Replacing BOTH upper and lower Control Bushings and balls joints in 1991 Grand Marqui

[stinkydogfilms]

How hard is it to do it myself?
How much should I pay to have someone else do it?
Where can I buy the control arms with the new ball joint attached?
Are the rear control arm bushings easier or should I pay to have it done too?

Are there any performance replacement ball joints and control arms as well as other front linkage parts?

Many thanks again,
M

[Lincolnmania]

1: not hard if you have all the right tools and know how and you need alot of grunt.......tools you will need......floor jack, jack stands, pliers, large wrenches, big hammer, pickle fork (optional if you know how to swing the bfh) punches, ball joint press, internal spring compressor. grinder or cutting wheel or chisels
using the energy suspension bushings is much easier than trying to press out the original shells and pressing in new bushings and shells, the es bushings only come with inner sleeves, what you do is burn the rubber out of the original outer sleeves and clean em up and install the poly bushings

2: dont know what most shops would charge, i usually get a minimum of 400 bucks for labor for bushings and ball joints, it's alot of time and effort

3: no where that i know of, ford used to sell the complete arms with bushings and ball joints but when they were available they were really pricey

4: doing a set of rears right now on a members car, they are a pain too, especially if the bolts get rusted fast to the inner sleeves like happened with this car.......needed heat from the oxytorch just to get the nuts loose, it all depends on where you are at and the extent of the rust on the car, but on every car i've done the rears on, at least one bolt was stuck, this can eat up shop time

5: only performance goodies are the energy suspension bushings, look up a 92 crown victoria, you want the non police front set, the rear set fits the boxes also
replace the idler arm and pitman arm and the tie rod ends if they have any play in them

[sly]

*takes notes*

it cost me nearly a grand for a regular shop to do the front end of the vic... and that was replacing with OE style bushings. (I don't go to that shop any more)

and this was JUST the lower control arms. and one tie rod end.

[87gtVIC]

*faints*

[91waggin]

*takes notes*

it cost me nearly a grand for a regular shop to do the front end of the vic... and that was replacing with OE style bushings. (I don't go to that shop any more)

and this was JUST the lower control arms. and one tie rod end.

Fuckers

[Lincolnmania]

you know where to come next time slymer........Scott's automotive and bed and breakfast. (theres milk and cereal here, help yourself lol)

[1987cp]

Scott's automotive and bed and breakfast.

That's great! You need to change your user tagline now, Gramps.



But yes, listen to Scott. He's done probably dozens of these, and he, Thain, and mrltd were all very helpful when I was working on mine. From my point of view, the job was easy but time-consuming, the hard parts being digging out the upper bushings, which for me didn't just shoot out when heated like the lowers did, and drilling/grinding the rivets if your upper balljoints are still original.

[marquisman]

the only shop you can go to for auto repairs and vacation at the same time. also, you will never want to leave lol

[1987cp]

also, you will never want to leave lol

Aside from being 50 jillion miles away, that's one of my concerns about visiting there!

[91waggin]

I've been thinking about a second cross-country roadtrip in my wagon to go see Scott for quite awhile. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could afford it. I really really want a rear window wiper.

[87_crown_vic]

depending on settlement from work comp... will be out probly in both our cars... would like to help Scott some... might be for SF11 or just during summer as a visit/vacation if Angie can get time off of werk

[stinkydogfilms]

Got the quote for the front end work

I Went to the usual mechanic when the going gets tough. I do not have enough time in my life to do the time consuming work anymore. The mechanic quoted me $472.00 parts and labor to replace BOTH UPPER control arm bushings and BOTH UPPER ball joints. His labor rates are $70.00 per hour. I think the price is a fair price. He will use Energy Suspension bushings in the control arms.

Is there a special part number for the 1991 GM upper control arm Energy Suspension bushings anyone know of?

I probably will replace both the front and rear lower control arm bushings in the next step after the first.

BTW, I just got the 15 x 8's (painted black) on the car with BFG 245/60/15's. Looks awesome lowered with the fat tire look. I will be uploading the pictures of the Ford 15 x 8 inch steel rims. I found out the rims came from Holman Moody out of South Carolina and not from Ford.


Thank you all for the replies.

[Lincolnmania]

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=4.3150

for a 92, trust me they work, no listing for the box panther

[1987cp]

To Scottmang you listen, his suspension-bushing advice fur civvie Box control arms has been verified by many to be infallible!

Might want to make sure your mechanic is up to date on the recommended installation method, as he might be used to pressing the bushing shells out of the control arms, and that's exactly what he must not do unless he's planning to obtain new bushing shells separately (ES doesn't provide them; Scott's method is to reuse the old shells, and it works good).

[PICKUP6772]

On a side note. When I get around to doing the Merc, to save time,and keep the car off the road as little as possible, I will be grabbing an extra set of upper, and lower arms. I'm going with the BB swap, so everything will be removed, replaced, cleaned, and painted before the car hits my lift at work. I only have the Merc as transport, so it's needs to be down in the shortest period of time.
MIKE