TheSamba.com :: View topic - Upper control arm bushing failure (pictures)

Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:35 pm

MarkWard wrote: Contact Christopher at T3 Technique. He lists the bolts on his website. Get the bolts and carefully cut the control arm free with a sawzall. Be careful not to cut the arm or the chassis. I’m fairly certain the bolt is seized to the bushing sleeves not the chassis. Once you have the arm cut free, you can press the bushings out of the control arm. Press in new ones. Hopefully the remaining piece of bolt comes out of the chassis.

Freeing up frozen items usually takes a lot of heat. I would discourage trying to use a torch to free up the bolt especially on a 2wd. The fuel tank is right there. Good luck.

Buy the expensive sawzall blade- the one that costs 12 dollars, not the 3 that cost 15 dollars. I burned through the 3 cutting out 2 bolts, each took waaaay too long, then bought the 12 dollar one. The remaining bolts each took less than 30 seconds and the 12 dollar blade still has lots of life.

Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:53 pm

MarkWard wrote: Contact Christopher at T3 Technique. He lists the bolts on his website. Get the bolts and carefully cut the control arm free with a sawzall. Be careful not to cut the arm or the chassis. I’m fairly certain the bolt is seized to the bushing sleeves not the chassis. Once you have the arm cut free, you can press the bushings out of the control arm. Press in new ones. Hopefully the remaining piece of bolt comes out of the chassis.

Freeing up frozen items usually takes a lot of heat. I would discourage trying to use a torch to free up the bolt especially on a 2wd. The fuel tank is right there. Good luck. thanks!

Fri Oct 16, 2020 9:16 am

mikemtnbike wrote: MarkWard wrote: Contact Christopher at T3 Technique. He lists the bolts on his website. Get the bolts and carefully cut the control arm free with a sawzall. Be careful not to cut the arm or the chassis. I’m fairly certain the bolt is seized to the bushing sleeves not the chassis. Once you have the arm cut free, you can press the bushings out of the control arm. Press in new ones. Hopefully the remaining piece of bolt comes out of the chassis.

Freeing up frozen items usually takes a lot of heat. I would discourage trying to use a torch to free up the bolt especially on a 2wd. The fuel tank is right there. Good luck.

Buy the expensive sawzall blade- the one that costs 12 dollars, not the 3 that cost 15 dollars. I burned through the 3 cutting out 2 bolts, each took waaaay too long, then bought the 12 dollar one. The remaining bolts each took less than 30 seconds and the 12 dollar blade still has lots of life.
Where exactly did you cut? I do not mind cutting the arm as I have a new one ready to go.

Fri Oct 16, 2020 9:36 am

therastavan wrote: mikemtnbike wrote: MarkWard wrote: Contact Christopher at T3 Technique. He lists the bolts on his website. Get the bolts and carefully cut the control arm free with a sawzall. Be careful not to cut the arm or the chassis. I’m fairly certain the bolt is seized to the bushing sleeves not the chassis. Once you have the arm cut free, you can press the bushings out of the control arm. Press in new ones. Hopefully the remaining piece of bolt comes out of the chassis.

Freeing up frozen items usually takes a lot of heat. I would discourage trying to use a torch to free up the bolt especially on a 2wd. The fuel tank is right there. Good luck.

Buy the expensive sawzall blade- the one that costs 12 dollars, not the 3 that cost 15 dollars. I burned through the 3 cutting out 2 bolts, each took waaaay too long, then bought the 12 dollar one. The remaining bolts each took less than 30 seconds and the 12 dollar blade still has lots of life.
Where exactly did you cut? I do not mind cutting the arm as I have a new one ready to go.

First, I should clarify- to be more specific, the total # of bolts I was cutting out included the lower control arm bolts, some front, all rear.

I had to cut out one upper control arm bolt, it was seized to the bushings.

There are good pictures in this thread of the same place I cut.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=20

Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:24 am

Question: I have a set of Syncro upper control arms and GoWesty ball joint spacers. Will the Syncro control arms fit a late model 2wd? I suspect no as the ball joint connection looks offset but thought I would ask my fellow Vanagon experts before springing for Burley’s UCA’s.

Thanks, Busfixer

Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:11 am

No, you accurately inspected both parts ;)

Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:05 am

The Lemforder squeaks like crazy. Lasted half a year without any real mileage :(

Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:23 pm

Next time drill and add a zerk fitting to grease them prior to mounting.
Or go PU and forget about it....

Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:27 am

ALIKA T3 wrote: Next time drill and add a zerk fitting to grease them prior to mounting.
Or go PU and forget about it....

then I will need a grease gun and some rubber grease too ;)

I think my control arm is bent. There was quite a gap between the washer and the bushing before I have tightened the bolt. I bought a set of used ones to ease the change so I can compare.
The PU is not road legal here unfortunately.

Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:55 am

There are different thickness washers available to adjust that gap. 3 thicknesses that give you quite a few combinations.

Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:52 am

ZsZ wrote: ALIKA T3 wrote: Next time drill and add a zerk fitting to grease them prior to mounting.
Or go PU and forget about it....

then I will need a grease gun and some rubber grease too ;)

I think my control arm is bent. There was quite a gap between the washer and the bushing before I have tightened the bolt. I bought a set of used ones to ease the change so I can compare.
The PU is not road legal here unfortunately.

The 2WD arm can compress, unlike the Syncro arm.

Powerflex is now making a stealth line, all black, just saying 😁😁

Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:14 pm

ALIKA T3 wrote: ZsZ wrote: ALIKA T3 wrote: Next time drill and add a zerk fitting to grease them prior to mounting.
Or go PU and forget about it....

then I will need a grease gun and some rubber grease too ;)

I think my control arm is bent. There was quite a gap between the washer and the bushing before I have tightened the bolt. I bought a set of used ones to ease the change so I can compare.
The PU is not road legal here unfortunately.

The 2WD arm can compress, unlike the Syncro arm.

Powerflex is now making a stealth line, all black, just saying 😁😁

Yes it can compress, but it adds more tension to the bushing when the gap is too big. I had around 5mm gap with the Lemforder and a bit less with the Meyle and the Febi before as I remember.

I have read some topics about Powerflex UCAB where the conclusion was they are softer than the OE style. But I am aware of the Powerflex heritage bushigs which are black, just not saw them yet in real.

Tue May 31, 2022 6:10 am

Lemforder squeaks after a few thousand kms (2 months) :(
I hope that only the weld spots gave up.

Tue May 31, 2022 11:11 am

No it's lack of greasing inside.

I added zerk fittings.
People have had good success with them in France on the forum.

Notice how the grease shot out the front side of the bushing here on above picture, it wasn't built properly....

I installed Meyle bushings recently, not my preferred choice as I hate this brand but they were free.

Dimensionally similar to stock ones, I don't understand why I had a
13 to 14mm gap to solve with eccentric washers. My UCA are straight, parallel, well lined up. ( I actually had to straighten one a bit)
I'm puzzled by this but made it work with 1 eccentric washer on one side and 2 one the other. The chassis width is 153mm here, it's constant on every van. My gap was 165mm at the Syncro UCA which I find a lot but it matched a stock 2WD arm.

Sun Aug 14, 2022 1:53 am

It was just the welds in my case:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ywHeP9zxYTpSaJGc7

Grease zerk is a good option but what grease to use?

Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:49 pm

I went through pretty much all the pages. So what is the consensus?

Which brand hold up the best?
Febi
Meyle
Lemforder
other?

And where do we find Zerk fittings?

Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:06 am

I'd still go polyurethane on any other van but my Syncro, the only reason I went with stock style is to be able to grease them without touching the alignment.
Zerk fittings are found at any hardware store or Napa for example.

There's another thread about fitment issues I posted on today. I installed Meyle, so far so good. Lemforders are supposed to be good too, but I'm not sure about sizes on the last batches....
They're all cheaply made anyway...
Febi is an ok brand too, I just saw some today on a van at the shop today as a matter of fact. A bit dry but holding up ok so far.

Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:33 am

MrCarpy wrote: I went through pretty much all the pages. So what is the consensus?

Which brand hold up the best?
Febi
Meyle
Lemforder
other?

And where do we find Zerk fittings?

The main problem is some brands are just boxing ones made somewhere unknown, then change supplier with time. Others who are manufacturing themself, change manufacturing plants with time.
And they have different suppliers/plants on different markets.

Like Lemforders were the best as they had the VW-Audi logo hand grinded and were made in Germany. Now they have no logo and are made in Turkey.
Meyle was good, then changed supplier, now it is crap.

The old OEM Lemforders lasted ~100k Kms, then I got Febi, lasted ~50k, Meyle ~2k, Now new Lemforders.
The spot weld did not penetrate into the bushing on the right side as the sleeve has some coating and made from some special steel recipe. Had welded in situ but they are still squeaking.

Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:41 am

ZsZ wrote: MrCarpy wrote: I went through pretty much all the pages. So what is the consensus?

Which brand hold up the best?
Febi
Meyle
Lemforder
other?

And where do we find Zerk fittings?

The main problem is some brands are just boxing ones made somewhere unknown, then change supplier with time. Others who are manufacturing themself, change manufacturing plants with time.
And they have different suppliers/plants on different markets.

Like Lemforders were the best as they had the VW-Audi logo hand grinded and were made in Germany. Now they have no logo and are made in Turkey.
Meyle was good, then changed supplier, now it is crap.

The old OEM Lemforders lasted ~100k Kms, then I got Febi, lasted ~50k, Meyle ~2k, Now new Lemforders.
The spot weld did not penetrate into the bushing on the right side as the sleeve has some coating and made from some special steel recipe. Had welded in situ but they are still squeaking.

AMEN

Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:28 am

ALIKA T3 wrote: the only reason I went with stock style is to be able to grease them without touching the alignment.

ok your greasing them using the Zerk fitting correct?

ALIKA T3 wrote:
They're all cheaply made anyway...

It sadly seems so. Im on my second set in one year with very low millage.