A few weeks ago, I installed Energy Suspension 29mm front swaybar bushings (Part #8.5135), Z32 poly steering rack bushings (part # 7.10104), Moog endlinks, and Z32 tension rod bushings (part # 7.7105).
I didn't take any pics of the steering rack bushing install because it would have been pretty hard get a good shot of what I was doing. I struggled and struggled with the driver's side bushing and eventually gave up, but the passenger side was no problem. I'll attempt the driver's side again when my hands are no longer cramped up and sore.
Here's a pic of the new swaybar bushing next to the old one with 191K miles worth of use.
...and installed.
New endlink next to old one.
Old tension rod/strut rod bushing. It's pretty destroyed after nearly 200K miles.
New next to old.
I didn't take any pics, but getting the old bushing out was kind of a pain in the a**. I have a Harbor Freight 12-ton press but I really didn't have the proper sized metal dowels/receptacles to get the bushings out easily. I pressed out the rubber center without much problem, but had to saw the inside edge of the inner metal bushing with a jigsaw. I basically mangled it until I could wedge a flathead screwdriver in between the inner metal bushing and the tension rod itself and deformed the bushing until I could whack it out. I sanded/filed down any burrs or imperfections and made sure it was nice and clean before I fit the new poly bushing in.
New bushing installed. The three piece design made it pretty easy to push in without using a press.
After I installed everything, I jacked up the control arm to simulate suspension load and tightened the endlink and tension rod. I tightened the swaybar bushing all the way with the wheels on the ground. The results? Pretty dramatic, even with the rest of my suspension being mush. The whole front end felt tight and responsive. The amount of lag between turning the wheel where I wanted to go and the car actually going there was greatly reduced. There was a lot less clunking going over bumps or potholes. I did notice more NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) but nothing too bad. I'll gladly trade a reduction in the luxury cruise liner-ness of the car for more direct road feel. Definitely something I'd recommend if your front end is feeling mushy.
This weekend, I finally got my parts from IOS and was able to start on replacing the struts and associated hardware/bushings. I bought Tokico blues off ebay for $293 shipped. The old struts were completely dead - I could easily compress them by hand and they stayed compressed. I didn't take any pics of the strut removal/replacement process because it's pretty straightforward. It honestly wasn't too bad of a process - two strut mount bolts and then the bolt that holds the strut to the control arm. I was tightening the spring compressors by hand, which was taking forever, but then I grabbed my electric impact wrench and had the springs tightened down in about a minute. I did have a problem on the last strut - the bolt which held the strut piston secure in the strut mount was stuck, and turning it just caused the piston to turn along with it. I held the tab at the end of the piston with an adjustable wrench and promptly sheared it right off when turning the 14mm open ended wrench. Awesome. Now what? I grabbed a hacksaw and started cutting through the piston right near the oil reservior. After cutting for an eternity, I had it severed and the spring was free. But now I still need the strut mount...dammit. Since I had new bushings, I burned center bushing to death to expose the metal piston inside. After more hacksawing, I was able to snap the piston and free the parts I needed. Nothing is ever easy...
The fronts:
I replaced the upper link on the driver side and thought I wasted my money because the link looked perfect. I then moved to the passenger side and compared the old link to the new one. Yeah, that looks like a problem.
This is the opposite end of the link, flipped over.
Here's the damage it did to the mount.
Notice anything different between the old dust boot and the new one?
Front strut mounts, new and old.
Rusty and crusty.
I ordered rears from IOS but they were backordered. Honestly, the rears looked pretty good compared to the fronts, so I don't think replacing them would've been necessary.
The most annoying part of this whole process was replacing the bushings in the rear trailing arms (upper arms, toe rod, traction rod), Energy Suspension part # 7.3116. It took me a little while (a long while actually) to figure out the best way to pop out the old bushing and get the new one in. I tried and tried and tried to get the new poly bushing in the arms but it was not happening. I put them in the freezer and lubed them up with astroglide, but the bushings squished and went in crooked every single time. I had to resort to trimming the outer edge of the bushing and within one or two tries, the bushing went in no problem.
You can see frost on the bushing because it was in the freezer.
After trimming.
Installed, trimmed side on the left, untrimmed on the right.
Untrimmed.
Trimmed.
I don't think it will negatively impact the performance of the bushing, so I'm not worried about it. I'm a little annoyed that I had to trim it, but I could not for the life of me get the uncut bushing in. Oh well. I didn't do any of the bushings on the control arms themselves because, 1) I didn't feel like it and 2) I ran out of time. Maybe if I'm really really bored and have an entire weekend to kill I'll attempt it.
In addition to all these suspension parts, I had to replace my front tires because the inside edges were completely worn down, one tire was starting to delaminate. Another $277 for new tires. Great.
The whole process was a lot of money, a lot of time (about 16 hours of work, plus 3 hours of waiting for an alignment and tire mount) but the end result is nothing short of amazing. The car feels planted, responsive and SAFE again. Turning the steering wheel results in the car going where you want it instantly. No bottoming out, no clunking and no more squeaking! Finally I can ride in silence. The ride is definitely firmer and slightly less quiet, but it's more sport sedan than grandpa cruiser now. I'm definitely happy with it and will most likely keep the car for a while now.
