while under my car putting on the y pipe, i noticed my LCA bushings are almost totally shot - there are just small bits of rubber and oil and debris hanging in there.

i searched around the ORG here and saw two options: 1) replace the whole arm via Nissan (OEM parts $$$$$$) or 2) order a set from Energy Suspension, who seem to have a good reputation.

so i go to Autozone and place an order. $34.99 shipped and my choice of red or black. i chose red.



yesterday i was talking with a couple of 4th gen owners and i happen to bring up these LCA bushings. on top of telling me its a huge pain in the *** to DIY (which i had planned on, but never really thought it through), he tells me that they are known for repetitive squeeking, especially the red ones, and especially while going over bumps.

this is unacceptable.

i see that in the bag (theyre still unopened) there is a small tube of grease, but i guess thats not enough to stop the noises.

heres some more testimony i dug up today:


so, people with Energy Suspension Lower Control Arm Bushings, please tell me
a) what color you have
b) if you experience squeeking when going over bumps.

and other than replacing the whole arm, like Nissan wants, what are my other options here.

thank you in advance

 

black, no squeaks. they have been on since Nov. 06.

 

Red...no audible signs of squeaking.

 

Ebay has the whole arm, ball joint included for 39 bucks. Why would you just replace the bushings when you can get the arm and the ball joint for the same price? It's definately DIY to replace the arm. Replacing those bushings is going to require a shop with the right tools, more $$$.

 

ebay part is probably going to be CHEAP as far as quality i have black inserts but have not installed them yet

 

Just use the grease that comes with it, and don't be shy! Oh yeah... you might want to use a torch to burn out the out bushings if you don't have a hydraulic press! It's not that hard of a job! You might wanna fix that oil leak while you're at it....

 

well the actual "oil" leak was taken care of when we did the rear valve cover gasket. however the rack is still leaking a tiny bit.

 

I thought the cheap lower control arms on ebay were very poor quality. I seem to remember there are people on here whose ball joints were already torn after 6 months.

 

I got the black ones and I don't have squeaks. I actually recommend the enegy bushings. They make the car feel tighter and they where not a pain to install....they slid right in. The old ones....hack them off whatever the case may be. I had no issues removing them either...heat is always needed

 

I have the black/graphite lca poly bushings and they were fine for about 2 months and all of a sudden my car starts sounding like a ford explorer in need of ball joints. Squeaks all the time, especially the day after a rainy day.

I took everything apart, cleaned it up and regreased it, this time I bought more of the ES grease, like 12 lil tubes and greased the **** out of everything and bam it returned the day after it rained for the first time after regreasing. I'm almost to the point where I wanna get OEM bushings

 

I had the black Energy LCA bushings. They squeaked quite a bit. I replaced them for stock again and it's been happily quiet ever since.

 

Are there any other solutions beside going stock?

 

Energy, stock, or eBay stuff.

I found no discernible different using the energy bushings compared to new stock parts. Of course, compared to torn stock bushings I'm sure the energy parts are an upgrade but that's another matter...

 

Red. Feel great. Passenger side one squeeks like a ****! I assumed that my buddy didnt use the supplied grease, but now I wonder..

Anyone have luck successfully getting rid of the squeek after experiencing it?

 

If I didnt have other crap to take care of first, I'd take those off in the blink of an eye. I'm not sure if there's something I didnt do right that made the squeak come back. I mean...regreasing the damn things TWICE-second time literally drenching them in that "propietary" ES poly grease and still end up squeaking 2 weeks later?

Anyone wanna trade for stock bushings they only have 5-6k miles on them?

 

cool ma man

 

Oh yea? which part?

 

hey dude they dont sell stock bushings.. i said **** it and got new control arms.. they feel great...

 

Oh what the faaahhh, how much did the LCAs run you? I'm assuming you went OEM right?

 

I've had mine for two years and they haven't squeaked yet.

I wonder if your LCA's are not seated properly and the grease gets washed out or something. It's sounds like you are losing the grease somehow.