Control arm bushing replacement - mega $$ !!??

[GEEMCB]

Hi, all

After reading the Garrett performance book which indicated that control arm bushes had about 100,000km worth of life, I've started investigating what's involved. My car is a 1990 with 160,000km & (as far as I can tell) original bushings.

Am planning on doing the arm removal & reinstall myself but getting someone (Stocks ?) to push out the old bushings & poke in the new ones. Most likely to go with rubber rather than nolathane or similar.

But - got prices from John Andrew Mazda today & got a fright too! A complete set of bushings (22 in all) would cost $906, or $770 with the 15% Club discount. Ouch. And that excludes labour to remove & replace the bushings from the arms plus any ancilliary bits & pieces that may be required. My time is obviously free too.

So - one wonders if it's worth it. The car seems to drive well, though there is the odd groaning noise from the rear sometimes. I just don't know whether I'm suffering from boiled frog syndrome - imperceptable deterioration over an extended time.

Has anyone bothered doing this ? Experiences ? Short of pulling everything apart, is there a way of testing for bushing condition ?

Regards,

[GEEMCB]

Done some more research ......

FWIW Stocks don't do bushing removal - was referred to any suspension workshop with a press.

Also got prices for the front control arms only. Seems that there are no kits for the rears.

If anyone wants to go the Superpro way, a full replacement on the front control arms (both sides) will cost just over $300 in bushings vs $200 (with Club discount) for OEM rubber. Any additional bits & pieces are on top of both prices of course.

Regards,

[brownie]

If anybodys still interested i have a add listed regarding front and rear kits.
Gauging intrest to see if worth buying in to order.
Thanks
Mark