suspension - what else is there?

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by olopezm

When you replaced the struts, did you inspect/replace the strut mounts too?

By strut mount do you mean the top plate, or the base at the steering knuckle?

[northern piper]

Ya I agree about the sway bar bushings. I've done those a total of 2 times now on both sides of course. The pair I'm going to do today have no apparent wear on the passenger side; drivers has a bit but not significant. I know in the past how much (when worn worse mind you) of a difference new bushings make.

About 2 years ago I replaced inner/outer tie rods, lower control arms, sway bar links, installed new monroe struts/springs assembly, new balanced tires...then had my trusted shop do the alignment. Feather in my cap they said it was within spec by the analogue method of years gone by, but by computer needed a tiny bit of tweaking. I felt pretty good. I suppose I could have replace the whole rack but it seemed ok then (and now).

So, judging by the newness of those components and the fact that the van only has 185,000 km on it, I'm really leaning towards the other rubber components I haven't changed... I'll let y'all know when I finish the sway bar bushings how it feels.

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by northern piper

So, judging by the newness of those components and the fact that the van only has 185,000 km on it, I'm really leaning towards the other rubber components I haven't changed... I'll let y'all know when I finish the sway bar bushings how it feels.

I'm quite interested in your results, I just noticed today while changing wheels that sway bar bushings on the passenger side are in poor shape, as is the control arm. Ball joint is damaged, no wonder steering felt weird lately.

[northern piper]

so just following up, I ended up not changing the sway bar bushings. I'll likely need to at some point so I'm not unhappy that I bought them. When I compared the new to the old, there was very little difference. I'm glad as I changed them around 15,000 km ago so not super long. I checked LCAs, struts, springs, tie rods, sway bar links, hubs. Everything seems pretty good. Where Ford did the recall on the front sub frame the bottom donut bushing looks new, the top - dunno. The motor mounts look their age but I don't know if it's worth doing the whole motor assembly lowering. I think I'm gonna see how things shake out over the next week or so and then decide.

Typically it's the passenger side that takes the beating on suspension, my findings anyway. As potholes seem to be on the curb side of the road I think this is the major contributor. When I've replaced components, which I always do in pairs, it's usually the passenger side that's worse. There are replacement parts for the lower control arm but they're a beast to press together so I just replaced the whole arm. Much easier to do.

[12Ounce]

Originally Posted by northern piper

..... When I compared the new to the old, there was very little difference.......

You mean the old bushing was not softer than the new one? It must be fairly new.

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

You mean the old bushing was not softer than the new one? It must be fairly new.

Indeed I find if you can tell a difference in resistance between new and old when squeezing them lightly with pliers, it's worth the job. That said, after 15,000 km (about 10k miles) they shouldn't be in need of replacement just yet unless the vehicle sways more than it should due to due to special circumstances such as carrying heavy loads on a regular basis.

[northern piper]

ya, when I looked closely at the existing ones and the new, the shape is very similar, the hole round not the typical oblong that I've seen in the past. When you press a flat tip punch into the rubber, there is very little difference in durometer so I"m happy leaving them as is. When I inspected them before I bought the new ones I felt that if I really pushed on the sway bar I could get some movement but I honestly think I was feeling sliding left to right, not motion up and down or front to back.

[12Ounce]

.... reads as tho you inspected them very well.