I know my trailing arm bushings are bad. They both leaked out. My question is lately i have been getting the feeling like my rear strut is blown(bouncy loose feeling over hard bumps). I checked the struts and they are both clean. I put in new tokico blues last year. So could blown trailing arm bushings cause it? what was your experiences?

thanks

 

mine are leaking too but my mechanic says to leave it alone,,it s quite a job to have new ones installed,,,maybe someone here had them replaced and would be nice to hear some input

 

I don't exactly know what "blown" or leaky ones feel like but they could definately be the source of some rear end clunking noises.

I recently replaced my stock RTA bushings with solid poly bushings from energy suspension. Actually my mechanic did and it took him nearly 4 hours
for both sides.

After the switch I can't really say there was a huge difference. About the only thing I noticed was slightly (and I mean slightly) better turn in on some tight corners at speed.

Not sure of the price of OEM replacements but according too my mechanic they would likely be an easier installation.

Hope this helps?

 

Blown trailing arm bushings are going to make the car kind of unsettling over bumps around turns. They will also transmit a lot of the road "bump noise" into the cabin because they don't absorb the impact as well. They won't, however, give that floaty blown strut feeling....if you think your struts are blown, most reputable shops will test them for free if you remove them (which isn't terribly difficult). It is possible you got a factory defect.

 

yeah i actually had a factory defect strut that i had to replace already. I plan on doing the bushings myself. It doesnt seem too hard to do.

 

That's very possible, if the labor costs goes too high. Is this is the right part here at this link for around $100?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/kb_search_result.php?keywords=[55130P]+\%28a33b&cPath=1956_1957_2046_2050

 

i was thinking of going with energy suspension, but i know the hassle it is going to be. I used ES for my motor mounts

 

MaximusTi's mechanic took half a day with this bushings swap. My mechanic says, "at least a couple hours or more". And based on Marcus' analysis on the value of having ES bushings in the RCA, I'm starting to question this loose springtime plan of mine. So, three options for the rear:

1. Nothing. Leave my 8 year old RCA alone.
2. Replace the RCA with OEM bushings already pressed in.
3. Replace the old bushings with new ones from ES.

Since the RCA is over a live axle, and my mechanic tells me nothing is need of repair back there, after considering all this again with this thread here, I'm leaning towards Option #1.

 

After changing the LCA's in the front (ie: new bushings) there REALLy wasn't ALL that much difference in how the car rode or transmitted road irregularities thru the chassis.
Granted my car only has 80k, and has been well-maintained -- but to me, I think unless I had MAJOR issues out back that new struts didn't fix/quell, I'd leave the trailing-arm bushings alone.

But again....that's just me.

i know Rochester has these little buggers slated for his spring-cleaning -- but he's more "scheduled" on his maint. than I am!

gr

 

yeah i upgrade things as they break.

 

Funny, but I give that exact same advice about as often as I ignore it.

 

Didn't read the whole thread but be prepared for one of the biggest PITA jobs you will ever do to your car...

 

cant wait for us to change ours! I'll buy :-)