AE92 suspension bushings + springs

[GeeEss]

Good Morning everyone,

I have decided to sweep a broom through the 18year old cobwebs of my cars suspension by replacing the bushings and springs.

Question: Can I replace the bushings in my AE92 without special tools? Please help. I have searched all suspension threads in Forums but can't dind anything on changing bushes. . . for anything, let alone an AE92.

I went down to Repco to get a bushing press & the 2 guys there didn't inspire a lot of confidence WRT their general knowledge - said I needed a 5tonne Pedestal press to do the job.

I have been quoted 10-11 hours labour @ $85+/hr which are $$$ I don't want to spend if I can avoid it, plus I want to make sure my parts are used instead of std parts (OK, Im paranoid) as I've got Superpro / TRD bits to put on it.

I have a Whiteline kit in my SX which I'm using as a template. On the whole the system is now quite good but the front end still bottoms out on sharp bumps or rises so I decided to try TRD units on the FXGT as they sit about 5-10mm higher.

The thing is, the car is getting a bit long on the tooth and you can't get all the TRD bits anymore;
- as far as bushes go, you can only get ones for the rear trailing arms, so I got the rest from Superpro.
- as far as springs, you can only get the fronts . . so I got'em.

Can I get someone like King Springs to make me up a set to spec, or can I take TRD ones down there and say I want rears made up with 90% of the rate??

Lastly - can I avoid having to purchase / use spring compressors?

Cheers

PS: What idiot came up with the saying "A good mechanic never blames his tools"? Its always infuriated me - the imbecile obviously never worked on a car himself.

GeeEss

[Talasas]

5tonne Pedestal press = no, mine is probably around 2 ton and I won't even come close to needing that sort of force. The press is the only special tool that you need (makes life much easier).

10-11 hours labour @ $85+/hr = n00b mechanic, it's no more than a 4 hour job to replace ALL the bushings and that's taking your time.

As for the bushings, where I want really hard ones I use Nolathane as they are rough as hell, that being said many people don't like Nolathane. Everywhere else I would use SuperPro and wouldn't waste my time and money with TRD rubber units.

You can do it without spring compressors especially if they are lowering springs, just maybe have a mate help out.

"A good mechanic never blames his tools" generally referes to the fact that you can't blame the tools for your own stupidity. If the tool fails, by all means blame it

[The Witzl]

Just out of interest... what are you looking at, cost wise, for a full set of suspension bushes for an AE92 SX..... in either SuperPro, Noltec, etc etc??

Just trying to price it all up, as some of the bushes on my gf's SX are well shagged.

[-GT-]

Karl, going on memory from when i did mine a couple of years ago they varied from about $20-$90/set depending on where they were for, ie swaybar bush will be cheaper than rear trailing arm bushes.

Edit: Yep , and control arm bushes are $40-$70, just checked the noltec site. I used a mix of noltec and superpro. If it's the mrs car, she'll definately be happier with the softer bushes, my car can be a little solid on some of sydney's more "character filled" roads. I don't complain though. Well, not about the car anyway.

[andy jay]

you can get a full set of superpro bushes from brad, pm him for favourable pricing

[Grega]

gee.ess
i'm about to write a doco on this
i did this today on my ae92 sedan and found i couldn't compress the springs enough so they'd sit right in their perches.
i'll take some pics to show during the week. not a fun job thats for sure.

[Talasas]

Brad isn't a member of these forums that I know of but you can PM me for this stuff and I can forward it on to him.

[thanhngo]

I used a vice and some big ass sockets to push out the old ones. Paid $50 to have my bushes pressed in - 4 lateral rods and 2 lower control arms. The TRD and they come with metal casing, didn't want to risk bodging them up with my ghetto methods.

[GeeEss]

Thanks everyone,

. 4 hours eh?? . . . So, the spannerman thought of a number & doubled it. How generous of him. . . .

I don't really have the time / inclination to go buy a 2 tonne press (how big are they / what do they weigh / how much can I pick one up for??) Can anyone recommend a mechanic in the Sutherland Shire to do this??.

Hard to find consensus on who makes good / bad springs. Need to get rears made to match TRD fronts. Asked Whiteline. They get theirs made by a Co in North Queensland - surely there’s a local outfit that can make a decent spring if given the specs - any suggestions (I’ve already heard King springs are crap / any other opinions on Lovell’s etc?)

Also doing a break upgrade at same time - very good section on that Shano2. Any suggestions on who to get 2 piston AE101brakes from at reasonable price, and who can machine disk diameter down to size???

GeeEss

[-GT-]

Any brake place or engineer/machinist will machine down the diameter for you. Not all will re-drill 5stud to 4 if you're getting new discs, so keep that in mind, best to always try and get blanks drilled to the stud pattern you want from the supplier.

As to springs, i'm of the opinion if you're giving them the specs you want, there'll be very little difference between places (assuming they get it right). It's just a bar of steel wound into a coil. Even if they use different types of steel and they have different torsional strengths you're specifying a k value anyway right? ie a certain amount of compression per kilogram of mass load. (Or the old way, where springs have a 'poundage', which is how much mass is required to compress it one inch(? i think?))

I think most of the opinion on what is a 'bad' spring or who makes them stems from the effect the new rate has on handling, how well matched the springs are to the car.

Have people had bad experiences with spring materials? Or fitment/tolerances i guess?

Getting the calipers at a reasonable price is patience, most import wreckers should have some, or they pop up occasionally in the classifieds.

Edit: Forgot to say, give Heasmans (Princes Hwy, Sydenham, tel (02) 9557 3739) a call re getting springs made. You might end up getting sold some custom Eibachs but they're a tops suspension place. They'll also be able to give you some good advice on just what rate you'll want to match to the fronts.

[Lachie]

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but K-mac will make springs to your specs, but I have no idea where their offices are!

And don't even think about changing your springs without spring compressors, thats one of the stupid things I've ever heard. That said, I took the springs out of a celica at u-pull-it without them, but thats casue the springs werent captive, but I wouldn't do it again.

One of the guys at my mates work is missing a tesicle becasue he didn't put a spring compressor on properly, I shit you not. He's lucky he got away without anymore damage

[-GT-]

You're other option is what i did: rang my local suspension place to ok it and give them some notice, and just took my struts down there and he swapped springs for me for free. They have a press-style spring compressor and it takes them only a few minutes to do all four struts, safely and easily.

Edit: Actually, no, that was installing my adjustable strut tops, but same thing.