Suspension bushing question.

[megatone]

Ok, so I bought my daughter a 2003 (I think...or maybe 2004) Liberty for her 17th birthday. I rode in it last week and I noticed there is a clunk type of sound coming from the front end when driving over bumps. Anyhow, I got under the Jeep and saw that both of the bushings.....where the lower part of the struts mount onto each of the lower control arms....are worn out. I called the dealership and each lower control arm with new bushings cost $400 each. Needless to say, I did not purchase them. I then called around to a few wrecking yards and found 6 or 7 Liberty's, but only one of them had a control arm with all good bushings. I bought the one good-used control arm for $22.50 and installed it onto my daughters Jeep. I ordered a new bushing from the dealership for $35.70 (to replace the bad bushing in the other control arm) and plan on installing it this weekend. My question is this: Is it possible to install the bushing into the lower control arm without having to completely remove it (the control arm) from the vehicle? Is a press necessary to install it into the control arm?

This is the first Jeep that any person in my family has ever owned and I am unfamiliar with the suspension design. I have all the tools necessary to remove the control arm from the vehicle, but I do not have a press to install the bushing. I have plenty of mechanical abilities (Example: Yesterday and today I converted a 1968 Chevelle from manual 4 wheel drum brakes with stock suspension to 4 wheel power assisted Wilwood disc's with full Hotchkis suspension including front/rear sway bars, tubular control/trailing arms and Viking Performance adjustable coil overs.....so I know a little bit about wrenching.....just not so much when it comes to Jeeps. I'm the type of person who just wants to get in there and get the job done.....I don't want to spend anymore than an hour replacing a bushing. If the Jeep takes a few hours, I may just drop it off at a shop.

 

[tommudd]

Dang , she is a lucky girl . At 17 I had already bought my own car,( well actually on my 3 rd one by 17) had to or walk ! Now she has a KJ the same age as mine and I had to buy my own!:icon_lol::icon_lol: I want to go back and start over as a teenager again:shrug::happy175::happy175:

Anyways ,
More than likely you are going to have to remove the LCA to press them out, they can be a bear . Then if doing that one why not " try" to replace them all. Good luck I know some have given up and just bought new ones where others suffered through it and finally swapped them all out. Yes you need a press and more than a hours time.

While you have it torn apart, time to swap out that sagging awful weak suspension as well:icon_lol:

 

[ftaa]

Dang , she is a lucky girl . At 17 I had already bought my own car,( well actually on my 3 rd one by 17) had to or walk ! Now she has a KJ the same age as mine and I had to buy my own!:icon_lol::icon_lol: I want to go back and start over as a teenager again:shrug::happy175::happy175:

Anyways ,
More than likely you are going to have to remove the LCA to press them out, they can be a bear . Then if doing that one why not " try" to replace them all. Good luck I know some have given up and just bought new ones where others suffered through it and finally swapped them all out. Yes you need a press and more than a hours time.

While you have it torn apart, time to swap out that sagging awful weak suspension as well:icon_lol:

i gues a 17 y/o with as lifted kj i better then the 17 y/os here that drive daddys lifted f250 hah... be the sexiest jeep at the mall hahaha

 

[AVR2]

If the clevis bushings are bad, it's a fair bet that the large pivot bushings (where the LCA attaches to the frame) are in need of replacement too. You *could* theoretically replace the clevis bushings with the arms still attached to the Jeep, but by the time you've disassembled everything that far, it's only two more bolts to get the whole arm off.

You will need some kind of press tool to replace the bushings. I lucked out on eBay and picked up the special Miller tool set used by Jeep dealerships for about $50 (it usually goes for over $100) - it comes with a threaded rod and the necessary drivers and receivers, all custom-shaped to work perfectly with the arms, and it meant I was able to remove one arm, change all three bushings and get it back on the Jeep in a little over an hour.

 

[megatone]

Yeah, I called around to a few machine shops and they recommend using a press to install the bushings. I'm taking a "Sick Day" off from work today so I can get the LCA removed from the Jeep and dropped off at the machine shop......$20 bucks to have it pressed in....shop owner said it should only take a few minutes once they get to it.

The dealership wants $400 + tax for one complete LCA....NO WAY WAS I GOING TO PAY OVER $800 bucks for a couple control arms. I was blown away by the price. And I am surprised that the LCA's are made out of cast iron....all the other cars I've owned or worked on, the lower control arms have been either stamped steel, cast aluminum or rolled tubes.....

So, yeah, my daughter is kinda upset that she couldn't drive to school today, she had plans to head out to the river with her friends after school today......Gonna post a pic of her Liberty......the car infront of the Liberty is a 1996 Impala Super Sport. The Super Sport belongs to her sister.......awesome girls of mine....and I drive a super lame Volkswagen

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[ftaa]

im glad my kids arent at that age yet .... one will take my jeep the other will take my lowered mazda truck haha
20 bucks is awesome ... dealer is always more expensive clearly ... jeepinbyal has all the good stuff for these jeep take a tour over there sometime and check it out

 

[tommudd]

None have ever taken any of my rides, its either walk or get a job and buy your own, no free handouts :icon_lol:

 

[ftaa]

None have ever taken any of my rides, its either walk or get a job and buy your own, no free handouts :icon_lol:

me too i've never been given a thing...

 

[dude1116]

Bought my Jeep at 17. First vehicle...still have it.

The only thing I had to learn was the price of Neutral drops.

...and the price of tickets.

 

[tommudd]

Bought my Jeep at 17. First vehicle...still have it.

The only thing I had to learn was the price of Neutral drops.

...and the price of tickets.

neutral drops and tires ................of course back in 70 you could buy new tires pretty cheap, but after the 4th set in a month, well............

 

[megatone]

im glad my kids arent at that age yet .... one will take my jeep the other will take my lowered mazda truck haha
20 bucks is awesome ... dealer is always more expensive clearly ... jeepinbyal has all the good stuff for these jeep take a tour over there sometime and check it out

I looked at the jeepinbyal....nice parts... the aftermarket upper control arms look like some quality pieces. I especially like the bolt in ball joints. And @ $395 a pair, that dollar amount is right in the ballpark of other aftermarket tubular control arms. And the price for the springs are really reasonable.

Yeah, the dealership wanter $400 for each LCA An obscene dollar amount x2.....no way.

When my daughter first mentioned that she wanted a Liberty (a little over a year ago), I was looking at a 2002 with a blown engine. I was intending to buy that Liberty at a really low price, and buy a used engine also at a low price.......but the only replacement engines that I found were 2004 and newer. I was thinking I would just buy the Jeep and buy an engine and put them together, but there is a big difference with the ignition triggering system (related to the reluctor wheel design). So I ended up getting her the Liberty Sport which she has now.


Since my daughter has owned her Jeep, I have noticed alot of little differences with the exteriors of these vehicles. On one Liberty I saw a light bar that ran across the front of the roof above the windshield....on another Liberty I saw (what I think is called a basket roof mounted cargo) rack. Whatever it is called, it looks awesome. It has recessed lights mounted in each of the rear corners. And on another I saw a chrome grill (which I thought was pretty cool since most of the grills I see are body colored).


Yes, my daughter is lucky to have this Jeep. When I was 17 years old I didn't have anything. But she had to earn this Jeep, it wasn't cheap, I ain't rich, but it is what she asked for over a year ago, and in that year, she did what was asked of her and she kept her grades up.

Here's a link to my introduction post.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f235/new-forum-57815/

 

[tommudd]

Depending on what package was on the KJ depends on what it came with, like Renegades came with the light bars ( well most did ) some even came with tupperware baskets , some models had leather standard, some had the select trac while others had command trac
They are all the same but somewhat different
We won't even get into the 05 and up Renegades that had flat hoods :icon_lol:

 

[ftaa]

Depending on what package was on the KJ depends on what it came with, like Renegades came with the light bars ( well most did ) some even came with tupperware baskets , some models had leather standard, some had the select trac while others had command trac
They are all the same but somewhat different
We won't even get into the 05 and up Renegades that had flat hoods :icon_lol:

flat hoods ... none here.

 

[megatone]

Ok, well, I got the lower control arms reinstalled.....there is still some clunking noise....not as bad as before, but something else is defintely going on. Learned alot today.....crash-course lesson with the intermediate shaft.

Ok, turns out that not only did the LCA bushings needed to be replaced, but also the intermediate shaft (where it mates with the cv axle shaft)(on the passenger side) is worn out. It is wobbly.

This morning I knew absolutely nothing about the Jeep Liberty front differential. I went to the wrecking yard and dismantled some intermediate shaft related stuff. Here is what I learned. Items number 21 is a trans fluid seal...item number 22 is a bearing (needle bearing style) and it has no inner bearing race, the needle bearings ride on the surface of the intermediate shaft. item number 23 is a snap ring and it's purpose is to make sure the bearing depth is installed correctly.

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[megatone]

Dang....that's a small picture....I'll try to make them a little bigger.

 

[tommudd]

Ok, well, I got the lower control arms reinstalled.....there is still some clunking noise....not as bad as before, but something else is defintely going on. Learned alot today.....crash-course lesson with the intermediate shaft.

Ok, turns out that not only did the LCA bushings needed to be replaced, but also the intermediate shaft (where it mates with the cv axle shaft)(on the passenger side) is worn out. It is wobbly.

This morning I knew absolutely nothing about the Jeep Liberty front differential. I went to the wrecking yard and dismantled some intermediate shaft related stuff. Here is what I learned. Items number 21 is a trans fluid seal...item number 22 is a bearing (needle bearing style) and it has no inner bearing race, the needle bearings ride on the surface of the intermediate shaft. item number 23 is a snap ring and it's purpose is to make sure the bearing depth is installed correctly.

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If intermediate shaft is bad then 98% sure the CV is as well Use a NAPA remanned CV , they fit, they work, others don't
New Intermediate shafts come with the snap rings so no worries there

 

[megatone]

Maybe you can click on the images to make them larger... This is the intermediate shaft....it clicks into the front differential, when I removed the cv axle shaft, it came out with it.....the other piece in the other four pictures are images of the tube that contains the intermediate shaft. This tube is pressed into the differential case. There is no seal, sealant or gasket between it and the diff case....I pounded it out with a small sledge hammer. At the opposite end of that tube....the end that is nearest the cv shaft, there is one seal which looks like a common trans output shaft seal, behind that seal is a bearing. That bearing is what holds the intermediate shaft centered within the tube. The CV joint cup does not slide beyond the seal.

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[megatone]

Ok, Napa cv axle...any idea on the cost.???

What about the intermediate shaft. The parts pictured above......I removed them from a wrecked Liberty (the vehicle look like it was rolled on a city street). I don't think it is possible (or recommended) to press the differential tube back into the diff case. But I think the other parts are reuseable. I initially removed these parts from the wrecking yard vehicle mainly to learn how the system is assembled. The black mounting bracket looks like it has new bushings, so I am definately going to install it on the Jeep....The intermediate shaft on the other hand, I don't know the acceptable tolerances for it.

Question: What are the specs for the outside diameter of the intermediate shaft where the bearing rides on it's surface? The intermediate shaft pictured above, when I pulled it out of the wrecked Liberty was nice and snug....what I mean is, while still assembled, it spun freely and it did not have any latteral play (slop).

I'm thinking I can use the intermediate shaft from the wrecked Liberty with a new seal, bearing and a new cv axle (from Napa).

Any idea how to remove the bearing from my Liberty? I have a trans seal remover and a small slide hammer. I've removed bearings on both older and newer vehicles, just never anything from a Liberty.

 

[tommudd]

NAPA remanned are 60 bucks or so ( were that price a while back anyways) with core
Personally I would install a new intermediate shaft , that way you are sure, splines are known to wear on these
Bearings can be sort of a pain but not bad

 

[CactusJacked]

The splines on your intermediate shaft don't look that bad at all. The axle hub will be able to wobble a little bit on the shaft even with a new shaft and axle, it is not a tight/press fit.
Below are my new and old shafts, showing what a "bad" one really looks like. My hub wobbled a LOT, and made plenty of audible complaints.

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