bman Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I had my tires balanced and when I picked up the car the guy said my front control arm bushing was torn. I asked which side and he said "the front one" and looked at me as if I didn't know what I was talking about. I have to admit that I don't know much about control arms but, I know there's at least two bushings on each side of front control arms. So here are my questions: When should I replace the bushing?Should I just replace them all?What's a good value bushing? OEM? Polyurethane? Is this something I can do in my driveway? I've read that I can replace some of the bushings myself but, I need a press. I don't know\trust the garages around me so can I just tap them in\out with a BFH? Thanks, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmx045 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 99% of the time it's the circular rear bushings on the control arms. you'll see them when you turn the wheel. the oem bushings last about 50-60k it seems before they rip and start to lightly clunk. whiteline and avo make poly replacements that seem to last quite a bit longer than oem. the oem bushings are literally $9 each, retail, that's how quality they are. here are the whitelines: http://www.fredbeansparts.com/index.php/whiteline-legacy-gt-standard-anti-dive-kit.html the avo ones are also on that site. if you plan on keeping the car, get the whitelines or avo. you will NOT regret it, the ride and steering will vastly improve as well. you can remove the control arms in your driveway if you want, but will need a decent press to get them out, take them to a local garage or the dealer and one of the techs can press them out in about 5min and new ones in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk222 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 ^Yeah what BMX said! That is by far the easiest way unless you have the proper tools. Polyurethane FTW!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thanks for the recommendations guys! How urgent is the replacement for a "cracked" control arm bushing? You're alright for the moment but, sometime soon you're gonna be stuck.This is fine until you see\feel\hear other signs that it's time to change it. is it #1 or #2? I have a dealer (CitySide) within 1mile of me. How much do you think they'll charge to press out\in new poly bushings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk222 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Got any friends at a local service station?? It's so easy to do with the right tools. Offer to buy the guy lunch or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 So is this something that can wait or do I need to replace them immediately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexjapan Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 It's not a no.1 priority to replace right away. The worst that will happen is that it will fail completely, and you will hear some major clunking from the front, and have some steering issues. The chances of that happening in the short term are probably a bit less than, say, a tire blowout at speed. The main issue with that bushing being torn is that you will/already have steering issues. That's because the front lower control arms mainly rest on that bushing and one more bushing in the front of the lower control arm. The rear bushing, the torn one, allows it to move around in several different directions. This affects toe, and you will probably have noticed having to do a lot of steering correction when cornering, and possibly steering correction in straight line when encountering bumpy roads. Regards, Paul Hansen http://www.avoturboworld.com http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERBU Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Just an FYI- Subaru allows a 15mm long tear in the bushing. Anything over that will not pass inspection. You will be fine and eventually start hearing a clunk over small bumps when driving slow. I went through this at 45K miles. I have 84K now and they are torn pretty good again. I may go with aftermarket next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Thanks avo\paul and superbu for the info. I'm noticing tiny corrections while cornering but, I can't tell if it's the bushing or the road surface. I'm looking into my options but, I'm in no hurry. Thinking poly but, I've read some posts about those bushings walking out or self-destructing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexjapan Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 That's why we've got a lip on the top of our steel sleeve, to prevent the control arm from popping off them. Had some (unnamedothermanufacturer) bushings on customers race cars in Japan way way back, and found out the control arms would pop up and off under extreme loads (becauseracecar). I've been using (and selling) these types of LCA bushings since, 2005? There's a *lot* of poly bushings out on a lot of cars, you'll hear about occasional issues because of that. Regards, Paul Hansen http://www.avoturboworld.com http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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