bushings question

[jrich4411]

I just heard from my local mechanic that the cause of my excessive rear tire wear is that the rear trailing arm bushings are shot. What a surprise! But, after 120k miles, it is to be expected. He's a stand up guy & is gonna eat the tires as I did have him look over the suspension last spring when he put these tires on & said I was good to go.
So for my question. At 120k miles, what other suspension parts should I be replacing as well? And OEM/rubber or urethane? Can (or should) rubber & urethane bushings be mixed throughout the suspension? I have no issues with the harshness of the suspension, even here in New Hampshire where our roads suck.
'06 M Roadster. I do not track at all - just my daily driver 8 months of the year. The car is completely stock.
Thanks in advance!

[NickyC]

I'd check out the front control arm bushings as well. My car is an 06Z4M, and my mechanic noted yesterday that there is some play in one of them. Not noticeable under braking right now, but probably will be soon. I have 66k miles on my car btw.

[3002 tii]

Stick with OEM and supplement with Vorshlag (or any brand, they're all the same) limiters. I typically do rtab and fcab at same time (every 40k). You could also look into your trans bushings. I went with Rogue's and those did not have any reinforcement style cups and worked fine.

I'm now at 75k and I'm considering doing my diff bushings. But if you're going to do diff may as well do subframe bushings since you're at 120k. Question is for all the work and effort to drop the rear, how long are you going to own the car?

[jrich4411]

NickyC - thanks for the suggestion. I will examine the FCABs very closely
3002 tii - I put 14-16 thousand miles on her per year, so I'm hoping to get another 3-5 years minimum. I love this vehicle and really don't want a different car. I will check out those other bushings as well.

[Vanne]

wow 120k, your the close-est to me i think I've seen, I am at 130K
last year i completely refurbed the underside of the car, i can dig up the paperwork if you like, but yeah as the guys ae saying pretty much, and yeah if your dropping the diff, def get the subframe bushings replaced.

also look at the axel doughnut and the axel carrier bearing.. obviously also do engine and tranny mounts.



have you done rod bearings yet?

[jrich4411]

Vanne - I would love to have the list of what you did. And no, I have not made any changes to the engine at this point

[Vanne]

Ill dig it up, I pretty much went with oem stuff. Not sure if I would do that again, esp with engine and tranny mounts...

[Vanne]

Rear subframe bushings (front)
Rear subframe bushings (rear)
Front differential bushing
-------------------------------- reserved
Front differential flange
Rear camber arms
Rear trailing arms bushings
Rear wheel bearings
Front wheel bearins
Engine oil pan gasket
Engine valve cover gasket
Spark plugs profile gasket (if needed)
Front swaybar endlinks
LSD differential oil (1 box)

And turns into this...

Rear subframe refurbishment
Front/rear wheel bearings replacement
Engine oil pan gasket repalcement
Front differential flange replacement
Alignment

add onto that a suspension refresh and the axel bearing.

vibra tech for tranny mounts, and oem engine mounts.

edit: chop and change as you like matey. that was my list. most of it for preventative, but boy those bushes were pretty much knackered. car now drives like its new. pretty much anything with rubber in it was in need of being replaced.

[jrich4411]

Thank you Vanne!!

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Rear subframe bushings (front)
Rear subframe bushings (rear)
Front differential bushing
-------------------------------- reserved
Front differential flange
Rear camber arms
Rear trailing arms bushings
Rear wheel bearings
Front wheel bearins
Engine oil pan gasket
Engine valve cover gasket
Spark plugs profile gasket (if needed)
Front swaybar endlinks
LSD differential oil (1 box)

And turns into this...

Rear subframe refurbishment
Front/rear wheel bearings replacement
Engine oil pan gasket repalcement
Front differential flange replacement
Alignment

add onto that a suspension refresh and the axel bearing.

vibra tech for tranny mounts, and oem engine mounts.

edit: chop and change as you like matey. that was my list. most of it for preventative, but boy those bushes were pretty much knackered. car now drives like its new. pretty much anything with rubber in it was in need of being replaced.

With bearings and other work, plus last year's work, that's pretty much a new car!