Buttercup

Well I got mine today and when looking at it it does not look like bushings. As a matter of fact they are called mounting cushions (I guess you can call them bushings). I've done the rear and part of the front. The rear is easy, the front is taking so long because I have to take off the undercover, and there's another bracket you need to take off. The instructions given in the product are clear enough to use, but in order to follow the instructions you'll need a special socket tool (basically it allows you to twist open sockets at an angle) and you'll need something called loctite. My dad said loctite is some liquid used to keep screws from unscrewing itself. He said to use some nail polish since we don't have any loctite.

In my opinion, given that you have a repair manual, an easier method would be to take the whole front anti-roll bar off. This way you can mount the "bushings" on easier and you won't have to take that tough bracket off.

Here's the tools I am using:

1 jack
4 jackstands
rachet w/ 12mm socket and 10mm for undercover
special angle rachet?
creeper
torque wrench
goggles
repair manual
nail polish (loctite recommended)

I should be done soon and I'm going to have to take a test spin.

One HoT

iTrader: (5)

Are you talking about the sway bar bushings?

They are real simple install, it took my mechanic 10 mins for the whole process..

Buttercup

Well I don't have all the tools and my car is on jack stands, not a lift. Anyways I finished the setup and I can't believe how much dirt fell off the anti-roll (sway) bar. Well I took it for a short test drive; no big turns. The car is normal so that's good. I need more time to feel if it works. The original bushings seemed to be in perfect condition, however, the plastic is somewhat stiffer so theoretically it should work.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, I borrowed my cousin's camera and what do you know...no memory card.

Hopefully next weekend I'll get the front control arm bushings installed along with pictures. Now how the heck do you get a blow torch?

amati5

Buttercup,

Did you notice any difference in ride height (increased wheel gaps)? If it's not too much trouble, can you measure the distances from the ground to bottom of the fenders and post them after the car settles down.

I assume your car is not lowered.

I'd appreciate it.

Buttercup

I just drove to school and it's very hard to feel any difference. Still no squeaking.


To amati5:

I don't notice ride height increases. If it does it's probably because plastic is stiffer than rubber so the car wouldn't squeeze onto the bushings. For your car, it might be the control arm bushings. With plastic the control arm wouldn't sag compared to worn out rubber.

Well I checked the ride height for the driver's side only. The front is 67.5 cm and the back is 68cm. It's hard to tell if I measured straight down the middle, so allow 2 or 3 cm error. My car can just barely make it over the usual curbs in front of stores.

amati5

Cool, thanks Buttercup. That equivalents to somewhere 26.5 inches, just about as what I have on my car, 27 front and 26.5 rear. I can live with that.

Thanks again.