I'm rebuilding my front suspension, have a question about the a-arms. With everything removed and just the arms left attached to the car, shouldn't they swing fairly easily?

I've never had the front end apart before. The arm dropped full down as expected when removing the spring, but then remains kind of fixed there. I can heave it up by hand with all my weight and get it to move upward a couple of inches, but it pulls back down hard like its spring loaded. Cant even pull it up to the ride height position.

Is this normal, or should the arms articulate easier than this? Do I have a problem with the bushings?

 

This is the unfortunate nature of how the bushings are designed. Your easiest way to fix the issue is to loosen the a-arm bolts just to the point where the a-arm can be easily rotated. Then put everything back together. Then with the car at ride height, do the final tighten of the bolts. Another option would be to replace the OEM bushings with smooth articulating bushings like the delrin bushings from Global West or go to a complete aftermarket a-arm.

 

Thanks for the super-quick reply!

I figured that was how the bushings worked, but couldn't quite believe it . I'd have thought smooth articulation would have been a given requirement for this joint. I gather then that the last guy who had this apart, probably decades ago, cranked the bolts up with the arms in the down position.

I've already bought stock rubber replacement bushes, so they're going in if required. As I'm pulling the arms anyway to assess the bushes, I'll tighten them when back at ride height as you suggested.

 

Smooth non-binding movement costs more. Often the answer to why things are the way they are.