Can one judge the condition of bushings by inspection? If the bushings pass the visual would there be a benefit in loosening the bolts, cleaning the threads and retorquing? This is my 86 SS with around 70K miles.
Visual Inspection Chassis Bushings
- Thread starter ed1948
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the rubber bushings have passed their life expectancy so I would change them. It's better to do it while they look to be in decent shape so you can treat the bolts and the area around the bolts and bushings when you put them back in
I do agree with pontiacgp, but if all you want is to pass a visual inspection Id say they don't look bad. They look to be in good condition. The washers are not rusted and the rubber dose not look cracked or torn. Cleaning the bolt threads have no benefits. By removing them your probably going to get into a bit more work than you thought of at first. Want to keep them on I'd say ok. Want to change them, great. But you don't want to remove the bolts and put the old bushings in.
I didn't meant to imply to reinstall the original bushings. I think it's a good idea to remove the bolts and replace the bushings so you can stop any rust from continuing it's destruction.
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Nope, they can look fine on the outside when completely rotted out on the inside. The factory body mount bushing have sheetmetal inserts that like to completely rust out into powder, leaving the bushing hollow. Worse yet these inserts tend to rust the frame mounting holes out to, requiring you to lift the body off the frame to weld in repair washers. It is very common for the passenger side number 2 frame mount hole to be badly rusted out and requiring welding. The bottom picture looks bad with the crusty bolt and washer, likely frame rust damage there. It isn't the miles with body bushings, just time, they good bad from the passing of time instead of wear.
Just to let you know that it Is a pretty big job for a weekend warrior to change out all of those bushings. Also as other mentioned, you'll likely have some metal repairs to do once you get into the job. The last time that I changed out the bushings on a Gbody (years ago) it took me the good part of a weekend to get the job accomplished.
It is a big job, but the longer you wait the worse it will get like a decayed tooth pull. Bad body bushings can cause stress cracks in the body plus you don't want to be relying on rotted frame metal to keep your car together. It is a mess we all must face sooner or later.
I found a great diagram of the bushings over at turbo Buick and I'm now thinking that my Regal is missing a few of the bushings for some reason? My car is all stock for the most part and has been in the family since new. Can't really explain it. Where can I purchase replacement bushings?
Sorry for the hijack.
Sorry for the hijack.
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