Bushings??? HELP!

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trini14

New Member
Messages
16
Location
lauderhill, Florida
I have a problem guys....
Based on my research throughout the forum I think my Gs400 (182K on the clock)might have a bushing issue.

Symptoms--

Unstable steering at high speeds(over 50)
Steering feels like it is wandering when turning lanes at high speed
When making a U turn, I sometimes hear and feel clunking,

Also, when I lock the steering wheel in either direction and I look at the control arms, they seem fine but on both sides their is space in the bushing thats about the thickness of 3 or 4 Quarters(.25's)


I am very comfortable doing the bushing install as laid out by Lex in the Tutorial's, Its just that those installs were for an Ls, I believe it should be about the same, either way I will be documenting and posting the procedures when complete.

Am I on the right track? Please help!! Thanks Everyone
 
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All of the symptoms above are related to the bushings. Since your car has high mileage, it's time to replace the bushings. Rubber bushings will give you a smooth handling. Polyurethane will be harsh and squeaking sometime, too. The procedure to replace the bushings would be the same for most cars.

If you want to save a lot of time and some money, don't bother to burn the old worn out bushings. Take the whole control arms to a mechanic shop that has the hydraulic press and pay them to press out the old bushings and press in the new bushings (if the new bushings has metal shells that require pressing in). Otherwise, you'll still have to pay for a torch, a hand press, some big washers, and grease. I paid $30 for the shop labor to press out and press in the bushings for 2 lower control arms.

I had to work on my SC control arms for a total of 4 times and I learned the hard way.

The first time is using the known method by burning out the old rubber bushings and putting in new polyurethane bushing. It took 1.5 days.

The second time is re-greasing the polyurethane bushings because they squeak.

The third time is throwing out the polyurethane bushings (too harsh and squeaky) and pressing in new rubber bushings.

The fourth time is the old ball joints gave up, so I just bought brand new control arms.

I think no one went through that many troubles like I did.
 
Wow Steve, had no idea you were going through all that pain with bushings and ball joints.

Were the new control arms difficult to get?

So if someone is thinking they need bushings & ball joints, your recommendation is to replace the whole control arm directly?
 
Thanks Sooo Much for all the insight and guidance!! :) I'm not sure now if its the ball joints or the CArmBushings... Can anyone give me the slightest clue?


Symptoms-Steering is horrible! Especially in rain, low speed or high,it just feels like it wants to pull in its own direction. Braking is a bit unstable, and i dont really hear any noise coming from the suspension, whether the gs is going 30 or 80 or just idling, suspension is quiet, until It recieves some g forces. Or when underway just cruising the steering is fine, until it starts picking up the slightest imperfections from the road. PLz Help!
 
Jack up the car and look carefully into the bushings. You can check by trying to pry out the rubber. Also, shake the arms and see if it moves freely. If it moves freely, then the bushings are worn out.

At the same time, check the shock mounts and insulators.

The best way to check is to remove the arms outside and check. That's when you can inspect the bushings and the ball joints. If the ball joints are bad, then it rotates freely without much tension. I remember a while ago that the GS is known to have bad ball joints. And when they break, the whole side (arms, shock) goes down to the ground while driving.

Another possibility is the steering rack bushing can be bad.

If the alignment specs can't be corrected, or if they go out of specs after driving for a short time, then one of those bushings have to be bad.
 
Jack up the car and look carefully into the bushings. You can check by trying to pry out the rubber. Also, shake the arms and see if it moves freely. If it moves freely, then the bushings are worn out.

At the same time, check the shock mounts and insulators.

The best way to check is to remove the arms outside and check. That's when you can inspect the bushings and the ball joints. If the ball joints are bad, then it rotates freely without much tension. I remember a while ago that the GS is known to have bad ball joints. And when they break, the whole side (arms, shock) goes down to the ground while driving.

Another possibility is the steering rack bushing can be bad.

If the alignment specs can't be corrected, or if they go out of specs after driving for a short time, then one of those bushings have to be bad.


Thanks Steve!
I will be going through these procedures in the upcoming week!!
I will keep "US" posted
 
Steve, is your car lowered? If so, how do you compensate for the inner tire ware due to inability to adjust the camber enough to compensate?

Ryan
 
Yes. It's lowered by using Tein SS coilover. The alignment is still in spec, so I don't have camber wear issue. I don't know how much it's lowered comparing to stock height, but there's about 1 finger gap between the tire and fender. I'm running 245/35/19 Front and 285/30/19 Rear.
 


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