$555.00 for a $10.00 part ??????

[kcd1184]

New tires . Been through alot of crap. Had an alignment and they said they would have to order a shim pack for the rears. OK. Took a week. Got on the service rack and 3 hours later,after 4 re-boots and 12 re-sets on their equipment, they said I was good to go. Also said that the shim pack wasn't needed.(WTF)

That was Sat. Called their shop today(7stores) and talked to the owner. I said that ,bottom line , I didn't trust the alignment. He was compliant. Took it to one of their different shops and in 5 minutes!!!!!! the guy said your rear upper contol arm bushing is gone.(knuckle bushing) To make a long story short, this second shop(affiliated) with all the rest, said that if a proper inspection was done to start with, problems would have had to been solved before any alignment would have been attempted.

My problem now is that the Caddy dealership says that they do not offer a rubber bushing replacement, only the knuckle replacement.($555.00) When can I wake up?

Help!

Kent

[Ranger]

We have heard that before Kent. I think BBF was looking into someone who would make the bushings. Not sure what ever became of that. He will probably elaborate.

[BodybyFisher]

My upper control arm bushings are shot also, I got a new upper control arm in the scrap yard, I didnt install it yet, it was raining saturday. I find it really hard to believe that the upper control arm bushings can't be replaced. I used to replace them in the front upper control arms in my father's 60's Cadillacs, its exactly the same type of bushing (steel jacketed).

With regard to the bushings, I contacted MOOG, and they were unable to create a bushing for the knuckle.

[BodybyFisher]

Here is the thread I started on the rear knuckle

http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...&hl=knuckle

and here is Stefank's thread

http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...&hl=knuckle

[Cadillac Jim]

Some "bushings" are actually molded-on parts and thus can't be changed. That doesn't mean that a retrofit isn't possible or even simple, but if one isn't available then you have to replace the assembly. The torque arms (wishbones) are another example. One major advantage of that type of "bushing" is that you can have small amounts of rotation in the rubber without friction and have a simple rotating and vibration absorbing joint. If the rate at which the molded-on bushings go bad is very low, you won't develop a market for replacement bushing retrofits, and by definition there isn't a significant problem with average maintenance costs. Of course when yours are bad, that airy economics and statistics is less real than a parts bill.

[Regis]

Kent,

If it is the upper knuckle bushing gone bad then you can expect to pay around $330 for the knuckle on your 94 eldo. I bought a rear knuckle for my 94sts a few years ago online and had my regular mechanic install it. If it's on the same side as your fuel door then I would also check your fuel fill tube for holes. My knuckle bushing went bad from fuel constantly dripping on it. Of course you have an eldo and it could be layed out differently.

[hybrid trendz]

Hey,

if anyone is running into the problem of the lower control arm bushings on the front end, where the dealer says you have to buy the whole arm I know of a place selling kits to replace just the bushing for a lot cheaper..

I will have to look into the rear knuckle on that

just drop me an email

dfelton26@hotmail.com

thanks !

[Dadillac]

Hey,

if anyone is running into the problem of the lower control arm bushings on the front end, where the dealer says you have to buy the whole arm I know of a place selling kits to replace just the bushing for a lot cheaper..

I will have to look into the rear knuckle on that

just drop me an email

dfelton26@hotmail.com

thanks !

Why not just post the info here instead of dealing on a one on one basis. If the info pans out you will ne a God here.

Don

[BodybyFisher]

Hey,

if anyone is running into the problem of the lower control arm bushings on the front end, where the dealer says you have to buy the whole arm I know of a place selling kits to replace just the bushing for a lot cheaper..

I will have to look into the rear knuckle on that

just drop me an email

dfelton26@hotmail.com

thanks !

Um, I just replaced my lower control arm bushings, the dealer sells them, no need to replace the control arm. The bushings are $13 at the DEALER, I just replaced mine when I did my ISS speed sensor.

Let me repeat for the millionth time, the rear knuckle problem is NOT NOT NOT related to a bushing, let me repeat for the millionth on one time, its NOT a bushing, its a CROSS AXIS BALL JOINT, A BALL JOINT..... MOOG, examined them FOR ME, I contacted the company, and THEY can NOT manufacture them... its a lost cause, dead.

A member of the other board also examined this issue, note that someone designed a rube goldberg fix with a copper pipe

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadil...e-bushings.html

Stefan, if you still have your photos of this ball joint can you post them?

[stefank]

Are these the pix you were asking for?

This is where the "bearing", "bushing", "cross axis ball joint" (however it's called) is pressed into in the knuckle:

[stefank]

And this is the questionable item itself:

[stefank]

I had taken this thingie apart, but don't remember if I have taken photos of how it's looking inside.

IIRC, there were no balls involved, so the term "cross axis ball joint" seems a bit misleading, but that could be b/c I miss something in english.

What it sure does, it's carrying loads/forces in both radial and axial direction, so a standard "bushing" or the like is not up for the job.

As you can see from the previous pictures, the thingie is easily pressed out of the knuckle (10 ton press used) and COULD be replaced if available seperateley, but isn't...what a waste!

The thingie is filled with grease and sealed with silicone caps from the factory. In my case the silicone caps failed after 10 yrs of use and water/salt/grime entered the inside and destroyed it.

Hope that clears up the situation a bit.

Stefan

[BodybyFisher]

And this is the questionable item itself:

Yes Stefan, Thanks, that is the ball joint assembly that you pressed out. Someone on the other board had photos of that assembly dissected so you could see the ball joint. Inside that part is what Moog referred to as a ball joint, but its not a ball joint of the type used in our front ends. I will try to find a photo of it. I WISH people would leave photos intact, so you can refer to them, those photos seem to be inaccessible now.

The point is these are NOT simple press in bushings like in the old days where the upper control arms of Cadillacs had pressed in bushings, that we routinely pressed new ones into, there is NO replacement part to press into the knuckle.

Simply pressing in a bushing that did not allow movement as the wheel assembly moves up and down risks mechanical damage or accelerated wear.

Thanks Stefan.

[KHE]

We need to determine who can produce a cross axis ball joint. Moog can't but someone is doing it unless I am missing something.

[BodybyFisher]

We need to determine who can produce a cross axis ball joint. Moog can't but someone is doing it unless I am missing something.

When you say someone is doing it, you say that because someone is producing it for the rear hub assemblies that we are having problems with, right?

That is true. I wonder if we got in touch with the guru or John Sundeen, whether or not they could direct us to a source?

[KHE]

We need to determine who can produce a cross axis ball joint. Moog can't but someone is doing it unless I am missing something.

When you say someone is doing it, you say that because someone is producing it for the rear hub assemblies that we are having problems with, right?

That is true. I wonder if we got in touch with the guru or John Sundeen, whether or not they could direct us to a source?

Yes - some vendor is producing the part that gets pressed into the knuckle assembly. Moog can't/won't produce one but maybe another source can produce an aftermarket replacement part.