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Thought I'd share my experience with front control arms on '05 civic dx. Well, since the front vertical bushing was bad I needed to replace that and figured buying 2 moogs (1 for each side) from rock auto for $27 shipped would be a good idea. (Note, other bushings were good). Since I watched videos of guys replacing these bushings even with control arm still in car thought I'd give it a try. Bad idea! and if you're not careful you can lose a couple fingers due to tension on LCA doing it this way!

First ,I borrowed a ball joint press/c-clamp from autozone. Then, somehow and quite miraculously removed the bushing in the car but there was no way I was getting the new one in without removing whole LCA. So I proceeded onto removing it from ball joint but it wasn't coming out for anything and once the boot was destroyed I needed to replace that too. Now comes removing the steering knuckle which means taking the brake pads + rotor off and hoping the axle pops out without too much trouble which mine did. Finally get that rear LCA bolt out and I'm down in basement trying to press the bushing in with aforementioned ball joint press. I found it impossible to press the new one in with this particular set and wound up, yikes, hammering it in. After 1,001 strikes it was sort of in and probably damaged my ears in the process so note to self: where ear protection next time!! I was getting ready to reinstall LCA and to my dismay I actually hammered in, yep, the old bushing. That's what happens when you spend too many hours in the dark working without the right tools.

So today I wasn't even going to try using that god forsaken ball joint press and instead brought LCA to Napa who removed + pressed 1 new bushing in for 20 bucks. It's costing me $67 for 2 new bushings installed plus way too many hours of frustration. I could've gotten 2 brand new Moog control arms from rock auto for $110 shipped and would've had 4 brand new bushings. What I would recommend if you want to replace bushings yourself and don't have a hydraulic press is make sure you have a ball joint set with all the needed adapters. And actually maybe better than that I'd do it the way described in this article using large sockets and a strong bolt WITHOUT using a c-clamp.

https://www.suspension.com/blog/how-...thout-a-press/


Also, use a ball joint separator like this one. Good luck to all!

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qu...tor-99849.html

 
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I simply bought new control arms and kept the old ones in the shelf to replace the bushings at my own leisure. arms are cheap enough that you can do it.
Harbor Freight press is like 140? Have 4 cars, so bought it - pays off in no time.
my only issue is my own age and healthy issues making harder to work on the cars myself...

 
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12 ton shop press? I was just looking at it while you posted lol! $154.99

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton...ess-33497.html

 
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I have the same press. Makes pressing those bushings in pretty easy if you have the right tools. I have never been able to press one of them out, I end up having to cut it.