I replaced all the body bushings with the red poly Energy kit today. I was really surprised to see that my wagon had the factory #5 bolt-less bushings. I guess they weren't only for the handling package cars? Anyways, the kit seems great with one exception. I had to run to the hardware store for (2) 2" OD 3/4" ID washers. All else in the kit was correct, but instead of the washers above there were (2) 2" OD 7/16" ID washers. Anyways, the car definitely feels more attached to the chassis/road. One thing that made me happy was its was apparent the more frontward bushings were more worn, and after being done it took away some of the rake my car had which I wanted.
Can anyone name me the sizes for the bushing bolts? I was able to remove all of mine without breaking any bolts or cage nuts (whew) but a few of them weren't great and I might as well do them all.
To anyone preparing to do this I will offer a few tips:
1)Hit the bolts and bushings at least a few times over a few days with penetrating lube before going to remove everything.
2)Do either drivers side or passengers side first; leave the bolts on the opposite side barely threaded in.
I supported my car with jackstands on the frame rails, positioned in a way where they wouldn't make bushing removal difficult.
3)Threading the front-most bolts on my car required using the floor jack to lift the front crossmember/frame up.
4) Fully loosen the fan shroud and associated hose loop brackets etc, and remove the battery from the car.
5)Most importantly! The one trick I found that made everything speed up is the following: Do all the top halves first (of each bushing). The trick is to use round objects like screwdrivers to keep the bushings aligned while the body is being set back down on the frame rails! Everytime the body was getting set down the washers were sliding all over the place requiring many re-do's. Once I realized I should just do all the tops and use extensions/screwdrivers to keep everything straight it was easy.
The first side took me I won't tell you how long, the second side took maybe 20 minutes...
Can anyone name me the sizes for the bushing bolts? I was able to remove all of mine without breaking any bolts or cage nuts (whew) but a few of them weren't great and I might as well do them all.
To anyone preparing to do this I will offer a few tips:
1)Hit the bolts and bushings at least a few times over a few days with penetrating lube before going to remove everything.
2)Do either drivers side or passengers side first; leave the bolts on the opposite side barely threaded in.
I supported my car with jackstands on the frame rails, positioned in a way where they wouldn't make bushing removal difficult.
3)Threading the front-most bolts on my car required using the floor jack to lift the front crossmember/frame up.
4) Fully loosen the fan shroud and associated hose loop brackets etc, and remove the battery from the car.
5)Most importantly! The one trick I found that made everything speed up is the following: Do all the top halves first (of each bushing). The trick is to use round objects like screwdrivers to keep the bushings aligned while the body is being set back down on the frame rails! Everytime the body was getting set down the washers were sliding all over the place requiring many re-do's. Once I realized I should just do all the tops and use extensions/screwdrivers to keep everything straight it was easy.
The first side took me I won't tell you how long, the second side took maybe 20 minutes...