They're required because the bushing design is different.. The factory bushing is a molded bushing that functions as 1 piece. It won't comt apart. The energy bushing is a 3pc bushing that easily slides apart. The washers are there to hold the bushings in position on the control arm. If you don't have those washers on them, then the bushings will eventually walk out of the control arm and you'll have no bushing at all.

The 4th gen suspension design is identical to ours, and the front bushings are actually the same. Thus the reason these bushings can be made to work on our cars. (Who do you think told you guys you can use the 4th gen ES bushings, anyway?)


Just because you've done this doesn't mean you know what you're talking about. Any idiot can read an instruction manual and put it together, but they don't have to understand WHY it's done that way. I've done a few dozen of these, and I design suspension components myself, but that doesn't mean I'm an expert.

 

Thanks for clearing that up....

When give people advise sometimes use phrases like "probably", "might", "if I remember right", and "for the most part" when I'm not exactly positive that I'm stating facts. I still do give advise because I like to be helpful. So, I would apreciate if you wouldn't flame me when I use phrases like this. Please just correct me. I guess I should be a little more clear and say "don't quote me on this."

I'm not an expert either. I never claimed to be an expert nor do I act like one. I just like being a little helpful if I can. I do have a couple of questions for you matt.

-Why is it important to have a caster adjustment in the rear?
-Why do you cut TWO 45 degree angles off of each one of the rear bushings?

 

Being helpfull is fine. But when that advice is incorrect, that is bad. ie.. stating Matt said you didn't need the washers and stating that you don't need them.

Considering Bman posted that his bushings started to "walk out" because he didn't install them with both washers, you shouldn't take to hard because Matt wanted to make 100% sure no one is confused.

I mean, look how you misunderstood the info. Sometimes you have to be blatent to get the point across.

 

because the 4th gen is squared off |_|, whereas the 3rd gen is more like \_/ make sense?

 

The problem in this case is that this is a safety issue. If it was something inconsequential, like wiring your speakers with reverse polarity, that's no big deal.. I wouldn't have said things as strongly as I did. On the other hand, suspension bits falling apart on the highway because you were incorrectly told how to assemble them is a BIG deal and I want to make very clear how to properly install them.

When I do bushing swaps for people, I install the bushings and them zip-tie the washers on both ends of the bushing so they can plainly see how they should be installed. It's a liability issue on my end, as a 'mechanic'. killing people isn't something I want to put on my resume, so I make sure it's done right.

As for your other two questions..
Caster isn't needed on the back, but people like to know it's there. I've also seen a few cars that have the radius rods slightly bent from stupid tire shops jacking the cars up back there. It throws off the handling as the wheelbase on one side is shorter than the other side- even if by 1/4"- it can cause problems in handling and in noise & vibration on the highway.

The OEM bushings have 3 flat edges on them, not two. thus I cut the new ones that way. otherwise you're trying to cram a round peg in a square hole, relatively speaking.

 

I know that the oem bushings are shaped like\_/ but, why? They fit against the chassis better if the are shaped like \_|.

 

Is the control arm tough to remove? I can get my mechanic to press out the old bushings. I am just worried about how tough it is to remove.

 

It CAN be... it kind of depends on whether you're lucky enough to not have one or both bushing sleeves rusted to the car (gusset). That makes your life harder. Other than that, the actual procedure is quite straightforward. I took both mine out (AGAIN) earlier tonight fairly quickly (30min or less?) because everything came apart easily.


BTW, due to a "tool incompatibility problem" I'm still not done my washer fix, otherwise I'd be done. I have to go out and buy a normal 27mm socket tomorrow.

 

Riiiight.
Then you end up moving the rear of the control arm over about 1/4", which causes the track width, wheelbase, caster, and camber to change.. talk about an alignment nightmare. It also throws the front bushing out of alignment so that it wears even faster than before.

No thanks. just do it right the first time and you won't have to do it again.

 

Does anyone have a pic of the control arm being removed? Any pics would help.

 

http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/UiB...3d801f5924.jsp

 

I think I might head to the junkyard this weekend. What tools do I need to yank lower control arms so I can work on getting the old bushings out of these?

24mm socket
17mm socket

What else? hammer? ball joint seperator?

 

27mm socket

 

27mm socket for the front nut, 22mm for the two rear bolts, 17mm for the balljoint nuts, 14mm (I think) for the sway bar link. You may have to loosen the rear sway bar brackets to lower the bar a bit to let you squeeze the rear bushing out (I forget what size those are). The only one people's tool kits don't typically have is the 27mm socket, but a 1-1/16" socket is EXACTLY the same if you have that already.

No, no BJ seperator. It helps if the car is raised up higher so that you can twist the arm more to help work it off. Obviously, a long breaker bar is a big help too....

 

Well, I just came back from the salvage yard. There were a few 3rd gens that had the front end up the air already from when people pulled trannys,motors, etc.

I took all the bolts off and the arm still would not come off after about 30 minutes of twisting, turning, hammering, wedging, etc. Is there some type of gear puller that I need to get this thing off? I tried these procedures on 2 and even had help from some guy there who couldn't get it off either. Not sure what to do now?

 

pull the entire gusset off. it's a handfull of 22mm bolts, but just pull the whole thing off with the control arm. it's much easier to do it that way, then you can tear that bushing apart on your workbench where you can safely get leverage on it.