[B10alia]

I'm a bit confused as to what a "control arm strut" is. The front McPherson struts do not require removal of the steering knuckle. The control arm bushings are non-replaceable by design, but some crafty folk have figured out how to do it, and Polybushings.com stocks replacements. The procedure does necessitate removing the control arm from the vehicle, however.

 

[bamman]

You must remove the control arm and its pivot bolt to replace the control arm strut bushing.

 

[ntrodda]

Instead of two pivot bushings (like a normal car) they have a front pivot bushing and a rear strut bushing. The control arm has a threaded rod coming off the back that connects to the frame by sandwiching two halves of the bushing. Its an interesting design.

The control arm has to be removed. The strut bushing is easy to remove, the pivot one is a bit of a pain. But the control arm is easy to get out.

The pivot bushing (at least on mine) was welded in. It can be removed, by grinding off the weld then pushing out the rubber. I bought whole new shell and rubber, so I cut out the old shell. You can get polyurethane bushings without the shell and just push those into the old shell. If I had to do it again, I'd do it that way.

 

[John Wood]

Be sure to shoot plenty of rust penetrant on the strut threads. They get badly rusted.

Here is a picture of how the older style lower control arm looks like. The strut being discussed is in the back is in the back of the control arm.

 

[StarFire_MK2]

Thanks guys. Great image reference, John, cheers!