Replacing the rear control arm bushings is really easy and tightens up the handling nicely.
First step is safely jack and place your fiero on jackstands.
Then remove the wheels.

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Proud Member of the North Florida Fiero club

4T60E Parks harness/ Rockcrawl chip-- more to come--

Look under here for the bolt-15mm which holds the lower ball joint to the spindle. remove the bolt--then squeeze the tip of a screwdriver blade into the crack of the pinch mechanism that holds the ball joint shaft---using a pry bar you can easily seperate the spindle from this ball joint shaft. The suspension is unloaded at this time so you do not have to worry about spring pressure.

you know u can post like upto 6 pics per msg?

Now--following all the safety rules that you can think of-----
light the bushings on Fire with a propane torch and let them burn themselves out of the control arms.

What we're using is a piece of all thread with 2 nuts on one end to lock it down and a pair of different sized washers on each end. Once you get it through both bushings all you have to do is tighten one nut and it pulls both bushings right into place, no muss, no fuss.

[This message has been edited by paulcal (edited 05-15-2005).]

Another angle of Paulcals engineering mind at work

I got there just in time to get the good job, cleaning this melted mess up.

Another angle:

Here's Jeff hard at work while I slough off:

Who says working on a Fiero isn't fun? Look at that smile....

OK, a couple of things................

Before you push the poly into the cleaned up arms, take the center metal sleeve out of the poly bushing and they will push in with hand force, much quicker. You can then grease up the center metal sleeve and install it once the bushings are in the arms.

You also don't need to burn the bushings completely out, now I understand why people don't like that method. We made a little tool to do it, but you can also do it by hand with your all thread, but a nut on the all thread with a washer, pass it through a bushing, another washer as big as you can and still have it pass through the sleeve of the old bushing, then a nut, tighten them securely (finger tight is fine). Have someone pull on the all thread while you're heating up the sleeve of the bushing with the torch. Just a few seconds and it will pop right out.

Wear leather gloves and a long sleeved shirt in case some rubber gets on you and always be safe when doing it.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by jstricker: We made a little tool to do it, but you can also do it by hand with your all thread, but a nut on the all thread with a washer, pass it through a bushing, another washer as big as you can and still have it pass through the sleeve of the old bushing, then a nut, tighten them securely (finger tight is fine). Have someone pull on the all thread while you're heating up the sleeve of the bushing with the torch. Just a few seconds and it will pop right out. Wear leather gloves and a long sleeved shirt in case some rubber gets on you and always be safe when doing it. John Stricker

mighty fine idea!!!!
wish i woulda known that when i put my polly in

+ for you

LOL yeah NOW he tells us... great idea but after doing this twice, I think it's going to be awhile before I rebush control arms again. Oh wait, we still have his fronts to do. I guess we'll have a chance to try this out sooner than I thought.

Thanks J.S.

I will be next on this poly upgrade. I ordered mine tonight.

Jeff trying out the new poly, boy the 4.9 is fast

[This message has been edited by paulcal (edited 05-15-2005).]

quote Originally posted by paulcal: Jeff trying out the new poly, boy the 4.9 is fast

Nice pic! Great thread Jeff. + to you. Nice tips in here.

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84 Sport Coupe (Sold)
87 GT 5 Spd (Will add to sig when finished painting)

---You know I have to say-----y'all may not like the fire method, but to me it was a very enjoyable part of my day. I got to sit back and rest and watch the little orange flames dancing around the control arms.
Maybe we will try try jstricker's idea on the front-----but I may have to light something on fire just to complete the experience--lol.

Thanks Jeff

Nice thread... It will be very helpful to some..

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Choptytopped WideBody GT 1 of 1
4.9L-V8-Auto---almost finished

NIce thread. I would have two concerns with your method. First off burning out the bushings exposes the control arm to excessive heat and too much heat could destroy the temper and soften the metal. Second, the installation method using the threaded rod may very well push the bushings in square but I would also place a piece of pipe in between to prevent any inward pressure ( pushing the bushing in place) from bending the arm.

[This message has been edited by Dennis LaGrua (edited 05-15-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: NIce thread. I would have two concerns with your method. First off burning out the bushings exposes the control arm to excessive heat and too much heat could destroy the temper and soften the metal. Second, the installation method using the threaded rod may very well push the bushings in square but I would also place a piece of pipe in between to prevent any inward pressure ( pushing the bushing in place) from bending the arm.

I didn't say I was "the bushing guru"---Y'all listen to the experts---I listened to the people who I have been reading on here for the past four years who all said-burn them out.
Thanks Dennis, I assure you, it didn't take that much pressure with the all thread to install those bushings. Not nearly enough to ever bend them.
Thanks again, Jeff