im doing the kit on my 91 n/a...looking for some pointers or any tips that may help me out along the way...and does any one know if you can do the front crontrol arm bushings without pulling the arm all the way out...and sway bar with out pulling end links...please keep in mind your help only make me faster!!!

 

You need to pull of every single control arm. How would you get the control arm in a vise or press if it's still attached to the car? For the front control arms the rear bushings need to eb cut off with a hack saw carefully.

Good luck. I spent all winter putting the bushings in. It is by far not an easy task.

 

The end links were the easiest part, just take out the 2 bolts and swap out the bushings. I burned out the old ones, cleaned up the parts, then pressed the new ones end with my hands.

For the control arms, I just took the parts off the car and took it to a shop for them to replace the big bushings.

 

i did energy suspension end links sway bar links very easy to install i think i paid $60 for the set, its realy tight now i recomend them

 

I did the full kit allong with the DTSS elimnator bushing. Also, while you have the subframe down I would highly recommend replacing the rear differential mount. It is a mater of time before it breaks. And it is major PITA to get it replaced.

I ended up removing and installing the suspension/rear subframe my self...but took the parts to a shop to have them pressed in / out.

James

 

I just did the control arm, end links and sway bar bushings in the front of my TII vert earlier this week. I took a total of about 3 hours. It's really not that hard. To get the bushings out I just put the control arm in a vise and gave the bushings like three hard wacks with hammer. The Large bushing on the back of the control arm was the hardest, but it came off easily once I decided to use my dremel to cut through it. The energy bushings push in by hand.

 

i second that i would do the rear suspension to i welded my front mount for my diff i put a rubber snubber above the mount i have no wheel hop or broken mounts for the past 2 years , you will eventually break the mount because the rubber is old and worn simply weld 2 sides of it then your all set the snuber prevents the travel of the mount to a safe minimum

 

Could you further elaborate on the results of the pinion snubber, both posititve and negative. Is it even usefull if you welded the diff mount?

 

I bought a solid steel front diff mount on ebay, they cost like $65. I might be cheaper to have it welded, but I don't have to use a (snubber?) with mine.

 

The reason I have a snubber is because if you do a heavy launch the mount may pop out the 2 slots and bend the plate straight its just an extra precaution which only cost $6 while I was putting in the mount I said I might as well but 2 years later and heavy launches its still fine

 

no one els ... come on ... all these s5s. in the house and thats it?

 

Here's my two bits worth of advice. You have to remove the parts. In the front, it's not that big of a deal. Put the car up on jack stands, remove the end links and drop the sway bar. Then remove the control arms. The sway bar bushings are drop in. You don't do anything to the links on a S5. For the front control arms i used a vise to remove the front bushings. I cut a hole in a 2x4 with the right size hole saw so I had a hole to push the bushings into. Then I used a socket just smaller than the bushing to push it out into the 2x4. Works great. The new bushings are easy to install just follow the directions. For the rear bushings on the front control arms, take a knife and cut the rubber to expose the steel band underneath. I used a Dremel with a cutting wheel to cut through the band. Then I took the knife and finished cutting through the rubber. The bushing come off by hand at that point. The new ones are easy.

For the rear, you're into real work. You have to drop the subframe. I just dropped the whole rear in one piece, subframe and differental all together. You'll have to look at the FSM. It's not that bad, just takes time. I drilled holes in the old control arm bushings, carefully so you don't mess up the control arms. Then you can push them out like the from ones. The new ones slide in easy, but i had a hard time getting them to stay in tight enough to remount the control arms on the sub frame. The bushing kept sqeezing out. I had to use a big C clamp to hold them and work them back into the subframe.

Basically, the front is easy, a few hours work. The rear is hard, a day or two's work! Just follow the ER directions and it will be fine.