Fairmont Control Arm Bushings have me bushed

[48fordnut]

Good read. lots of info.
Sat I removed the r/e ,getting ready to install the 8.8 . In getting the control arms out,had to cut one bolt head off. My car has 29k original miles,have the original title. It has been drag raced in its checkered past.
The bushings were all shot. One of the upper C/A had elongated bolt holes, left side. It's no wonder you see mid ,and high hp fox bodys doing a dance down the strip. Normal driving it wouldn't be so bad.
I have decided to use after market control arms and poly bushings.
Now the dreaded getting the bushings out of the r/e housing. Next weeks job.

[Stormin' Norman]

I was digging around for Casting numbers for my axle, and landed on this site - all about Ford Axles. Some Ford Axles for the 8.8 were made by DANA, and that site might help with yours. We gotta keep our rears in gear, right? LOL!

http://www.sierragear.com/ford-passenger-rear-axles/

The tool I used from these guys is good for that job. You can see their video for it (MMT-1) too:
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Tools-C71.aspx

I would modify it a bit though. The bolt isn't beefy enough (Grade 8, 7/17"). You can't get longer than 7" in 7/16" Grade 8, but you can in 1/2" diameter. With that you could take off the bushings anywhere on the car. The tool they have is for the upper bushings on the rear control arms. I bought a Bushing removal kit, and the cups in there are big enough to work on all the other bushings, or you could use a 3" Milwaukee hole saw.

Get LOTS of penetrating oil and soak the bushings a few times over a couple hours to loosen them up.