2001 control arms

[donald]

So, I recently upgraded/replaced the rear trailing arm bushings with the polyurethane split design bushings. I'm enjoying the improved handing in the rear. One of the biggest improvements is obviously body movement (rolling and diving). During stops, even hard stops, the amount of nose dive is pretty minimal. Granted my trailing arm bushings were pretty shot anyways.

So, the improvement in the reduced body roll and nose dive made me wonder how much more stress might be placed on the rubber bushings up front. I took some pictures of my control arm bushings and didn't see too much cracking, warping, or unsightly wear.

Ball joint


Front (top of image) and rear (bottom of image) control arm bushings


Nonetheless, I'm wondering if I should also upgrade them to polyurethane bushings - all but the ball joint (can't seem to find a retailer with poly ball joints). The job looks simple enough
1. drop the control arm (remove front bolt/nut, unbolt bracket for rear, unbolt arm from ball joint)
2. yank rear pushing off (looks like it just slides on)
3. drill out, cut out the front bushing and sleeve
4. pop out ball joint - this seems like it'd be the most labor intensive, if my guess about being pressed in is correct
5. replace all bushings; front bushings could be provided by 4x4parts.com split design, avoiding to press in a new bushing
6. knock the arm back up into place and bolt everything back down

So... my questions
1. upgrading to poly (bushings alone seems to cost somewhere around $200 for both sides; $100 for poly 2x front and 2x rear bushings, and $100 for 2x Moog ball joints. Buying a completely new arm with rubber bushings is about $80/ea shipped (RockAuto). Advantage with whole new arm is that it's a whole new arm SO, Is it worth it to go poly? or perhaps avoid the poly and new arms, and just replace the rubber?

2. Is doing the control arms a difficult job? How difficult is it to remove the bushings? I do have experience now cutting out the bushing sleeve if needed The sparse comments I found online noted something about 4wd versions having to pull the axle out a bit to get access to the ball joint. Is this difficult?

Thanks everyone and anyone who can contribute their knowledge

[Slumpert]

Ball joint is a metal on metal joint with a rubber dust cover. So yea no poly versions.

You are going to notice a improvement either way, I suggest be honest with yourself. If you imagine that you might regret not going poly afterwards then just do it cause it is a real pain to just do over.

Yea you think your all set getting the nut off and then you realize the bolt wont come out because it hits the axle collar. Joys of auto work

[donald]

Ball joint is a metal on metal joint with a rubber dust cover. So yea no poly versions.

You are going to notice a improvement either way, I suggest be honest with yourself. If you imagine that you might regret not going poly afterwards then just do it cause it is a real pain to just do over.

Yea you think your all set getting the nut off and then you realize the bolt wont come out because it hits the axle collar. Joys of auto work

That's good info on the ball joint. Just based on the images I've seen, i thought that rubber boot was an solid piece of bushing. Well... if that's the case, and it's not loose/no play in the joint (from what I can tell from the wiggle-test I did), then I'm not going to change it
Thanks!