What other parts should I replace at the same time to save time and money?

Basically, my front wheels are way out of alignment (toe out!) and my tires are going severly bald on the inside edge. For safety's sake I need to change them right away, but I have already purchased the poly bushings from internetautomart while ago, along with the lower BJs, and am planning what to do now.

My steering rack boot was leaking very bad on the driver's side a while ago, so I changed out the rack myself. That helped for a while, but then the pump is going now I think due to the damage from lack of fluid when the rack was leaking. So, I got a used pump to put. I think the leaking fluid also damaged the lower control arm bushings, so I need to replace them. But, is it cheaper/easier to get a complete lower control arm with BJ and swap them out, or should I try to swap in the poly bushings and BJs onto the old arms?

I am also looking at struts to replace the worn out oem units. I have the Sonar Suspension II electronicly controlled types. Is it better to go with OEM replacement? Or can I get just as good performance from Tokico or Koni? Should I get them replaced at the same time as the bushings? What about swaybar links? and the other bushings on the control arms? I also need all my engine/ranny mounts replaced and already have them. Should I also get those done at the same time? Thanks for any advice.

-Mrkanda

 

Depends on how much time you have. I used a spare set of control arms to burn/install the poly. But in reality, after you torch the 1st one, you get real good at it. For torching, all you really have to do is heat the center bushing enough to pry it out. Then you can pry the rest of the bushing out. Then use a hack saw and carefully cut into the outer bushing. You really don't need to cut all the way though. Just pry one side up and that should make it loose enough to tap it out.

Did you get the huge rear bushing too? I highly recommend a table saw. Much easier to cut consistent chunks off. But a table vice and a hacksaw would work just as well. New PW pump hoses are cheap from Brian also.

 

since you already have the parts, just redo them if you can afford the down time (only about 1/2 hour more than a straight swap)
are you paying someone to do all this work or are you doing it yourself?

 

That's the problem. I'm not sure which would be more economical. I'd like to do it myself to save money and get the experience. Plus I'd rather put money into tools that I get to keep instead of someone else's pocket. But my record is to take days to get things done instead of hours. So, should I shell out 4X the amount I make per hour to someone else or hope that this time I can get it done myself in no more than twice the time of the professionals?

Anyway, what would be the time estimate to do the front lower control arm bushings, BJs, and front struts (with possible lowering springs)? Also, I would like to do the rear struts as well, but maybe I should wait.

 

things usually take a long time the first time you do it but were young and this probably wont be the only time youll do suspension work so you might as well get dirty

 

That's what I was thinking, but we'll have to see if I can convince my wife of that

Does anyone now of an online resource where one can get time estimates on specific repairs for our cars? Or is it in the FSM? And should I ad a certain percentage or amount of time if it's the first time I'm doing it?

 

its not hard when it saves her money...

 

let me know if you find one

 

might wanna change your entire control arm too cuz when I did mine I was too cheap to change the arms. after the installation, I had alignment problems with the camber. oh well, the ride is freaking awesome though cuz I got poly uranthe.

 

The hardest thing about changing the arms is getting them off. Sometimes the bushing has rusted itself onto the shaft. But you get lucky, it will slide off with a mallet of some kind. Others have to use a puller.

Worst case, you could heat and pull, burn the bushing off and pull the arm out and then cut the bushing and pry it off.

Once you get the arms off, it's straight forward.

 

Both my control arms arm rusted in place..

I am going to use a dremal cut off wheel to cut a notch in the back so i can get a hammer and chisel in there to pound it off..

 

I didn't use enough "and"s

You get the new polys in the spares yet?

If they are that stuck, yeah burn the control arm off, clean the rubber off and either dremel a slot or use a hacksaw to slit the inner bushing.

 

Not yet..Kinda busy with the wifey's new maxima..

Ya think it would be safe to take a torch to that area??

 

Playing with fire is fun. What about the rear bushing?

Yeah, you really don't need to get it red hot or anything. Hell heating the bushing up a bit might enlarge it just enough to move it. ie.. heat then grab the arm and pull down/up and try to free it. Spray it with wd40 or some other. Try not to light yourself on fire though

 

What about it??

 

i wouldn't recommend playing around with fire while the arm is still attached to the body. last time I did it, damn it I almost set my whole car on FIRE!!!! GOD SAVED ME!!!! luckily, I blew it out before my axle burned to pieces.

DON'T burn it! you got way too many motor oils down there. it's very dangerous!!!! don't do it!!!

just get a bunch of 3 jaw pullers, good set of chiesels and hammer. slowly pull out a few centimeters, then chip it away slowly. it'll come off eventually!! worst comes, hell with it, grap a dremel cut the damn thing off (just the arm). soon or later, you'll need it anyway to remove the inner tube that got rust-froze-dead in place.

 

You going with the poly and a table saw?

 

As long as you don't wave the propane torch in the aaiiire and wave it like you just don't caariiireee, he should be okay

I used a torch on the bushing before. Not to burn it but to heat the bushing enough to rotate it

 

I've had good luck with wd40 and a pair of channel locks for the rear bushing...

 

I meant did you get the poly rear bushing and how are you going to cut it?

 

Oh....

No i havent got them yet,Hopfully next month..

 

clamping vice grips to the inner bushing and heating it a little while hammering the vice grips works really well. that way no cutting necessary. aiming the torch away from the cv boot is a good idea as bvtran found out...

 

he obviously can't do it inside cuz if his car burns, it'll burn his entire house down.

....outside, once you got fire burning those damn rubbers, all you'll need is 1mph wind to knock it all over the places. I was very careful when I did mine, aimed it away from the cv. heck, I even had aluminum foil blocked its fire path from getting to my cv but the heat set it off anyway.

like I'd said, it's better to be safe than sorry. think about it, it's summer time, the heat down in FL is wicked. with a little bit of wind blowing accidentally and you'll catch yourself a mess.

 

I had my two lower control arms replaced, instead of just having the bushings replaced and it cost me 900$ in Texas. I wish I did it myself I would have saved alot of money

 

that makes me feel ill

 

Well, I guess that clinches it. As soon as I have a little time I'm going to do the swap myself.

Good news! I just got my 6-spoke I35 Infiniti wheel back from being straightened. Now I can mount and balance my Goodyear F1 GS-D3s and role! Or, at least after I get those bushings and alignment taken care of.

 

I didnt know that the bushings could be pulled out. The mechanic I had said that he wouldnt be able to get them out and so he put two control arms on for me from the junk yard $550 bucks

 

again

 

You mean you can do this stuff yourself?


That's great, because I just paid over $300 freaking dollars (200 part/100 labor) just to have a chain store replace just my passenger side control arm assembly. All that was really wrong with the control arm was the front/inside bushing was way worn out. Guess I got scammed too.

They said it would actually cost more to pull the bushing out instead of replacing the control arm - now I think they were just farking lazy. Mind you, that "assembly" included the passenger side ball joint, which was causing nasty steering problems.

Anyways, once I hit 15 posts, I'm gonna start a thread about my dying front suspension.

 

You can do anything yourself if you have the tools/knowledge..

Actually it is much cheaper labor wise to just replace the whole control arm assembly with a new control arm with the bushings and ball joint already on it...Most people on this site go this route when the bushing go south...

You have to cut-n-burn out the old bushing[major pita]...Then you need a 2-3 ton press to press the new bushing in...

 

That's exactly what I did with all of my bushings. Yes, I replaced every single one. I just bought the assembly with the new bushings pressed in already. I had a rough time with a lot of them. A lot of cutting, cursing, and burning involved. One thing often overlooked is getting new hardware too. Amazingly, the nissan dealers still had all of the bolts available. I think it cost me about 800-900 for everything and a little bit more time than I wanted to spend but it's worth it. The car drives better than ever. I also took the opportunity to make the rear suspension toe adjustable by adding 2 adjustable links on each side. So, over the last year my car has gotten a complete new suspension. just a run down, I replaced the following items:

Both front control arms and ball joints
new sway bar bushings and end links
2 new parallel links and all 4 horizontal links.
New shocks and strut plates
New tie rods
new momo wheels and 225/60/15 yoko tires.
finally a new alignment

I've been a busy guy.

 

So I just put in the springs and struts, and got an alignmentat NTB. I noticed after I drove it away that it would pull to the right on accelleration then veer to the left when I let off. I took it back to NTB right away and told them about the problem, so they put it back up on the rack. After a quick once over they found that the control arm bushings are totally shot. I assume that I never really noticed because the old suspension had the bushings sitting in one spot, but the lowered position changed it so now I get this hard sudden pull to the left. I was thinking about poly bushings because I know they're for performance, but I'm worried that the hard bushings will give me vibration in the steering wheel. The dealer only sells the entire assembly with arm and bushing for like $250. And I know that I can get separate bushings and just pop them in and out with a 20 ton press I have in the garage. Another thing I was wondering was if the bad bushings could have been causing the high speed shake I experience around 85 mph on the expressway. Thanks for the info.

 

Your shaking problem is most likely out of balance tires...

 

Complete control arms with new bushings and ball joints -> http://internetautomart.com/maxima/3rdgen/susp.html
Limited time

 

what brand are they? Are the ball joints riveted or bolted on the control arm? I have new ball joints, so I don't need them. Also, are they new or reconditioned because thats a GREAT price. I've been getting quotes of 50 a side for just a bushing.

 

New, the ball joints are bolted in. Private label

 

Aww...secrets are no fun! Won't I know as soon as I get them? Since they're bolted on I just can sell/remove the ball joints right? Is pickup available?

 

you can just remove the ball joints.
Pickup is normally available, I'll just have to check that both are in stock locally.
I know that I can have them both within a couple of days

 

Let me know by PM as soon as you find out if pickup is available. Thanks alot!

 

So Brian....will you beat your own price? I thought it was a limited time offer!!! LOL just kidding, but seriously...check it out

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Maxim...09066519QQrdZ1