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Was trying to diagnose what the clunking noise is in my front left corner and I find this.... wonderful. Is what I'm looking at the rearward front control arm resting on the stay mount? Here I thought the issue would be with the forward front control arm bushing. I'm guessing replace the stay mount also?
If the sedan is like the coupe front lower (rearward) control arm, the cross brace must be removed in order to access the compression rod bushing. You will have to drop the whole brace and then the arm should slide off.
Performance will be greatly improved after replacing that arm though, that's for sure. Make certain to spray penetrating oil into all bolts/nuts a day ahead of time.
I don't know if it is the same as I don't see anything that needs to be removed to access it. I have heard that getting the old bushing can be a pain in the **** however....
The compression rod bushing completely failed. The only thing saving you from destination fvcked is the lower chassis brace holding the arm in place. Whatever you're calling the "stay mount" is fine. Replace the compression rod and you'll be fine.
My advice to anyone if you see one or two bushings cracked on these cars, Replace the whole entire suspension on both sides. Once you start nearing 80k-100K++ miles almost everything has gone to crap. Even if you hear no noises replace replace replace. The handling from worn suspension parts degrades so slowly over time, that you don't even notice how sloppy it has become until you replace the suspension with brand new parts and realize how much handling and control has been restored.
Another thing I noticed on mine is that when you replace one suspension part (i.e compression rods) the stiffness from that new compresison rod causes other sloppy soft bushings to wear even faster. I noticed this after I replaced the compression rods first, more noises slowly started to develop over the next few months. And to my surprise all the other bushings were starting to develop cracks.
And finally if you are replacing one part, you might as well replace everything else while you have everything aparts down there.\
My suspension rebuild list:
Inner Tie Rods
Outer Tie Rods
Lower Balljoints on Knuckle
Lower Control Arm Bushings Inner and Outer
Compression Rod Arms
Upper Control Arms (Wishbone or "A" Arm)
Front and Rear Shocks
Connecting Stabilizer Rod on Lower Control Arm (AWD ONLY)
Endlinks
Front Shock Top Mounts and Bushings
I probably spent somewhere north of $1.1K. Money well spent for the crazy increased handling, better even tire wear, no more noises, etc. You will get more peace of mind for another 100K miles too.
I went with some aftermarket and some OEM. Depends on what brands offered which parts. For aftermarket brands I tend to stay with Moog or Dorman. Stay away from Mevotech and Mas. Check out Rockauto and InfinitiPartsUSA!!
Agreed to do most of it at once ^, but it takes a hell of a lot of time. It makes a HUGE difference in every day components. I have poly and there is no squeaks with the proper grease.
I think I spent $170 on the bushings and $60 on the reman comp-rods with energy bushings pressed in. I had to replace a wheel bearing too. Ended up doing the diff subframe bushing at that same time. Huge huge huge drivability difference.
Fire0nic3........may I ask if there's any particular reason why you would stay away from the Mevotech/Mas brand parts? I'm in the market for new control arms and was actually looking at the Mevotech arms from Rockauto. I understand that different people have different opinions and experiences with parts, so I'm just curious to know yours. Thanks in advance!
