Front control arm bushing failure

My vehicle is a 2005 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon. A dealer as well as an independent repair shop state that the rear bushings on my front control arms need replacement. It is surprising to me that this should be necessary after only five years and 33,000 miles of driving. I have been quoted ~$600 to perform the repair as the repair calls for replacing the arms and not just the bushings.

 

An Internet search appears to indicate lots of other low-mileage car owners are observing cracks in these bushings. One site suggests they are nothing to worry about. Specifically, "Generally, replacement is not necessary. Even with cracks up to 15mm across the outside surface, and all the way through the bushing from one side to the other, the bushing performance is still 20 times the strength of specification."

 

Should I be questioning the need to replace the control arms?

The arms are a couple hundred dollars each. The bushings are very very hard to replace ...

 

EDIT: WITHOUT A PRESS

 

and something Subaru does not do or suggest

 

EDIT: because dealerships replace parts and they just replace the whole LCA

 

$600 to perform the repair bill sounds good!

 

EDIT: to replace 2 LCA

 

LCA bushings are notoriously bad on our cars. Put away $100 a paycheck and get it done when you've got the money set aside.

 

Mine are cracked (slightly) too at 55k miles and I am trying to drive on em till I after the holidays.

what reason did they say to replace the whole control arm? My mechanic charged $50 to install my set of AVO bushings (which costed $125)

 

Replacing the whole arm if only the bushings are cracked does not make sense.

what reason did they say to replace the whole control arm? My mechanic charged $50 to install my set of AVO bushings (which costed $125)

 

Replacing the whole arm if only the bushings are cracked does not make sense.

 

Same, I imported mine and they came cracked after 100KMS. The compliance process demanded I fix them and they were not a difficult press in/out fix.

The arms are a couple hundred dollars each. The bushings are very very hard to replace and something Subaru does not do or suggest. $600 to perform the repair bill sounds good!

 

LCA bushings are notoriously bad on our cars. Put away $100 a paycheck and get it done when you've got the money set aside.

 

Mine are cracked (slightly) too at 55k miles and I am trying to drive on em till I after the holidays.

 

The bushings are not "very very hard" to replace.

 

It's a handful of nuts and bolts to remove the control arm from the car, and 10 minutes at the shop-press to push the old bushings out and the new ones in.

 

$600 P&L is a screwjob.

 

I bet it would be an hour labor, max, plus parts. You are looking at maybe $200 to $250 for parts and labor. Plus an alignment, but that's a given.

My bushings were pretty cheap and easy. I had it done when they did my clutch and I think it added maybe an hour on, tops.

as has been stated above, they press in and out, fairly easily. I have a spec b, and my bushings are torn, i cant imagine the parts bill alone to just replace both arms.

Thanks for the prompt responses to my post regarding front control-arm bushing failure and replacement.

 

The posts indicate that I need to find a mechanic that has a press to remove and re-insert the bushings into the control arms. As I recall, the bushings are a $10 part, while each control arm is billed out at ~ $200. Even with the labor to remove and press in the new bushings, bushing replacement should be the lower cost option. I can understand why arm replacement is recommended by the mechanics; it is an easier job with less risk and more profit. Although I rebuilt engines in my youth, I'm past the stage where automotive mechanics comes easy, so I need to find a mechanic with the right tools.

 

Can someone still answer my other question. Why these bushings are failing so soon? Is it a result of the vehicle having been driven occasionally on slow but bumpy dirt roads? Do they also fail after a similar time period on street-only vehicles?

 

Thanks again.

I think the bushings fail because subaru uses a rubber that is fairly soft in order to improve ride comfort. The soft bushing allows more movement and so it wears.

 

FWIW I replaced mine in under two hours. An experienced mechanic should be able to do it faster.

If you ARE feeling "froggy", you can get the tools you need to do this by hand for free from a local Autozone. You purchase the press kit, then return it when you are done. It's not dishonest, it's actually a service they offer!

 

But, almost any shop will have the right tools. Just try to find a place that a lot of locals go, and they'll usually take care of you. This is a good forum to try and find such a place.

 

As for the cost, the dealer doesn't want to do work beyond swapping parts. Why? Because it doesn't pay. They won't make as much pressing new bushings in, as they will doing the much faster job of swapping a control arm.

 

The bushings, the stock ones, are actually $9.00 each (http://www.fredbeansparts.com/index.php/subaru-legacy-gt-oem-lower-control-arm-bushings.html) which isn't a bad deal.

 

As for why they fail, they technically aren't "failing". They are just not working as well as they should. You seem to be on the short-end of the mileage stick for having the bushings go "bad". I have just about the same miles as you, and mine looked fine last I checked.

 

When mine do go bad, I will be replacing them with more durable (albeit more expensive) pieces from Whiteline. (http://www.fredbeansparts.com/index.php/whiteline-legacy-gt-standard-anti-dive-kit.html). They add a little bit of noise and harshness, but they should last quite a bit longer than stock.

what reason did they say to replace the whole control arm? My mechanic charged $50 to install my set of AVO bushings (which costed $125)

 

I need to go to your mechanic. No press = very, very hard to replace:lol:. That I can "borrow" a press from AutoZone/TrackAuto/PepBoys is great news and a great idea BAC!

 

Replacing the whole arm if only the bushings are cracked does not make sense.

 

Quite right, merely stating what the dealer is inclined to do. They replace the whole deal arm. Dunno why.

Without a press this job is a BEEOTCH! But if you have a bench clamp or a BIG C clamp and some lube it can be done at home. I put a set in at home took me 2 hours mainly because they were rusted on the RS i was working on. One i actually had to hammer with a chisel but it came out and i cleaned up the area with a wire wheel then greased and used the bench vice to press them back in flush

 

 

$600 is a little steep. If anything go buy them yourself then ask a mechanic to press them in for you, hell if you have tool take the LCAs off and take them to the shop

I just replaced my passenger side front LCA bushing and it's extremely annoying without a press. I shouldn't start the work but my friend's father's friend was there and told me it's very easy with air chisel, even without one. I shouldn't believe him even he was a mechanic. He was wrong....He was helping me for an hour and left since he couldn't get the metal ring piece off the arm after the bushing is tear off. I ended up removing the entire control arm to chisel out the metal ring and hammer 2000 times the new bushing back to the control arm. It was like 2 am when I was done,,,I started around 8pm,,,what a nice work out. If you do that everything you will be a good fighter in UFC.

I looked into control arm bushing replacement when they surprisingly needed replacement at ~ 40,000 mile point on my 2005 Legacy. It seemed straight forward and relatively inexpensive process if you had a press, but the repair shops insisted on complete assembly replacement at ~$200 each. Their concern undoubtedly was liability exposure should the repaired assembly fail.

 

Is control arm bushing failure a common Subaru problem, and if so, should we Subaru owners be looking for an economical fix that is less stressful than that described above?

I had my trusted mechanic replace mine with AVO and whiteline stuff years ago.

 

I learned the easy way, sometimes it's better "to pay the man".

Sometimes its EASIER to pay the man too:)

how does the car feel when these bushings are bad?

 

TIA,

Anthony

At first you feel it something is off when you change lanes on highwway, when the bushing is ripping apart you will hear a lot of road noise and make you think it's a very bad alignment. By that time you can turn the steering all the way to one side and you should be able to see the bushing without lifting the car up. Your problematic side should also has uneven wear on the tire if you keep driving with the bad bushing.

what reason did they say to replace the whole control arm? My mechanic charged $50 to install my set of AVO bushings (which costed $125)

 

I need to go to your mechanic. No press = very, very hard to replace:lol:. That I can "borrow" a press from AutoZone/TrackAuto/PepBoys is great news and a great idea BAC!

 

 

 

Quite right, merely stating what the dealer is inclined to do. They replace the whole deal arm. Dunno why.

 

Because its easier and faster(therefore cheaper for them) to replace the entire arm.

The bushings can be a pain in the ass to remove if the car has miles like mine did but if your going to replace them might aswell put in some good ones and not the crap factory ones, i put the whitelines in for me and the car just feels so much better and predictable.

Me and my pops did them in a couple hours without a press for we tries to use one on the rear and inner bushings were way beyond siezed causing them the buckle and not come out so we took a hacksaw and cut them to the very edge and lightly used a chisel on them to peal them out not recommeded to do that but they came out fast and didnt even touch the was of the control arm.

600 to me seems like an insane amount to pay for something like that maybe SOA could help cover some cost.

Having come to this site to try and understand front control arm bushing failure / end of life on Subarus.

 

With previous cars—not Subarus—the FCAB reached the end of life at +/- 150,000 mi. Seems odd to me that original FCAB on my Legacy are still functioning at 276,000—at least that is what my mechanic says.

 

Thought I should share what I do know. Some of the posts here, talk about the awful quality of original Subaru bushes. Engineering is ALWAYS a compromise. Subaru could design and specify ultra high quality components and market a car that cost 250 grand and last 2 million miles, but how many would they sell?

 

Ride quality. Multi link suspensions are notorious for amplifying road noise into the frame / cabin. The best / most expensive cars in the world all have multi link; all Subarus are multi link. To counter that quality they choose larger diameter fluid filled bushing materials. This yields the ride quality that people hope for in a nice car. More durable bushes have lower ride quality, vs., less durable bushes have a higher ride quality. Compromise.

 

When it comes to replacing bushes. None of the previous posts talk about bushing alignment. Very IMPORTANT. A well meaning mechanic can not just shove a new bush into an opening on an arm. A one millimeter misalignment can mean ten millimeters at the wheel. It HAS to be done with precision. This is the “why” of replacing the whole arm. It will ultimately facilitate and not limit the wheel alignment process on the other end. You want an even plus or minus range to align with.

 

I am eager to hear what other folks know about this subject!

What bushings are needed to change the front ones? I don't know the names of them and I need to order then. I will be replacing my axel this year and I noticed I needed bushings too

 

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This is the bushing

http://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru__/BUSHING-TRANSVERSE-LINK-REAR/49229113/20204AG01B.html

I ended up buying this set from amazon since you get the most for your money: Energy Suspension 193102R. I'm getting them installed in a couple weeks, heard positive reviews from the guys on here on the energy stuff. plus they do have lifetime warranty if they ever split or fail (most polyurethane kits like energy, powerflex, whiteline, etc. have lifetime warranty)

can someone post the links for all front control arm bushings, i planning to buy the white line but every time i go on rsd, theres to many and confuses the shit out of me. plz! pretty pls lol