August is car work month for me. I bought a 94 Legacy SS this summer and need to swap out the stock bushings (Front Control arms, trailing arms, lower control arms, swaybars, steering rack, diff) and could use a hand in finding a local supplier of whiteline, energy suspension, or prothane bushings for the GC Impreza Chassis (forget about finding the legacy-specific set, it doesn't exist and the GC Impreza bushings fit on 99% of the parts). I'm also going to be putting on my AGX/GC coilover sleeves sometime in the next week or so and would love some company. Extra hands make light work, and beer makes wrenching fun. Therefore anyone who has some time during the week (I'm off from school and the kids start daycare, tomorrow) who would like to wrench on a 13-year old car are cordially invited to PM me. I have plenty of experience wrenching on my WRX (before I sold it) but have yet to crack a bolt on the Leggy. Thanks.
I've got the whole Energy Suspension kit in and most of the SuperPro bushings that finish what Energy started. You need to realise that poly bushings are kind of a high maintenance item. They need to be periodically re-lubed or they will destroy themselves. If you hear a poly bushing squeak, that is bad. You can actually get harder STi bushings for a very reasonable price. http://www.rallispec.com/prod_mount.htm The poly stuff is good for things that don't need to slide much, like the steering rack, tranny crossmember, and diff support bushings. When taking out the original factory stuff, an air hammer with a cutting tool is your freind on the front control arm bushings. The rear lateral link bushings really need a press, I used a hand press. A ball joint press will work too(they are the shiznit!). Bushings sound like no big deal untill you actually try to replace them all on a 14y/old car :eek3:
I recently got a 94 SS as well, if I was down in the area and not in Duluth I'd give you a hand. For sway bar bushings I'd make sure you have replacement bolts in hand as well. My 02 2.5rs rear sway bar bolts were siezed into the endlink so a 1994 is gonna be rusted a bit more.
I'm fully aware that replacing the bushings is going to be a PITA. I've got the entire month of August to do it, though. Thanks for the insight on the poly bushings, though. I had a number of poly bushings on the WRX (steering rack, ALK, Front/Rear swaybars) with no problems, but if there had been, it was an easy fix. (Minus the ALK, that thing was a cast iron beotch to put in). My thinking man's solution was to try a wrap of teflon tape on the bushings prior to putting them in like I did on the sway bars for GREAT results. However, STi bushings are also an option. I just don't like the idea of dropping $400-600 on bushings for a car I only spent $5k on... gotta pay to play, though. I'll call Rallispec and see what they have in stock. Thanks again.
Hmmmm. Teflon tape is a pretty sweet idea. How well did it work on the sway bar bushings? Did they ever squeak?
