Changing suspension bushings - HARD

[mws]

So we spent the weekend rebuilding the suspension and steering on my newer (Transworld's old) '88 pathy with something over 200K miles. Desperately needed it. Replaced all 10 bushings in the rear, and all 8 up front. Most with Nissan OE parts. And most of the rear bushings in the '87 at the same time.

 

So is it just me, or are the stock Nissan bushing a complete bear to remove? I've done Chevy's, Fords, and BMW's over the years (nothing makes an old vehicle feel better than all new suspension!), and none required the degree of force and borderline violence to remove the old bushings that this critter required. They merely laughed at the effort applied by the 12 ton arbor press - which popped 3/4 ton Chevy and BMW bushings out in 5 seconds.

 

I had to resort to using my industrial grade IR impact hammer with a bushing splitter bit and a WHOLE lot of encouragement and cursing to get them out. Basically shredded the shells (cut them lengthwise) to get them to budge. Like 5-10 minutes of constant hammering per. All the joints in my arms STILL hurt from the hours of impact hammering. And my ears are still ringing...

Edited July 5, 2006 by mws

[88pathoffroad]

It's not just you. Every bushing I've changed has fought me tooth and nail, pretty much.

[cdhicks99]

Anyone make urethane bushing kits?

[88pathoffroad]

AC has a line on the rear axle control arm bushings, Energy suspension makes bumpstops in most any size you need as well as UCA/LCA bushings, swaybar endlink bushings and tension rod bushings. Martin: which ones could you find that were poly?

[mws]

I used the poly bushings that came with the Rough Country UCA's and used Energy Suspension poly donuts on the rear end of the front lower control arms (tension rods) - mainly because they were cheaper than OE. Oh, and ES bump stops as well.

 

The front bushing on the front lower control arms, 100% of the rear control arms and panhard rod, and all sway bar bushings remain OE rubber - as I prefer. They were about $12 to $16 each as I recall. New rubber bushings are much stiffer than old, rotten, torn up rubber and my experience is that just replacing them with OE replacements gives unbelievable improvements in suspension control and feel. Literally makes the vehicle ride like it was brand new again. As it should!

 

In looking at the thin sections of rubber used by Nissan, I predict they would be so close to poly in stiffness that the only significant way we could tell a difference is in noise.

 

I think there would also be benefits to use poly bushings in the upper (inner) rear control arm if the truck is modified to provide significantly more suspension travel in the rear without lengthening the arms. The relatively short arms require the bushings to twist quite a ways, and that would be hard on rubber bushings.

Edited July 6, 2006 by mws