Upper control arm bushings

[H3slate]

I have been dealing with some alignment issues lately with excessive wear on the outside of the front tires. After 4 alignments and double checking my ball joints I noticed that the bushings are shot where the a arm attaches to the frame.

I can't find this as a replaceable part. The lower control arms have those bushings listed as a part, but nothing for the uppers. Are these built in to the a arms? Am I stuck replacing the entire a arm to replace these bushings? Tired of these parts that can only be replaced as part of a much bigger component.

 

[Hunner]

I know it has been established the upper ball joints are not replaceable and it's required to get the whole assembly unless some one figures out how to machine them out and mod them. I have tried several places to get some arms made but have not stayed on it.
Do they do this? (video) by the way that was also on the Alpha with a goobered up pass side rack bushing and why I went ahead and put in the sleeve for it I had been running on my 06. The OEM rubber lasted less than 10,000 miles as did the OEM shocks.

I have tried several places to get some arms made but have not stayed on it. I keep getting other things to do.

 

[alrock]

Yes, you have to replace the upper control arms if either the ball joint or the bushings fail. Already done each side :gaah:

 

[Happy Hummer]

Lol! Then what did you guys replace it with?
Chris

 

[Hunner]

I have not done mine yet but have a spare set I got from Ridgedemon. I just rolled over 50,000 on the Alpha.

 

[06 H3]

Lol! Then what did you guys replace it with?
Chris

Brand new ones haha

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[H3slate]

Hunner, was that moving the tire with the steering wheel or shaking it? I haven't tried that but will look at it. Only symptom so far is the excessive wear on the outside edge of the front tires. Both the upper and lower ball joints look in good condition and I can get no movement of the tire at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock when the tire is off the ground. Also there is the visual tear in the bushings for the upper a arm on both sides. Lower a arm bushings are cracking, when I do this repair will probably replace those since I can get those separately. Front end has been aligned 4 times now since last summer, want to fix/replace the necessary parts before I take it back to Firestone.

There seems to be a little bit of movement of the front end without moving the steering wheel. On some surfaces, usually a freeway, there is the feeling of a little side to side movement while keeping the steering wheel still. Whether that movement is wind, tires, or something with the front end is up for discussion.

I need to get the skid plates off and double check my a arms and the steering rack for play or movement like shown in the video.

 

[GoBlueHummer]

Hunner, was that moving the tire with the steering wheel or shaking it? I haven't tried that but will look at it. Only symptom so far is the excessive wear on the outside edge of the front tires. Both the upper and lower ball joints look in good condition and I can get no movement of the tire at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock when the tire is off the ground. Also there is the visual tear in the bushings for the upper a arm on both sides. Lower a arm bushings are cracking, when I do this repair will probably replace those since I can get those separately. Front end has been aligned 4 times now since last summer, want to fix/replace the necessary parts before I take it back to Firestone.

There seems to be a little bit of movement of the front end without moving the steering wheel. On some surfaces, usually a freeway, there is the feeling of a little side to side movement while keeping the steering wheel still. Whether that movement is wind, tires, or something with the front end is up for discussion.

I need to get the skid plates off and double check my a arms and the steering rack for play or movement like shown in the video.

Curious to know if anyone else feels that same thing.

 

[Hunner]

That was with me holding the tire at about 3 and 9 o'clock positions and violently push pulling. I then removed the skid and saw that the rack bushing had finally blown out. But the upper a-arm bushings seemed sloppy to me too. That can cause some of that wandering or a form of bump steer as that shifts around.
Some of what I have found is that when the rack bushing is sloppy the tie rods move the rack up and down some before they actually move with the inner rack moved by the steering wheel. I think it is a combination of several things as all this gets shook up. So you can not be moving the steering wheel and the road feed back is moving the wheels with the slop or slack that is there. If you respond to the wandering it just gets worse as you try to compensate.
Another thing to check for tightness is the two other bolts on the drivers side that are in bushings that overtime wear and allow some movement. I had to tighten those on both of the H3's I have had at some point. This is the rack out of my Alpha with 10,000 miles and you can see not only that the rubber bushing shown in my other image was pushed partially out but that it shows signs where it had lots of movement of the rack and wore paint off.

For those of us that wheel hard that stuff all gets knocked around. Take for example if you notice your steering wheel no longer is level after wheeling, something moved. Adjusting the tie rods will usually get it back straight. However it is still beyond me what moved. I have measured stock tie rods before and after that and cannot pin point just what moved.
AND the old wive's tale that the rack and pinion slipped or jumped a tooth is a myth in my opinion. There is not enough clearance or slop to allow that without breaking the rack.
On my 06 I added a center bracket trying to eliminate the problem of the rack movement. I have not done that yet on the Alpha but I am considering it. I am running the metal bushing on the passenger side now and that seems to be working without the added center one but, more is better?