I bought a bushing kit for my 89 6 spd. I am wondering.
What equipment I need
How long it will take
Did you gain anything in ride or performance
I will of course be changing the ball joints, steering knuckles etc.
Thank you

PS: are there any good videos on how to do this

 

I just finished doing this to mine when I did my front coil overs. The rear is easy. To be honest you shouldn't "need" any special tools for the rear. Some C clamps, a mallet and a bench vice will all serve you well. The front bushings is were the fun begins. Go to Harbor Freight and get there ball joint tool kit. You will need it to install new ball joints anyway. This kit comes in very handy for pressing in the new bushings. If your bushing kit was like mine it will come with ball joint grease cover bushings. (Not sure what else to call them). Anyway don't bother with these. Just change the ball joints and tie rod ends with good quality parts and be done with that part. Pressing in the bushings on the control arms is the nasty part. Go slow, don't be in a rush and you will be fine. Remember a small propane torch is your friend, also don't forget aluminum has a low melting point .

I went with poly bushings and love them. I greased the crap out of everything. No squeaks at all and it definitely helped handling. But my old bushings were shot. Also something to remember. Since there were so many different sizes of front and rear sway bars used in these cars most of the kits do not include sway bar mount bushings. So use a caliper and find out the diameter of your bar for certain and then order those bushings separate.

Also it goes without saying but you will 100% NEED to get it aligned after you do this. Put the shims back on the upper control arm as they were. That will be good enough to get you to the alignment shop.

 

A Harbor freight Hydraulic press to convince the bushings to slide out. I also used a saw to cut some of the bushings to make them easier to remove. I used green kitchen soap to help push the new bushings into place. Lots of lube and a good press or vice. The suggestion made by Phobos84 about using the Ball Joint remover as it does have a hefty Clamp in the kit. I bought mine at Harbor Freight and it will do the job almost as well as the press could.

I put polyurethane Bushings on two Corvettes and the C4 was the harder one for me. Then older bushings did not have lubricants made into the material to keep them quiet so I have a can of silicone grease that I use primarily. I have also used Key Lubricant with graphite to quiet the bushings down. The cooler Fall Mornings are when I heard mine the worst. Your new Polyurethane bushings ought to be more quiet!

 

This is a great post. So how did you get the front bushings off and then reinstall them. About how long did it take to do this the job. Did the leaf spring give you much trouble. I am aware of the sway bar issue. Most kits do not come with the sway bar bushings. Thank you for the post

 

CTMCCloskey,

I have a big *** c clamp at home. I use it to compress the brakes when I put on new pads. Probably 8 inch opening and solid. I may try that first. Do you know about how long the job takes. I am guessing that there is YouTube on removing the leaf spring. Thank you

 

I'm not sure how long it took me. I did mine with front coilovers. So I removed the front spring. Over last winter I swapped in front poly bushing, a 4L80e and coil overs.