Hey i had my energy suspension master set for a while now and really want to throw them on. I checked the 2nd Gen Archive and couldnt find anything related to this.

What will i need to properly install and replace all the bushings listed in the ENERGY SUSPENSION master set

Front Arm Control Arm Bushing Set
Rear Control Arm Bushing Set
Front Sway Bar
Rear Sway Bar
Front and Rear End LInks
Tie Rod end boot
Ball Joint boot

I got a price quote to install all my bushings done by a mechanic. The price was $300.

SO should i do it myself or pay $300.

TO be quite honest i rather do it myself so i can get more familiarized with my baby. Plus she likes it when i touch her =)

Jason NYC

 

sorry to say but it will be better to pay someone to do it, if you dont have the right tools and patiance then my wells forget it. I looked at them when replacing my whole suspension setup............said nah noway am I gonna try it. Paid my garage 600 usd to do the whole job(shocks,springs, and all bushings include 2 alignments plus camber adjustors for rear). That was just for labor, I had everything else.

 

I'm not sure about all of them, without seeing what bushings you're talking about, but most of those are very easy to change.

You unscrew a couple bolts, pull the old one off, put the new on on, screw the bolt back in... after hitting a curb earlier this year I got a lot of experience with taking suspension parts off.

 

Cuz i can do my shocks/springs myself , i want to get the bushings in, then do suspension then go for another alignment.

Ill get under the car this weeekned and see where everything is situated then see if i think i can do it myself. The reason i was considering doing it myself is cause i dont have $300 to spend. ANd i like working on my car

Thanks

Jason NYC

 

Keep us posted. I'm gonna have to do my bushings some time this summer and would prefer to get dirty myself.

 

the only hard part of the bushings is, well, first of all, the old bushings are extremely hard to get out of the control arms. if you don't have a hydrolic press, you'll probably want to take the control arms to the shop and have them press out the old ones, and the new ones in. you 'could' probably use a torch or something and melt them out, but IMHO, having them pressed out is a better idea.
also, for the rear control arms, you will have to lower the subframe a bit. not take it all the way off, just drop it down a couple inches. it can be kinda tricky, esp. to line it back up.

other then that, bushings aren't to hard to do. I'd think you would be able to do them without too much trouble.

 

If it's your daily driver and you're looking for a quick turnaround, I wouldn't do it. I did it myself, but it wasn't my DD and I had the ENTIRE suspension & subframe off the front & back of the car & disassembled.

It's doable -- even without a hydraulic press. I did mine by just borrowing a front end tool kit from Advance with several sizes of pulley pullers, etc. Air tools, impact gun, several socket sizes, etc. It's all possible -- and I used no torch to burn/melt anything. But, it is a time consuming job to do it right, so as I mentioned, if you're looking for a quick turnaround, I'd just take it and have it done by a reputable shop. If you're willing to take your time and have your car down for a period and gain the experience, go for it.

 

BAM, best advice right there. You can do some of them Sway Bars, Endlinks and stuff like that before you go if you want the experience. And it might save you some money.

 

Pay up. I had mine done for $350 in the Bronx. The mechanic, with all the tools available, took a while to do it and broke a few bolts that had to be drilled out and retapped. I gladly gave him the $350 after all was said and done.

 

WTF?

A couple of bolts?

The whole rear end has to drop...it was a PITA to do the work. I spent prob 2-3 days.

I didn't even try the bushings. I just took the control arms front and rear to a shop and they did the work. I think they charged 200 for all off the bushings (Front control, rear control, DTSS)

Also, while you have the rear end down you should consider replacing the rear diff mount with a comp mount and put in a pinon snubber while you have it down.

To me 300 sounds cheap

James

 

I did the bushings my self and i have to say the hardest part was dropping the rear sub frame but if you dont have the tools to do it then i would pay the $300. Its not a bad price.

 

LOL!!! I don't need to add anything else....I'll just help out with some pics of mine, currently undergoing rebuild, that's how the rear looks like when it's ready to replace all rear bushings.