My suspension on my 85 hasn't been touched, ever. So I want to replace the old rubber bushings with some nice poly ones! I found all of them in Summit as a kit for about $160. How hard is the labor to do this? I only have basic tools, nothing fancy. Also I have a temper problem with cars sometimes, which is only mitigated by beer. If I DID go to a shop for this, any idea on roughly how much labor might be?

Thanks!

 

I've done the easy ones, swaybars, diff holder, camber rods. It took an hydralic press to do the diff holder and camber rods, you'll need a press for the front a-arms too. The front a-arms look REALLY f'ing hard. Screw up and the A get pinched together and they're shot.

Maybe there's an exchange service on the front a-arms?

 

You are looking at probably $500 and up to do your bushings. Pocket the money and do it yourself.

OK, I've done my whole suspension / steering, and I have a few tips for you.

As for tools, you need a bench vise, torque wrench, and a digital caliper to measure your sway bar ($20 at Harbor Freight Tools). A Dremel or high speed rotary tool is very helpful.

If the car is a daily driver, do it a little at a time. If you can afford to have it down for a while, do it one side at a time. This comes in handy if you have to look at the other side to see how it's put together.

For the front...you only have to farm out one thing, the upper control arm bushings.....you can remove your upper and lower control arms yourself. Take them to a brake shop and have them drill out the old ball joints and press in new ones (unless you have a press in your garage). Also have them press in the upper control arm bushings. You can do the lower bushings in your garage with a bench vise. My shop charged my $25 a side for the work.

You can do your sway bar bushings with a bench vise. Cut out the old bushings and use a dremel with a sanding drum to clean up the surfaces. Use the supplied silicone grease and press them in.

Tie rod ends are a good idea, and take about 10 minutes per side. Mark the threads prior to disassembly so you can set the toe close enough to drive it to the alignment shop.

That pretty much sums up the front, unless you need a steering rack.

For the rear.....You can press in the control arm, sway bar, and strut rod bushings in your vice. Be sure to put a piece of tape over the hole in the frame next to the nut on the upper arm or you WILL drop it in the frame and you WON'T be able to retrieve it. Look before you loosen it and you will see what I mean.

While you have it apart, it doesn't hurt to replace the center link and tie rod ends too. The center link is very expensive, but can be had on ebay brand new for about $50

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

This is the one I'm using and it appears to be OEM.

If you really want to do it right, replace your half shaft u-joints and wheel bearings too.

Finish all this, get a good 4 wheel alignment and wheel balance, and your car will handle like brand new.

OK, now one MAJOR caveat here. Take your time, be patient, and above all, save the beer drinking for when you're finished. This is not a difficult job, but it's not one you want to screw up either. A mistake here can be deadly....for you or others. Make damn sure you torque everything back to the specs in the manual, and then double and triple check your torques. You will be glad you did later.

This is also a great opportunity to shine up your suspension components.



Have fun, drop me a line if you run into trouble. Here's a pic of how whipped the bushings were on my 84.

 

Hi
I also have an 85 with stock rubber bushings. Thinking of the same to change them.
Will I feel the changes in the handeling of the car. Will it be stiffer.
I have heard that the polyurethane bushing makes sqeeky noises after a while. is there anything i can do to avoid that. putting in grease or may be dry lubricate them with graffite?

 

Your car is about to turn 20 years old. Anything made of rubber is long past it's service life. Yes, you will feel a change in handling just by replacing them regardless of which ones you use. I recommend the poly bushings. They don't compress or bind like rubber does, which results in a tighter road feel. They come with silicone grease that you use during install. I have never had one make any appreciable noise.

 

I did this very thing on the first one that I took out. Gone forever!

I used Energy Suspension that I bought from then Mid America Design. The end links for the front sway bar were not the correct size as stated. When installed they were too loose and they clunked when the bar moved instead of holding the end secure. I never used the kit for the rears, I still have it hanging on my wall.

What brand did you use? I'm going to buy something other than the ES's that I have. I don't want to press the old rears out only to find out that the replacements are crap like the front end links were crap. I returned to new OEM for the links but still want poly of some type.

I have heard of a polygraphite bushing but can't find a company listed.

 

I purchased the energy suspensions kit from summit. I was told the black bushings are graphite impregitaded. However these kits do not include the sway bar bushings. You will need to measure the dia. of your bars and order seperately.

 

I did measure the sway bar and ordered the correct kit but the end link bushings don't work. I have the black colored ones too.

I'm going to try a different company, not Energy Suspension's product.

Thanks

 

I'll agree with everything said thusfar, and add that I was able to get the differential mount bushings out only after cutting them up with a jigsaw and using an arbor press.

If you're doing ALL of the bushings, I'd recommend THOSE get pressed out at a shop.

(Good advice for the upper A arm...I haven't gotten around to doing THEM yet.)

 

My energy sway bar kits fit fine
What was the problem with the end link bushings ?
Here is another source for energy.http://www.suspension.com/homepage.htm?

 

The best I can tell you is if you're very mechanically inclined, do it yourself. I am and I did and I had never done it before, no real problems other than the A-arms like was stated on other posts. If your extent of mechanical ability is changing your own oil then bite the bullet and have it done.

 

Energy Suspension from Corvette Central. Fit just fine.

 

You might try DRM for the bushing kit they have them also.

 

I just installed ES bushings in my '96. As stated above, the OEM front end link bolts were too small in diameter. A quick trip to the hardware store to purchase some 7/16" Grade 8 bolts of the correct length and locking nuts solved the problem. While it was disappointing ES didn't identify up front that new bolts are required, I would hardly consider the bushings themselves "crap".

The rear end links fit perfectly, as did the sway bar bushings, and rear camber rod bushings.

I bought my ES bushings from Suspension Restoration (http://www.suspension.com). The parts were in stock, the service was fast and friendly, and they were cheaper than Summit, Jegs, etc.

 

I went to the suspension.com site. I have the same part numbers on the cards that have the bushings shrink wrapped to as are listed in the sites parts list. I have a 26mm front sway bar and the only difference in the part numbers is I have a G at the end of my numbers IE: 3-5154G

I'd be more of a happy camper if a new bold were my only problem with the end link bushings. The whole bushing is too small. The bar's bushings, those that are bolted to the frame are the correct size. I would and did think that the end links would fit too. A larger bolt would work if the ID were too large but my problem is the OD is too small.

Maybe "crap" is the wrong word to use but right now, not being able to use the end link bushings, they are crap and will go into the trash can. I can't use them on my other car or truck either.

Also having to re-use your old metal sleeves and having to stuff the bushings into those sleeves is more than a bad joke.

There's another company out there (can't think of their name off hand) that has the bushing already stuffed into the metal sleeves and their bushings are impregnated with graphite.

I'm glad to hear that you were able to solve your fit problem with a simple nut and bolt. I wouldn't mind having to do that instead of having to press OEM bushings out, the new ES bushing in then press them out again and return to OEM rubber bushings. A lot of work and waist of time and there are not enough hours in the day already.

Happy Turkey Day to you and yours.

 

They don't fit tight. When you hit the brakes or make a turn you hear a clunk as the sway bar moves. They are not being held tight in the metal holder/part that they are pressed into. The OD is too small.

I tried them in the holder that came with the car and I also bought a new one (holder/brace/bracker) from the dealer and they don't fit tight in that one either. I thought maybe my old parts hole was streached out making the ID larger but that's not the case.

Maybe they put the wrong part in my packet. The replys that I'm getting all say they don't have any problems at all.

 

I am doing it myself and so far I have not had very good luck but I'm hanging in there!!

I do all of my own work execpt rebuilding the engine. I don't have the tools or the know how so I had an engine shop rebuild it for me. (the crank shaft broke between cyl #5 & #6).