Reatta Lower Control Arm Bushing (Front)

[bnaatds]

Manual says to use a J-35561-1, -2, -3 tool to remove and re-install. The J-35561-2 is impossible to find. Does anyone have one they would be willing to loan? or does anyone know of an alternative for pressing this bushing in? Thanks!

[Barney Eaton]

Some older auto parts stores have machine shops and they will install the bushings. 

Auto Zone and other auto parts stores rent tools (universal)

I have never done a Reatta but did all the front and rear bushing on a Corvair with a 20 ton press and sockets.

[bnaatds]

Yeah, this is a strange looking rubber bushing with rubber flanges. It looks like it has to stretch out about 1/4” on each end or something. I just don’t see how that’s gonna go in that hole...

[Ronnie]

I think the tool you are looking for works like a funnel that squeezes the rubber bushing down to a smaller diameter as it's pressed into the hole. There was a topic on here on the forum about this once before but I can't seem find it. Search results on the forum have recently been restricted to five years or less so that may be the reason I can't find it.

[bnaatds]

Well that's what I was hoping. A neighbor found my package with the J-35561 -1, -2, -3 that I got from somebody on EBay. The marking on the J-35561-2 is barely legible so I'm not sure it's the right one. It is just a cylinder with no taper and the bushing pretty much falls straight through it (it's a little bit bigger that the largest OD on the bushing) so I'm not sure that's gonna do anything! I also have bigger problems now as I pretty much destroyed the front left ABS wheel sensor getting all the rusty mess apart.

[D-a-n-i-e-l]

On 10/31/2020 at 1:13 PM, bnaatds said:

Manual says to use a J-35561-1, -2, -3 tool to remove and re-install. The J-35561-2 is impossible to find. Does anyone have one they would be willing to loan? or does anyone know of an alternative for pressing this bushing in? Thanks!

Grease them up and find a press.

Or many alignment shops will press them in for a fee.

 

Other option is find a matching gm car that someone makes polyurethane bushings for. Fiero would be my starting point.

[bnaatds]

D-a-n-i-e-l You were right. I bought some "Ru-Glyde" rubber lube like the tire stores use and lubed everything up. They pressed in just fine. You have to push in on the center metal part of the bushing and it stretches out as it goes in. Easy in my 20-Ton Harbor Freight press. I learned this: don't press too far in... stop when the metal top of the bushing is flush with the rubber and is centered in the control arm. Looks intimidating but it pressed in pretty easy!

[bnaatds]

BTW... I do now have all three pieces to the J-35561. The -2 part is not tapered as some have speculated. It is just a cylinder but it has a lip on it the fits on the control arm flange perfectly. The -3 is the same but shorter and has a hole to guide the -1 piece into when pressing. I would be willing to make these available for loan to other members that need to do this job.