control arm bushing-- where is it?

[dmorlow]

I have a 95 aurora and there is a terrible squeak coming from the front passenger side of the car. It is worse when going over bumps. I had this exact same problem about 2 years ago and I brought it to the dealer and they diagnosed it as the front control arm bushing. When they did the repair, it fixed it for about 2 years. Looking at my receipts for previous owner's repairs, they had the exact same problem with the car when they had it. The bushing just keeps on falling out. It is squeaking again and I am pretty sure it is the same bushing. Does anyone know where this bushing would be? I know where the control arm is. I have a hoist so I can put the car up and see that area very clearly. But I can't seem to find anything that I think looks like metal on metal rubbing. Does anyone also know why this would keep on falling out? Are the original ones pressed in by machines so, no matter how well the tech does, it will never stay in as well as the original one? If I can replace it for a few bucks myself and it lasts a few more years, that would be great. I just don't want to take it to the dealer and get charged $300 to do that same thing.

[RLT]

I had a similiar problem with my '95 several months back. Started off with a squeak/banging that keep getting worse -- real bad going over bumps. I took the car to a friend that owns a brake/muffler/misc. shop for help. As I recall looking at it, there were two visible joints on the control arm one forward & one aft just inboard of the front wheel -- my culprit was the forward joint. The rubber was badly deteriorated & obvious metal to metal contact (I don't know if it's called the control arm bushing) the other was in so/so condition. Anyway, after making several calls to his suppliers he was able to find a bushing kit to (supposedly) replace the parts for ~ $40. We never could confirm which bushing(s) were in the kit. In my case I took advantage of an after market warrenty I had that actually replaced the control arm assy at no cost . . . lucky I checked the warrenty as I didn't think it would cover anything like that. So, I can't confirm with personal experience that a bushing kit is an option(?). Not sure if this is any help but thought I'd mention it. Good Luck!