Bushing replacement in high mileage cars

[Interflop]

Are there any bushings that are worth replacing in a car that has some mileage on it? I'm approaching 125k miles and curious if there's anything I should bother replacing as far as bushings go since I feel like it's an overlooked component.

I haven't found any information on this and I've been curious.

[Racecomp Engineering]

I'm working on a post about this kind of thing.

Short version is to check anything that's rubber and anything that moves.

Definitely look at:
front control arm bushings (especially the bigger one)
front top mounts
transmission mount
rear endlinks
tie rods and ball joints


- Andrew

[DarkPira7e]

Don't forget that your suspension itself takes a lot of abuse! Even after about 60k miles, my stock suspension had about had it ( granted, I've thrashed my car) I'm replacing it with new performance pack dampers, but anything OE would be awesome and give the car new life.

[norcalpb]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I'm working on a post about this kind of thing.

Short version is to check anything that's rubber and anything that moves.

Definitely look at:
front control arm bushings (especially the bigger one)
front top mounts
transmission mount
rear endlinks
tie rods and ball joints


- Andrew

I’m curious about the front control arm bushings myself. I have 150k miles on my car and they look and feel completely fine. But I’m wondering if the (vulcanized?) rubber loses some of its firmness over time, even without showing any visual wear.

[grumpysnapper]

Suspension bushes do a lot of hard work and my car does rough roads often, so I renewed all of my (standard) rubber bushes at 30000km when I installed new dampers.

Its not that difficult or expensive, and it is a small price to pay to get the suspension back to near factory fresh.

Its also a good excuse to have a good look/inspection at what's happening down there, and to get your alignments into shape

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by norcalpb

I’m curious about the front control arm bushings myself. I have 150k miles on my car and they look and feel completely fine. But I’m wondering if the (vulcanized?) rubber loses some of its firmness over time, even without showing any visual wear.

Rubber hardens over time which is one of the reasons that it cracks, along with drying out and fatigue.

That being said the front control arm bushing is a pain in the ass to swap. No easy way to hold it level.

[skylinekin]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Rubber hardens over time which is one of the reasons that it cracks, along with drying out and fatigue.

That being said the front control arm bushing is a pain in the ass to swap. No easy way to hold it level.

Can always just buy the whole control arm assembly from the dealer

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by skylinekin

Can always just buy the whole control arm assembly from the dealer

You don't say

J/K I decided to give the Whiteline antidive kit a try. So I had to swap them with stock.

[Grady]

Originally Posted by skylinekin

Can always just buy the whole control arm assembly from the dealer

Yes check into this if you are putting stock back in. Even if you have a press they can be a pain. The extra cost may not be that much and save you some time.

For the original question. Shocks and bushings degrade slow you wont notice anything is wrong. After 100k miles if you replace all bushing and shocks you can make you car feel like it is new again.

[ML]

this is what you want: https://energysuspension.com/product/catalog

I have changed every bushing on the car with their kits and I'm at 120k miles.

[Mr.ac]

Oem or aftermarket as long as it gets replaced it will feel brand new.
Depending on how much abuse or even driving hard on the track or even bad roads will ware out the suspension quickly.

If I had the money to spend I would get that done.