Control Arms and Bushings — Selection and Fitting

Control arm bushings wear quietly. By the time there is a clunk, the geometry has usually been drifting for months and the tyres show it. This article covers choosing between a bushing and a complete control arm, and the one fitting rule that is missed most often.

Control arm bushing သည် တိတ်တဆိတ် ဟောင်းနွမ်းသည်။ အသံထွက်လာချိန်တွင် တာယာများ ပျက်စီးနေပြီ ဖြစ်တတ်သည်။

1. Symptoms of worn bushings — လက္ခဏာများ

• A clunk or knock over bumps and speed humps
• Steering that wanders or feels loose on a straight road
• Uneven tyre wear that returns soon after an alignment
• Visible cracking, splitting or bulging in the rubber; the metal sleeve sitting off-centre

2. Bushing alone, or the complete arm? — Bushing သီးသန့်လား၊ Arm အပြည့်လား

• Bushing alone — cheaper in parts, but needs a press and the correct adapters, and takes labour time. Sensible where the arm and its ball joint are sound.
• Complete control arm — arrives with new bushings and usually a new ball joint. Faster to fit and often the better total cost where the ball joint is also worn, or where the arm is corroded.

On many modern vehicles the ball joint is not supplied separately, which makes the complete arm the only correct repair.

3. Rubber or polyurethane? — ရာဘာ သို့မဟုတ် Polyurethane

• Rubber — the original specification on almost every vehicle. Quieter, absorbs vibration better, more comfortable.
• Polyurethane — firmer and longer lasting, with sharper handling, but transmits more noise and vibration into the cabin. Suited to heavily loaded or hard-worked vehicles rather than passenger comfort.