Well I just did the biggest idiot thing of my life last night. I was supposed to autox today and was checking a few things with my Tokico D-Specs. I kept hearing a thunk sound from one side so I had been assuming the top strut nut was loose. Well I overtightened it and....I can barely say it....sheared off the top threaded section of the strut. So now my car is down and I'm considering just replacing other things that could have been causing the noise.
I was planning to replace all of the control arm bushings with polyurethane and the stabilzer bushings, but I cannot seem to find anyone that sells the stabilzer bushings. Any help/links or suggestions would be great. I have to buy a new strut obviously and since I'll have to realign it all again that is why I plan to replace anything that could have been causing the noise. I have been reading my service manual to see how to take the control arm off....any exepriences with this would help too. Thanks guys, I hope no one ever does else does this.
"If you aren't shifting, then you certainly aren't driving!"
That sucks. Remember, the nut only has to be tightened to 50ft lbs.
I would say that most noises in the front suspension come from: worn strut mount, ball joint, wheel bearing, and worn out spring seats.
To remove the control arm, disconnect the ball joint and remove the two bolts hold the arm to the subframe. It is pretty easy.
Poly control arm bushings can be purchased from autozone. For poly D bushings, check prothane's website. Control arm bushings can be purchased the cheapest from Karo at carcustoms.net.
Yeah I did see the set at carcustoms. Why do they have a set of 6 bushings while Gravana has a set of what appears to be 4? To me it looks like the smaller bushings at carcustoms are 2 piece and the Gravana ones are a single piece. I can't seem to find where 6 would go in the manual pictures.
"If you aren't shifting, then you certainly aren't driving!"
The other 2 big round ones are transmission mounts. The bushings that I mentioned at autozone are end link bushings, not control arm bushings (sorry)
I am still confused as to what I am seeing. There are two large ones in each set from both Gravana and Carcustoms. The difference is in the smaller ones. I thought that there were only two bushings per side to replace. One bushing goes parallel to the ground in the control arm and the other was attached to the motor mount. Is this incorrect? I just want to know why Carcustoms has 6 and Gravana 4.
"If you aren't shifting, then you certainly aren't driving!"
Ohhhh.... Duh. The smaller bushings come in two pieces that slide together. Gravana has them attached and Karo doesn't.
Hey Zach, thanks for all the info so far. I have not been able to find any D bushings. When you say "end link" bushing, you mean the main bushing for the control arm that is parallel to the ground? I just want to make sure I am on the same page with you. So where did you buy your D bushings?
"If you aren't shifting, then you certainly aren't driving!"
Types of custom polyurethane bushings available:
Control Arm Bushings - 2 bushings that replace the ones where the contral arm mounts to the subframe
D bushings - 2 bushings around the swaybar (in the middle)
End link bushings - 8 bushings attached at the ends of the swaybar to the control arm
Motor mounts - upper insert and lower replacement
Transmission mounts - 2 bushings, only available for 5 speeds
Rear axle - 2 bushings, replace whre the rear axle assembly mounts to the unibody
You can also find other universal type poly bushings for tie rods and ball joints.
