This job was one of the worst job's I've ever done in a Saab. It's right up there with the power steering rack!

Unless you have a true desire to do this one yourself, Royce and I HIGHLY recommend you bring this job to your mechanic. If you still desire to do this one yourself, a press is a must, and buying new lower A-Arms will save you lots of time!

The reason why I did this is because my engine is out and my suspension was making squeeking noises when going over bumps. I've changed everything else, so the A-Arm bushings were the only thing left to replace!

Some other things that can be done at the same time are:
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Changing the upper A-Arm bushing can be done with the engine in the car, but it's not easy! Lowers can be done at anytime.

I did this job when my engine was removed so this section will not cover what to do with the engine in the car.

The first thing you need to do is remove the spindle from the car. Do NOT put the upper a-arm spacers under the a-arm. You need the space to remove the spring.

Removing the spindle is straight forward. Unscrew the tie rod end. You may need a pickle fork to get the tie-rod out of the hole. Sometimes a simple hit with a hammer will be enough to lift it out of the hole.
Most of the time I would recommend leaving the brake caliper on the car, but in this case there is nothing to tie it up to, so it's easier to just remove it and bleed the brakes later.

The only thing left is to remove the balljoints and shock. This can be troublesome if the balljoints have never been removed before. The bolts will rust into the holes and sometimes will need heat or maybe even be drilled out. We had trouble getting the shock off of the a-arm. It finally came off with a nice 3# hammer and pry bar!

 

If you've had trouble getting your balljoint bolts out, getting to this point on both sides might be time for a beer break! For the others that anti-seized their bolts, then this has probably been pretty easy so far!
Now it's time for the fun part!
I did not really need a spring compressor to remove the spring. This is probably due to the fact that my springs are lowered from stock.
I bought a spring compressor for $20 from some website, so they are not a bank buster!

What we did to remove the spring was to loosen the spring mount on the upper a-arm. Then we simply pulled the spring and it came out. As you can see, the upper spring mount makes a nice home for mice. I found lots of crap in the hole!

 

Now it's time to remove the a-arms!

The lowers are done by removing the 6 bolts holding the mounts onto the car, and the uppers are done by removing the 4 bolts. Be sure to keep track of what side the camber shims are on, as you need to replace them to keep your alignment in check.
You will need to remove the spring mount on the upper a-arm to get it to fit through the hole.

 

Replacing the bushings is the part that really sucks. So far everything has been easy. Especially for those that have the engine out! I would recommend a beer before starting this as it can get a little stressfull!

The first thing to do is to remove the bushing mounts from the a-arms. This can be more challenging then it sounds. There is a bent washer and a nut on each end of the a-arm. If your extremly lucky, the bushings may slide off of the a-arm. If yours are like mine, the battle has just begun!

My first attempt was to use a pickle fork to force the mounts off. This worked for only 2 out of the 8!

My second attempt was to use a bearing puller. This worked pretty good except it pulled the mount off of the a-arm and left the bushing!

Once I got the mounts off, the rubber bushing was left behind. This is because the metal sleeve of the bushing rusts to the a-arm.

Now you have to get the sleeve off of the a-arm! My first attempt was to try and chisel the sleeve off. This took a lot of hammering and took about 15 minutes.



My second try was to use a dremel and cut the sleeve in half. This worked pretty well, but be careful not to cut into the A-arm.

 

If you have a torch, it will get the sleeve off the easiest. I'm sure you could press the sleeve off, but I couldn't figure out how to do it!

DIY A-ARM BUSHINGS
STEP 3

Now it's time to press the new bushings into the mounts. This can either be easy or extremely frustrating. For Royce and I, it was a combination of both. We hope our tip will save you some trouble!

The bushing is shaped in a way that makes it difficult to press into the mount straight. The mount is tapered so this doesn't help matters either!

The one thing you must do is to lube the mount and bushing. The recommended solution is to use soap and water. We didn't read the Bentley before hand, so we used grease.I guess grease is bad as it can break down the rubber prematurely!

After an hour of watching the bushing go in crooked, we got some advice from my dad to make a special tool. The idea is similar to the tool engine builders use to push pistons into the block.
We took a tin can and used a dremel to cut a piece of metal.



We then used a hose clamp and tightened the tincan around the bushing. You then place the tincan on the mount. Finally, we used a 3/8" extension and placed it inside the bushing and then pressed on the extension.

 

The other hint is to use a washer that covers more surface area of the bushing. If you just press on the sleeve there is a chance of ripping the bushing.
With the combination of the soapy water, special tool, and washer, pressing the bushing into the mount is not to bad.

 

The final thing I did before reinstall was sand and paint the a-arms. I used POR-15 which is a tough paint that stops rust. POR-15 sells a starter kit for $15 that contains everything you need.

Once the paint dries, you can replace the bushing mounts on the a-arms. Be sure to use anti-sieze on the bushing sleeve and a-arm to prevent them from rusting again! The Bentley states that the lower bushings should be installed at an 18 degree angle. This should be followed as it makes it much easier to install the lower arm!

Bolt up the a-arms back to the chassis. Be sure to replace the upper a-arm shims exactly where they came off! Also, leave the spring mount loose as it makes it easier to reinstall the spring.

The one problem that is left is how to compress the spring to get the balljoints back in their slots. We decided to skip the spring compressor and use a jack and fork to compress the spring. This probably isn't the safest way, but it worked and saved a lot of time!

Now it's just a matter of bolting everything up.
You shouldn't need an alignment as you haven't changed anything, but it can't hurt if you want to be safe!

/ saab / Fix_My_Saab_Backup / Saab_900 / DIY_A-ARM-Bushings

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• mousehome.jpg
• newbushing.jpg
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• royce_press.jpg
• shock.jpg
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• tincan.jpg
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