LCA bushing question for '05 LGT

My '05 Legacy GT Wagon has about 130k miles on it. Still runs great but has a shimmy/vibration that can occasionally be felt at highway speeds.

 

Last time IAG had the car for some service they noted the LCA bushings were torn.

 

Should I have both LCA bushings replaced (front and rear)?

 

What about the ball joint?

 

Also, what about the sway bar bushings?

 

Last, I'm trying to preserve ride quality since I do a lot of highway miles. I don't want a super firm ride. Should I stick with OEM bushings or go with aftermarket items like Whitelines?

I drive a lot of highway miles with the upgraded bushings you're talking about. Is your suspension stock?

 

Assuming you're on stock shocks, I would go with the Whiteline 0 offset bushings in the rear of the arm, Whiteline front replacements, Whiteline sway bushings, and stock ball joints. The polyurethane will give you some firmness but I don't think it's as harsh as some say. My preference would be to upgrade. Since they're going to have to pull the arm to press in the rear bushing, you might as well replace the stuff that's easy at that time. It'll cost a little more now but save you some in the future. I think after about a day or two you wouldn't even notice the slight increase to the ride harshness over how much tighter it will feel.

IMO - Stay with the OEM bushings for the Front LCA (rear) bushing, upgrading to poly will give a little more vibration over OEM. If you do decide to use Whiteline, use them for the front inner and rear bushings. This will give you better response without the addition vibration.