Energy Suspension Polyurethane bushing install

By Gregg Horan

Specific to the First Generation AWD Talon/Eclipse/Laser

This FAQ seeks to shine some light into the dark unknown world of the Energy Suspension (ES) polyurethane bushing kit. It does not provide a step by step installation tutorial. It's mostly to clear up most of the questions I found myself asking when I got this big box of plastic, a few packets of grease, and a couple of tiny sheets of paper that would have been of more use in the bathroom. What you can expect to find are a list of the contents of the kit, installation locations, and a few tips to make the job go easier. Get the shop manual. It is very good, and will tell you how to get everything apart. Since I had so much taken off already, I can't really provide a good step by step way to get to the each piece.

I performed the install on my 92' Talon AWD. You may note in some of the pictures, there is a lot of hardware off of the car. Some of it needs to come off (struts, springs), but a lot of it was off for other reasons (brakes, transmission). Thanks to Eric Typpo, Jesse Hustad, Gregory Carlson, Brian Hood, Roger Hanson, and Farzaan Kassam for being kind enough to answer all my questions and give me some good tips.

In my haste and general absent mindedness, I didn't record all the info I wanted to, so if you go through this operation and can fill out any info, mail me and I can update this page. Also, if you want to add any more tips, steps, etc., send them to me and I'll add them too. Unfortunately, I ended up skipping the subframe bushings. I actually put one set into what I believe is the wrong place (crossmember); but it fit well, and it's still there!

Misc Tips:

My very non-professional mechanic viewpoint is that this was the most difficult procedure I have yet performed on my car. I found that changing the plug wires was much easier. Much of the difficulty in this job was due to my lack of some of the information in this faq. I'd rather change the clutch two more times, than do this one again. If you can line up a shop - or have access to a big press, then you probably could do it in one tiring weekend. It took me longer than I care to divulge.

Use up the grease they give you. Poly bushings have a tendency to squeak.

Get some C-clamps... they'll come in handy.

Find a shop with a press.

When pushing in 2-piece bushings, put in the metal center sleeve in last. The greasy bushing forms an airtight seal, and if you put the metal center in first, the bushings will trap air and you (actually "I") will be puzzled as to why they keep popping back out.

That Grease is NASTY. It's like pine tar; good luck washing it off.

Mark the eccentric bolt positions before disassembly. You will definitely need an alignment, but this will give you a descent estimate upon re-assembly.

Kit Contents:

Here is a listing of the full kit for the 1G car. I can't comment on the 2G, but if someone's done it, let me know if it's about the same or what. Some packages had numbers on them, and some bushings themselves had number formed into the plastic. Below when I say 'two' I mean 'two per side'. The pictures below show the locations of all the bushings. All pictures taken from the passenger side of the car, unless otherwise noted.

LEGEND

A	Front sway bar.
B	Front control arm bushing (aft)
C	Front control arm bushing (fore)
D	Subframe bushing.
E	Crossmember bushing.*
F	Rear sway bar bushing.
G	Rear upper arm bushing.
H	Rear Lower arm bushing.
I	Rear trailing arm bushing.

*E - is not shown because I installed them in the wrong place. I installed it in the crossmember (the formed sheet-metal beam that you're supposed to use as a jacking point in the center of the front of the car). The bushings fit perfectly into the sleeves on both ends of that beam, and it HAS worked out fine. I was informed by someone after I did the install, that these were supposed to go into the subframe in a location nearby (and in the same large tub-shaped crossmember) bushings 'D'. The manual has a picture that shows those two bushings in that big tub piece.

Front sway bar (A)

Package Number: 5.5106R

Description: The front sway bar bushings came with the piece shown in the photo above, as well as 4 (2 each side) nearly cylindrical pieces. I don't know which ones, but apparently some cars will use these pieces for the swaybar link. The link on my car used ball joints and these bushings weren't used.

Tip: I found it convenient to leave the swaybar disconnected during the whole operation. Just disconnect where the link ball joint connects to the lower arm.

Removing the bushings is a snap. Installation of the new ones was the most difficult of the bushing insertions. I was able to use some descent size C-clamps and compress the bushing bracket down over the new bushing (as shown above, from the driver side). Some people have elongated the bolt hole in the bracket to aid in getting the bolt threaded, but I think you might lose any benefit of the stiffer bushing by doing this.

Front control arms (B, C)

Package Number: 5-3108G

Description:The bushing on the rear end of the front control arm (B) is the big fat marshmallow looking one, without any sleeves or inserts. You can see it in the lower left corner of the picture above. Mmmmm... Marshmallows. The one on the front end of the arm (C) was made up of two identical pieces of poly with a steel, press-in center. This is the one that has just been pressed out with the C-clamp in the picture above.

Tips: In general, you shouldn't need to break any ball-joints to do these. It's pretty easy to get to these bushings, and since none of them require a press, they can be changed right on the car

The rear bushing will just go on and off by hand. I tried to clean up the shaft it goes over, but it seemed to just have a crappy surface I could do nothing with. The chamfered end of the bushing faces towards the front of the car. Note that the shop manual says not to tighten all of the bolts holding the bracket around this one, until the car's weight is on it.

The forward ones bushing are just rubber, pressed into the arm, but not bonded to it. I was able to fashion the little press shown in the figure above out of a C-clamp and a few blocks of wood. It came out fairly easily under that type of pressure.

Body (D, E)

Package Number: 5-4105

Description: Each of the four subframe bushings consists of two pieces of polyurethane (one very thin), two big washers, and steel sleeve insert. One location is shown correctly in the picture at the beginning of this document. Forgive the lame picture above... it is a picture of the assembly of one of the bushings (not pressed together).

Tips: I threw in the towel. I had heard somewhat dull reviews of the actual improvement from these bushings, and the work was pretty severe, so I skipped it. I believe that Gregory Carleson said that he had managed to do the job without pulling the steering rack (as the shop manual says to do). He had disconnected only what he needed to drop the subframe by a few inches (not completely, which would require the removal of the rack). He then used a slide hammer up through the bushing in order to pull it out. I didn't have the car high enough to get a slide hammer in there and I didn't see quite how you'd get the subframe down far enough to get it in anyway.

Rear Sway Bar (F)

The picture at the beginning pretty much says it all about the rear sway bar bushing

Package Number: 5.5106R

Description: It is oddly shaped, as shown in the picture above. Only got two pieces in this one (one for each side). It was actually the same package from the front, but with the 4 cylindrical bushings cut out of the packaging.

Tips: These bushings were very easy. If you can't change these yourself, wash up and call your mechanic.

Rear control arms (G, H, I)

Package Number 5.3113R

Description: (G) Upper Arm Bushing. Two polyurethane pieces and steel sleeve. This one doesn't look much like the one it replaces, but once you get it apart, you can see how it fits. Poly pieces were labeled 3174 and 3175.

(H) Lower arm. Two polyurethane pieces (both identical) and one steel sleeve. Both poly pieces are marked 2148.

(I) Trailing arm. Two polyurethane pieces and one double walled steel sleeve. The "Instructions" said that this should be number 2176, but mine said 2126 and it worked fine

Tips: Important All three of these bushings have thin walled metal sleeves. They need to be pressed out and discarded. I've heard stories of drilling the rubber, then hack-sawing the sleeves etc. I tried removed one trailing arm bushing in this fashion (got center out, but couldn't get the sleeve out). An automotive machine shop should have a press. My place charged me $60 for all 6 bushings. Other places quoted me significantly more, or wouldn't quote at all. Once the stockers are out, the new ones push in with a bit of muscle.

Credits

Pics by:
- Gregg Horan
Text by:
- Gregg Horan
- Tom Stangl

Questions, suggestions, comments, constructive criticism and/or corrections? Email Gregg.

This document can be reprinted for personal use or reference for your mechanic(s) with no prior permission needed. It can be linked to directly, as long as you have a link to the main VFAQ page of http://www.vfaq.com, though linking to the main page instead is preferred. This document can NOT be reprinted for profit/resale/redistribution of ANY type without expressed WRITTEN permission from me in advance. Bulk copying of this document onto your web site without prior permission will not be tolerated, link to it instead.

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