Anyone ever swap out the rear suspension bushings on a BC?

[Opie]

If so what do I need to know?

I've got new lateral link bushings and trailing arm bushings on the way, do I need any special tools? Anything "tricky" I should know about before I start? I'll be tackling this next Sunday (Dec 21) along with new struts, springs, strut mounts, and sway bar bushings. I've done struts and springs on over 11 GC Impreza's and 3 GD Impreza's already, but I've never touched the link bushings. Help if you can!

TIA

[Legacy777]

you may need a press of some sorts.....not sure.

I would like to one day replace all the old susp stuff....may even look into getting the sti aluminum control & trailing arms, and then upgrade to the whiteline adjust lat links.

[ciper]

Harbor Freight has a 20 ton press for 150$ .....

[HomeSlice]

or you could go to a shop and ask them to press them in and out for you. if you bring they parts im sure they will be down to do it off the car for not much money. some parts houses have a machine shop. call around.

[ciper]

Its pretty dumb not to get one. Most of us who do their own work end up needing a press enough times to pay for itself.

Besides, its like carrying a leatherman. You dont realize how bad you needed it until you start carrying one.

A press can be used for many different tasks. For example just recently I wanted to smash a trackball in half, worked great!

[Opie]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

If I had the room left in my garage for a press I would definitly go that route...but alas I only have a 1-car garage stuffed to the gills with my current tools, compressor a washer & dryer and still being able to fit my RS in it!

I think I will try a small hand held bushing press recomended by some of the guys over at NASIOC...if that doesn't work...I'll use Home Slice's advice and take the parts to my local shop and have them press them in.

[evolutionmovement]

Time to start moving tools into the kitchen then...

Steve

[Opie]

Just thought eveyone would want to know, I changed out 16 lateral link bushings over the weekend, 8 per car (4 Outer, 2 inner front & 2 inner rear) on the Legacy and my RS. It wasn't to bad of a job and only had to buy 2 new tools to do it....a 2 arm gear puller and a vise. That's right, a cheapy 2-arm gear puller (to press the old bushings out) and a 3.5" vise to press the new bushings in. The Impreza took 90 minutes on the passenger side and 2 hours on the drivers side due to a stripped bolt!

The Legacy was slightly more difficult due to the rusted bolts but only took about 4 hours. The bushings didn't push out quite as easily as my rust/salt-free florida Impreza, but they eventually came out. I had to clean some corrosion out of the hole the bushing sits in before pressing the new bushings in, and I used a little dish detergent as a lubricant. I also used a 32mm socket as the "recepticle" in the vice so the bushing edges could pop out the other side of the link.

I got the idea of doing it this way from: http://www.padandwheels.com/mr2/suspens ... hings.html

Not a bad days work at all!

[Legacy777]

That's not a bad idea. I know I really need to do new bushings. I've been debating on what to do. I think I'd like to get the aluminum control arms and trailing links with the stiffer bushings, but not sure how much that would cost. pretty sure we would use the same parts as the gc cars.

[Legacy777]

btw.....how much was the cost for bushings?

[Brat4by4]

http://www.rallispec.com/product-susp3.htm

[Opie]

btw.....how much was the cost for bushings?

I ordered the STi bushings (They were actually cheaper than the standard bushings!), and the Legacy bushings are the same as the GC bushings (I actually put the STi bushings in my Impreza and put the bushings I took out of the Impreza and put them in the Legacy!8) ).

Here's the part numbers I installed:

Lateral Link Bushings:
Rear Lateral Link INNER Bushing - ST2022044040 - 2 needed = $16.47 each
Front Lateral Link INNER Bushing - ST2022044030 - 2 needed = $14.82 each
Lateral Link Outer Bushing - ST2022044020 - 4 needed = $10.69 each

I also got the Trailing Link bushings but the front one needs a press to be installed (haven't had that done yet...) the rear one can be installed using the same method listed above.
Trailing Link Bushings:
Front - ST2022044000 - 2 needed = $20.60 each
Rear - ST2022044010 - 2 needed = $20.60 each

Hope that helps!

[Legacy777]

cool....thanks.....these may come in handy