'95 Subframe bushing help!

[thadrisc]

Hello all-

First of all I am a newbie to this forum, but it looks like there is a lot of very helpful information on here. It's nice to see people helping others, and hopefully I can contribute my (limited) knowledge in the future.

I have a few questions regarding the subframe bushings on a '95 Taurus GL 3.0V6 ATX. I know they have probably been answered but I couldn't seem to find them....

1) How much of a pain is it to replace sfb's for an average DIY-er? I've replaced brakes (rotors, calipers, that sort of thing), and done some minor suspension work (sway bar links and such....) but am a little hesitant to get into something so important to the structure of the car. I have heard that sometimes the bolts break, or something on top like a weld can break when trying to remove the bolts.

2) Is there any good repair manuals (other than the crappy Haynes) that would show this procedure? Or, if anybody knows of a good website with a digram or pictures on this that would be very helpful too....

3) If anybody has had this done at a shop, what kind of damage am I looking at? I figure it would be a 3-4 hour job for them at 100 bucks an hour plus parts....something like 5-600? I'd rather not take it to the stealership, but the independent shops around here don't want to seem to tackle subframe issues....

4) I hate to admit it, but I've been driving the car with a "clunk" from the sfb's for probably close to a year (I was a broke college kid and then had huge moving expenses in the summer), and was wondering how much a safety hazard I am creating for myself. Would I be foolish to drive it in it's current condition from Michigan to Kansas City when I move again this summer?

Any and all info is greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance.

Peace

[GPFred]

I have a 98 Taurus and had to have the subframe bushings done. The ones that I had go bad were the front bushing. It seemed to me that it was around $125 for the entire job. I took it to a local repair shop that had a good reputation and they did the job. I would shop around, the dealer will cost you. I had an 87 Taurus wagon that needed the rear bushings done and fortunately it was under a recall. You might check to see if there was a recall on your year Taurus. Good luck.

[thadrisc]

I actually did check the recall, and it is for cars currently registered in "snow belt" states. Ford really must not know geography, because they didn't include South Dakota in the recall (which is where the car is registered and originally sold), however almost every other state that gets an inch of snow or more a year is included in the recall. Thanks Ford. Like we don't get huge blizards in South Dakota or use salt on our roads!