared towards
performance. With the large wheels/tires and aggressive lowering,
the alignment shop could not dial-out all the negative camber I would of
liked. Right now its at 1.5 degrees but should be around .70
degrees. The tire is extremely close to the fender lip, so I will
have to trim the fender lip to dial out the remainder of the negative
camber.
<Back
After time, the
rubber parts of our cars dry out, crack and/or just fall apart. This
was the case with my lower front A-arm bushings. Most people when
faced with this project just replace the arms ($200 each) I elected to
keep my arms and replace the bushings. Easier said than done, the
bushings need to be pressed into the arms and most shops don't have the
proper "jig" to do this. I finally located a suitable shop (Genesis
Motors in Kirkland) and they only charged me $75. I purchased
a set of Sportline bushings to use for this project. 
