Ok I was recently told that I have to replace my front lower control arm bushing so that my car can get aligned. Now the mechanic told me that they sell the bushing separately and its about $20 from the dealer. He said that I can only get the bushing from the dealer and not from any auto parts. So I took a drive to the dealer and turns out that it comes with the control arm and not just the bushing separate. I was also told that Im better off buying the whole control arm then just replacing the bushing by pressing it in. So now Im having second thoughts about just getting the bushing and buy the whole part so that I won't have problems in the long run with just the bushing. So what can I do???

thanks,
rick

 

read my writeup on changing them...

http://www.4dsc.com/articles/suspens..._bushing.shtml

you buy the front bushings for a 2nd gen.
you CAN change them, it's a pain but you can.

the other option is if you want to go with polyurethane. they're much easier to change (don't require a press), and half the price of OE bushings.

buy the Energy suspension bushings for the 4th gen front set. you have to modify the rear bushings, but they fit and work great. did this last week on mine.

 

Matt- Yuo got a part #?
I sell Energy Suspension.
I sell the complete control arm
I sell the Bushing by itself

 

You can also get urethane from http://www.oztek.us/noltec.php?mid=25 Just remember that if you do one side (w/urethane) you should do the other. I got duped into buyin the whole arm. My powersteering fluid leaked over all the bushings. At least I have a buddy in Nissan parts that sold it to me for $60.

 

Urethane seems a very popular choice and I haven't heard complaints yet, so you might want to look into that.

 

So for the front I can run all 4th gen poly?

 

The poly I'm talkin about is for a third gen. I don't think it needs and mods. I read Matt's how-to and it is probably still a b**** to get in. Good luck.

 

yup.. I sucessfully installed the 4th gen bushings on mine last week.

the fronts go right in without any problem, but the rears require a few minutes with a grinder. the 4th gen bushings are larger than ours, so just a bit of grinding and they fit perfectly.

the part numbers are listed on courtesy's website in the 4th gen section.

 

Hey Matt since you do contro; arm replacements...how about putting the poly bushing in on the swap program that you do! I need to do mine and have been putting it off for like 4 months, but it's time to bite the bullet....

 

so let me get this straight Matt. I can buy the 4th gen bushings for the front and rear suspension and they will fit??? I know u said that the fronts should go in easily but I have to grind the rears in order to make them fit right??? now can I get these bushings anymore other than buyin' them off the internet like at a local auto parts??? but like I posted on my first post am I goin' to have problems in the long run with just changing the bushing's rather than changing the whole control arm??? now I don't know if I said this but the dealer told me that the front bushing on the control arm comes with the control arm and the bushing for the control arm can be bought separately am I right or wrong on that???

 

This is all for the front control arm, not front and rear....


on the 3rd gen, they don't sell the front bushing on the control arm- I don't know why, as they sell them for 2nd and 4th gens and they're all the same thing. they will only sell you the entire arm (for $200+).
whta you have to do is order the front bushing for the 2nd gen, and the rear bushing for the 3rd gen... that's if you want OE bushings..


If you want urethane bushings, order the 4th gen set from Courtesy. I forget the part number, but it's on their website.
I'm sure you COULD get it from other places (i.e. local shops) that sell energy suspension parts, but courtesy has them listed on their website. it's a couple clicks and you're done... most likely the other places won't have them in stock and will have to order.



Obsidian, that's not a problem on the bushings, if you want to do it that way. the poly bushings are a little more DIY friendly anyway, in that you don't have to have a hydraulic press to install the front bushing. it just slides in by hand. getting the old one out is still fun, but I use a hacksaw and blowtorch anyway. no press needed.

 

the front control arms have 2 bushings each.
he is refering to the front and rear bushings on the front arm not the rear.

 

Matt, I hope you don't mind more questions on this, but since you just did this I was wondering if you've noticed much ride degradation or an increase in impact harshness from switching to poly bushings?

Do you cut some of the length off the rear 4th Gen bushing, or off the flat spot?

Since I'm a closet pyromaniac but don't like smoke ( ) I was also wondering if you could just dig out the bushing material with a large drill bit? (Unless there's a plate in the middle or something.)

That part about cutting the bushing metal with the hacksaw is to remove the outer sleeve from the bushing, right?

Sorry for all the questions, but I think I'm headed towards a full suspension rebuild in the near future.... and I'd like to save some money and DIY if possible. Very informative article BTW. Thanks in advance.

 

here's the bushing you have to trim. the black is the 4th gen bushing, and the blue is where you have to cut:





As for how to remove the front bushing, look at this pic:



the blue is the bushing, and the black is the control arm. hashed out area is the rubber in the bushing.

take a blowtorch and heat the inside piece of the bushing (the small blue one). heat it until it melts the rubber around it and you can pull it out with pliers or push it out with a screwdriver.


Now take a hacksaw and make two cuts like the ones in this shot. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH the bushing and into the control arm, or you risk damaging the control arm. not cool.

once you've cut almost through the bushing, use a hammer and a chisel to "peel" that small piece out. just hammer it in towards the center, and it will tear along the lines you've cut in it. just let the material curl up and around, and once you get far enough into it, the bushing will start sliding out.

then just clean it up and replace the bushing...