replacing lower control arm bushings
 

well my power steering pump is leaking and the oil ate up the right side LCA bushing. i ordered the energy suspension bushings from autozone and will get them tomorrow. i am assuming that this should be a rather easy install but wanted to hear from those who have done it. i went the the poly bushings so the oil wont eat them up again, kindof a temp solution to holding off on the power steering pump. i just got an alignment at NTB so I have a 1 year warranty and was planning on taking it back once the bushings were replaced, which i hope will help to minimize my steering wheel shaking at highway speeds. the problem came up after sliding off the road into a curb. now that i have the alignment and tires rotated my wheel is shaking even more. the front tires were getting chewed up pretty bad and the guy told me that the bushing was probably a cause. one other note is that the drivers rear hub assembly got jacked up in the incident which i replaced already, but the guy told me that the spindle may be bent as well so that could also be causing the vibrations. just trying to solve the problem one step at a time so if anyone could point me in the direction for a how to on the bushings it would be a good first step. thanks and sorry bout the long post.

have fun.. those bushings take for ever to replace.. not hard but really time consuming cuz u have to burn the old ones off..

ahhhh.....thats not exactly what i wanted to hear. so what all tools should i need to get this job done the easiest. why cant something easy to fix ever go wrong with my car:(

ur gonna need a blade from a hack saw.. to cut the metal casing that gets left from the bushing thats in the arm tube looking thinkg... then u have to cut a second piece from the pivot... so blow torche and a hack saw blade worked for me

Yup, burn off all the old bushings, then remove the metal ring from the round bushing and the metal sleeve from the horse shoe bushing. Shouldn't take you more than an afternoon to do the whole car.

torches are fun.....listen to DUbbya he knows his ish

I've done 2 sets now :slant: The second set was a brand new set of OEM Nissan Control Arms. Almost seemed wrong to hack them up :gotme:

before you even try to embark on your control arms check your rims for any bends. balance your tires (not all shops balance when they rotate). check tires for any unevenness or lumps. last check your front end.

ok so could someone give me a breakdown of what all i will need to do in order to get this job done. will i be able to replace the bushings with the LCA's still on the car or is there alot more to it than just taking the bolt out, removing the old bushings, and puttin new ones in? i was hoping this job wouldnt be all that bad but it seems i never get to do easy fixes on my car. also if anyone knows what size sockets i will need that would be great.

here's a lot of what you're going to have to do.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=479796

Personally, I think buying a whole new LCA assembly is worth the extra bucks.
Good luck!

So I don't start a new thread, I am going to replace my LCAs again, b/c of crappy ball joints. I already have the ES bushings in now, but can I take them out and put them on the new ones, or do I have to buy a new set?

You can reuse them. I did that with mine.

FWIW:

Ebay Seller has a whole set of bushings for under $35.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT