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So got ALL the parts in finally. Heading down to garage in the morning to put it all back in. Any advice on getting everything to sit right? For instance, do I set it all down before tightening it all up? I am doing sway bar bushings first, then struts (and mounts), upper and lower control arms, and then drop links. I assume if I tighten the control arms while in the air, they will not be happy when lowered...
And thanks to Dogwood and Stringbag for the answers to the sway bar bushing question.
Fingers crossed!! Stay safe everyone. Crazy times...
All the new shiny bits...!
make sure you mark the lower control arm (cammed) bolts, so that you know what position they were in when you take them off, it;s possible to put the bolts back in the wrong way and then you wont be able to get the wheels aligned correctly
I marked them (the oblong washer positions) with a sharpie before removing, but that was it... hope that was enough??
One note: I had a local shop (Les Shwab) press the new bushings in (and old ones out) to the lower control arm. They charged me $130...! Couldn't get a second opinion thanks to everything being closed to do Covid, but it seemed like a ton of money.
Anyway, still saving a ton of cash doing it this way. Thanks again!
Have you got the workshop manual?
Very handy if you have not.
Drop links need to be tightened with the wheels at normal position (use a second jack under the wheel).
No so sure about the arms.
Have you got the workshop manual?
Very handy if you have not.
Drop links need to be tightened with the wheels at normal position (use a second jack under the wheel).
No so sure about the arms.
Thanks for the link! I don't have the manual but seems like I can get it from your post (not thru mobile..). Thanks again!
Got the sway bar bushings in. Recommend putting the very back bolt in (on each side) and then place the bushing and bar. While my wife was holding up the passenger side, I was able to get the lower bushings in, and lift the "pan" to get the other bolts in. Pretty easy.
Quick tip: Make sure ALL EIGHT bolts are started. I had 7 of them in (loosely) but had to tap the pan with a mallet to get the 8th one to line up. Now moving on to the struts!
Many thanks to Ciaka and everyone else who has supplied this great information. After much study, I have completely dis-assembled and the parts are worn as exactly as described.
Rather than replacing the complete upper control arm assembly, does anyone have the Lemforder part numbers for just the bushing? My upper control arms have no damage besides the bushing.
They look identical so 1 part number x 4 quantity should do it? I have had no luck finding on the forum (I could have missed it) and after speaking to the guys at FCP they could not locate either.
I just did the upper control arm (and air strut) replacement on our '12 GTS with a little over 48k miles. Boy does it feel great on the road. (Thank you for the wonderful write up @ciaka , as well as all others who shared their experience)!
You can tell that the upper arm needs replacing by trying to move it. If it will easily move to a new position it likely needs replacing. When I put in the new one and tightened to spec it sits firmly in place, very hard to move it and it rebounds back to where you tighten it. I applied some silicone anti squeak spray on the bushings and ball joint. I actually have a pair of the Siberian bushings but since the ball joint is built in I didn't want to regret if that failed on me. I got my UCA from AutoZone btw. I'll let you guys know how it works out, so far very good!
Siberian bushings makes some polyurethane bushings that fit, part number is actually for a Cayenne tho. (I made my own poly bushings :-) )
Finally getting ready to handle this replacement (at least order parts). In looking at the Siberian parts can you confirm which body style (92A)? I see they only have the LCA bushings available as well, but I figure I might as well do all while in there and get the UCA ones done as well.
PM coming as well, but figured I'd post in this thread.
