I hate Word, every time I copy and paste it never spaces right, all corrected, I hope, sorry.
Race Diagnosis did a great write up on the lower shockbushing in the front and we had been discussing the economic advantage on another thread.
I have been trying to figure a way of doing it on the car, like some have on the rear. We are having a cold spell for us and I put a heater near the bench to see what I could come up with. Bear in mind I have a lot of tools the average garage does not have. Most of what I used today can be had for little money or rented from Autozone or such. Everything used was a hand tool and the longest wrench was 10 inches.
Getting to the bushing is routine, support car, tire off, jack under ball joint area with a two by four block under the jack head, put some tension on the arm, take out the lower shock bolt and let the arm down,this will expose the lower bushing, the rotor is a little painful to work around, so this might be the spot you want to disconnect the upper ball joint and three top nuts and take the whole assembly out. Don't forget the ABS plug.
The first thing is to take the cover off the bushing and get rid of the wire surrounding the rubber, there is a top and bottom. A small screw driver will take care of it, but RD shows a hook pulling the springs off, that also worked and would be better on the newer ones to be installed. Not the easiest part of the job putting them back.
The list is not long on items needed. One fine thread bolt (coarse will do) in 7/16 or 12MM if you can get it. That is the size of the stock shock bolt.Needs to be 8 ½to 9 inches long with at least half inthread.A threaded rod will do, just need two nuts.That sounds a little ginger races, sorry.
I used a couple of thick washers under the head and nut witha little grease and on the threads, just to give you a better chance. The pusher socket was a 30 MM with outside measurement of 1.66 (1 21/32), this has to be pretty close as the sleeve on the bushing is 1.75 (1 ¾) inch and there has to be room for the pusher to slide in and out with ease.I may be being a little annul here, but the closer you get the more direct push you will have.The receiver socket may be the part most will not have. I used a sleeve from my ball joint kit, a socket of the right size outside may not have enough room on the inside due to the ridges for nut grabbing, size inside of 1 7/8inch, outside just a good fit on the ring of the shock bushing, on the rim or enclosing it evenly.This needs also to be able to receive the bushing which is about 2 inches deep.
In order of placement, insert rod thru bushing, add receiver socket or sleeve, washer , little grease then nut, mine was on the left side,as I am right handed and will be exerting the pressure with that hand. On the other side, that has the rubber seal removed, the 30 MM socket with the open end toward the bushing, large washer, grease and nut. Line them up as best you can and start turning.
The two I did were not rusted badly, so effort may vary, if you have to use a breaker bar you can lock the other wrench onto part of the frame.
Installing the new one was exactly like the one you justpulled out, only you will be pushing it in with the same line up on the bolt. Take the extra time to get the bushing linedup in a straight line, if it starts cocked, your life will get much more complicated. Don’t forget to get the rubber sealing washer off and putting it back when though.
If all this does not work take the top ball joint loose and remove the three nuts on the shock tower inside or under the hood remove shock tower and take it to a machine shop, they can do it in 15 minutes without disturbing the spring or top mount. Or you can use this method on the bench or drive way.
I’m not totally convinced this would save that much time due to the awkward position, but was just curious if it could be done.
Any pictures needed refer to RD’s write up, he is something else and looks like he will try anything.
Wayne

 

Wayne,


What were the symptoms that made you think it was time to change the bushings? What condition were the old ones in after how many years / miles?


Thanks! - Jim

 

Jim, If you have ever felt the new shock bushings right out of the box, it was no where near as firm as I would like. The used one could be wiggled around in the sleeve, like from top to bottom.
RD said to hold it in your hand and have someone bounce up and down on the fender and if you could feel movement at the mount replacement was the answer. I did a bit of prying with a crow bar and saw movement. There is not a lot of rubber between the inter ball socket and the outer bushing.
I did notice that between the two bushing replacements there is a big price difference between the black rubber one and the light brown one. After market and OEM, black was the way to go for me.
I noticed Jon89's right side was really bad and he had 99K, we of course replaced his shocks. Anyway I took his out to practice and the insides were just mushy and there were marks on the top of the bushing like it had been banging against the shock. The indication to me was it should have been done long ago, surprise the other side was mostly in good condition.
I questioned RD hammering out his but seeing how easy these were I can see that was not a bad choice.


Wayne


Wayne

 

Good points. But my car only has 183,000 miles on her. Maybe I should wait and give them "a chance" to wear out first.

Kidding. ;-)

I'll take a look next time she's on the lift. I just replaced the upper front bushings and I keeping an eye on the lowers. Add the shock bushings to that list.

 

Jim, You have got to be kidding on the shocks not being replaced with that many miles.
WOW! We must be throwing away a lot of good shocks because of the bushing.
Jon89 and I both thought the shocks be took off his 99K miles were not that bad, but you have got to be the exception.
Thanks.


Wayne

 

Yup - 183K. No kidding. Now to be honest, the PO said he lowered the car 1" and had the sport suspension (along with Brembos) retro-fitted sometime around 2009 (approx. 80K miles). But I have the "active" shocks as well, and I don't know if they were (or could be) changed with the mod. It's possible then that they're only 100K old vs. 183K. And although I drive her daily, I really don't abuse her very often.

Hmmm, now that think about it, that Mod might also explain why my lower control arm bushings still look so good. However, I have no idea what parts swaps would be involved in the modification, so who knows.

 

Jim, Yes, the bushing can be done on the adjustable one and that is one I would do on the car, so as not to disturb the wiring.
Good luck.


Wayne

 

any pics?

 

I need to do that. There are a couple on the shelf and I will try and line it up and take a couple of pictures. I will cut my hands so to show some blood from hitting rotor that wont be in the way. LOL
That will have to come after making a frame for the stain glass the wife got at a auction last week. It really needs to get up at the big picture window to let the dumb birds know not to fly into it.


Got to keep her locked up more, always a project.


Wayne