Hi, I have a question about orienting rear axle trailing arm bushings. I have two Dorman bushings and both bushings have two markings, LH and RH on small tabs on each side of the bushing. This leads me to think LH should be installed facing the driver side and RH facing the passenger side. But that would be contrary to normal practice of installing as mirror images of each other. Dorman has no information about these LH RH markings and suggests it does not matter. I want to test the durometer of the bushing if it is the same all around to make sure there is no preference for driver side versus passenger side.

 

I went with energy suspension trail arm bushings, I highly recommend those..

 

yea honesty. its not worth it to replace the RTA bushing with basic Dormans. mind as well upgrade

 

Yes thankyou, I'm thinking to return those Dorman's and get Energy Suspension. Because actually I put Dorman's in 4 years ago and one if them has become distorted and cracked. So maybe not to make that mistake again. I still have the tool that came with the old Dorman for pressing the bushings.

 

I installed my E.S. trail arm bushings over 6 years ago and so far so good.

 

What about replacing Dorman with ES.? ES says they are designed to replace OEM. They say it depends how close the Dorman shells replicate OEM.

 

I would like to correct something I said about Dorman bushings above. After having a close look with a pry bar, the bushings are not actually cracked. It is the paint on the rubber surface that is cracked. However the bushings are quite soft after 4 years and maybe 60k. Also according the Dorman support the LH and RH markings mean nothing so it doesn't matter which way you orient them. According to my mechanic the soft bushings should not be creating any problem for me as long as the rubber is not separating from the metal post or outer cylinder. I won't know the answer to that until I drop the trailing arms and try to twist the bushings.

 

I would like to correct something I said about Dorman bushings above. After having a close look with a pry bar, the bushings are not actually cracked. It is the paint on the rubber surface that is cracked. However the bushings are quite soft after 4 years and maybe 60k. Also according the Dorman support the LH and RH markings mean nothing so it doesn't matter which way you orient them. According to my mechanic the soft bushings should not be creating any problem for me as long as the rubber is not separating from the metal post or outer cylinder. I won't know the answer to that until I drop the trailing arms and try to twist the bushings.

 

just get the Energy Suspension trail arm bushings and you will never have issues with it ever again..

the suspension on these cars are really simple so you don't want it being compromised with a soft bushing.

from my experience worn out trail arm bushings will make the *** of these cars sway real hard when it comes to hard braking, especially at highway speeds. it scared the crap out of me when I tried to slow down quickly on the highway doing 70 and I felt the *** of the car swaying side to side. I replace all my bushings with energy suspension bushings, they add way more stability and take the slop out of the suspension....

 

Fill it yourself like the motor mounts

 

dude.... i finally know why my rear end is squirrelly when I brake hard! i thought it was brakes, i have the RTA energy suspension bushings on the top of the fridge for 7 years now,
maybe I should just finally do it . it just seems like an intimidating pile of worms doing it in the drive way. like basically you gotta take the whole rear axle off the car.

i think i read a few stories around here that a few guys figured out a way to do it with out dropping the solid rear axle but idk.... especially getting the old ones out and new ones in i dont see that being easy with out taking it off.

thanks for this info though.. i have a lot of other upgrades and it seems silly in hindsight I haven't completed this significant part of the rear suspension. ( even with the parts on my fridge)

 

Bushings like these? https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...-fits-a32.html

I did them without removing the beam. Why would the A33 be any different?

 

yea no different ! i cant remember exactly , i had a feeling there was a way, would you be able to elaborate how you swapped them leaving the rear beam on?, removing old bushings doesn't see too hard with creativity, but how did you press them in while on the car?

thanks dude!

 

i read that thread and it helps, but I am not the most mechanically inclined soo i would need a buddy to make sure it gets done in a day. i guess the screwdriver and grease is the trick to get them in.