rear suspension knuckle bushings

[AKA_Rizzo]

Just puttin this out there.

Jay at Last Shot has been bending over backwards to help me with this to the point he prolly looks like a pretzel.

Thanks Jay.

[AKA_Rizzo]

Ok after a little help from this lacking site...Guess this year spread of Caddy's have all gone to pasture...

I traded Emails,Phone calls and lastly text messages with Jay at Last Shot.

I wont go into great detail because I dont want the next guy to force the same kind of help, But let me state with all clarity how helpful Jay was to me. I will turn to him if I ever need this part again for any car he works this out for.

I felt good about giving Jay my money for 2 reasons. 1 GM screwed him by leaving Flint and 2 I always like to give my money to the little guy whenever possible.

After many many setbacks that are specific to this particular car and this job only, Jay was there for me a million times a day if I needed him.

after all was said and done.... I'd let jay watch my kids .......... If I had any

[petseno]

yea he is a real piece of work (lsapllc) steals all my key words and all my adds because he can't think of any him self call me unethical when he goes around telling everyone tha these bushings is not the only part he sells when in fact they are ,says he has paten pending on some washers he uses to keep the bushings from fallins out and rattling ,steals all my slogans for ebay adds
and you guys want to do buisness with him wait till you have a problem and he tells you that no refund case your knuckle is shot and by the way shaving is for your face not automotive bushings emails himself to say polyurethane bushings squeak when in fact they don't

[petseno]

we now have the direct OEM replacement cross axial joints for the rear of the cadillac these are the real deal upper and lower are cross axial and see for your self finally got what you guys have been waiting for or you can choose our polyurethane design

Mike

[petseno]

i guesse the insert picture don't work just go to cadillacbushings.com and see for yourself thanks mike

[nicktime]

I have been following this issue for quite a while and am absolutely impressed with the work done to address this issue. In doing all of this looking, it appears the "big boys" have seen the need for these parts. Dorman OE Solutions now makes these replacements under part #905-504. They sell locally for about $55/side (two kits needed for car). Just wanted to let everyone know.

[abs]

Jakester55 and Petseno:

I have zero interest in any kind of "flame war" and reading this thread it looks like that's what's been going on between the two of you. From what I can tell, and taking things at face value, both of you appear to be reputable business people. I don't want to re-activate the debate over who is honest/reputable, etc., period. What I would like, and I'm guessing many others on this forum would also like, is a better understanding of the merits of each of the options for replacement knuckle bushings available to us as consumers.

Jakester55: I would like to know if you would please clearly explain what precisely is different/better about your bushing design than some of the other non-polyurethane OEM style options now available on the market? From your posts it sounds like you are in the process of obtaining a patent, but for what exactly? I believe you've stated that these bushings will last longer than OEM, why?

Petseno: Can you clarify if your OEM style knuckle bushings are identical to the original GM design and if they differ in any way, how are they different? I realize that your OEM style bushings are less expensive than Last Shot and that is compelling to me as a consumer. Having said that, this is a job I don't want to have to re-do every few years. Is your part the same as the Dorman part?

Both Dorman and cadillacbushings.com appear to have OEM style parts at lower cost than Last Shot. I am potentially willing to spend a little more for new Last Shot bushings however I'd like to know what I'm getting for that extra money. Also, there is another bushing design made by Walton Manufacturing (http://waltonmfg.com) . . .

Lastly, can either one of you please explain the process to press out the old bushing and install a new bushing for a DIYer? I've read that a ball joint tool is required? Some people have stated the job can be done in 30 minutes per side while others report 8+ hours and lots of difficulty. What is the best approach for removing an old bushing and installing a new one?

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

[krimson_cardnal]

K_C has been gone for a while, but the rear knuckles didn't get any better. I started chasing this monkey quite a while ago and was interested in seeing what has transpired in my absence. Flame wars and all considered I then decided to go with LastShot and get Jays bushing set.

As others here have noted Jay is a good guy - very passionate about his product. His customer service is great, as his the product he is selling. I say the product is great in that it is as he says it is, a complete bushing replacement set for the rear knuckles.

I took them to my local mechanic, who was at first a bit hesitant, but I explained that the job should be straight forward - press out the old ones with a ball joint press and press in the new ones. Tommie says he has this large press and wasn't concerned with that part, but the condition of the old knuckles. Didn't want to tie up the lift friggin' around with old parts.

I brought my 96DeVille in late on a Thursday and by Friday afternoon the new bushings were in as well as new Strutmaster rear struts and springs.

To let you know, a ball joint press does work perfectly, no issues what so ever. I am also very happy with the new passive struts, save for the fact that the new rear springs will need a bit of time to "settle in". Right now the ride height is a bit tall, but the boys at Strutmaster tell me to give them a few months. If not better they are prepared to work up a solution.

As far as the knuckle bushings go - the problems are fixed, and I know Jay will stand behind his product if ever I should experience a problem, which I don't expect.

K_C

[N*Caddy]

Ball joint press hmm .
I bought the bushings back in December and they were left forgotten in a box somewhere. Lately I remembered about them (especially since now the rear of the car is quite noisy). So I went to my mechanic and his optimism from last year transformed in a HUGE pessimism. He sad that it is possible to crack something and it might take more than one two days to finish the job.

So anybody can describe the process, how difficult it is to press the bushings out and in with the new ones. How much time will this job take reasonably?
Anybody in Toronto area had this job done (or does the job)?

[N*Caddy]

OK after asking around for a mechanic able to do the knuckle bushings for my car at no avail I decided to grab the bull by the horns and do the job myself. I have a good relation with a paint shop equipped with all the tools I need (and you don’t need that many tools for this job) including compressed air and all the air tools you can imagine.
So I jacked the rear of the car removed the wheels and after 2 minutes of looking to the rear suspension components you discover that is just a matter of few nuts and bolts to take out. Basically your goal is to take the central casting out – so called knuckle chasting (the one with the wheel bearing on).
That is achieved by disconnecting the breaks (remove the whole brake assembly, caliper and all by taking out the two rear bolts). Then slide them out of the rotor, secure them with a wire on the upper arm (you don’t want to let them hanging by the brake hose). Now disconnect the wheel speed sensor connector and snap it out of the mounting bracket (part of the knuckle casting). Then take the rear mount arm bolt off and same with the lower and upper bolts. Is that easy the casting is OUT! Took me 40 minutes to the first wheel and 20 for the second (is true I had air tools, add 5 minutes without).



In the picture above I highlighted light magenta the lugs holding the brakes (to be removed from behind) and green (2) the bolts holding the casting, in the red circle (3) is the wheel speed sensor connector.

I pressed the original bushings out using nothing more than an oversized C clamp, an air gun to drive the screw (but I can’t see why could not be done even with a ratchet – just takes more time) and few appropriate sized dies. First I pressed the inside of the bushing out then the sleeve. I am surprised how easy it was, really as long as you have the oversized C clamp you can do-it. The bushings form Last Shot Auto Parts came with instructions how to press the old bushings out and put the new ones. Basically the upper ones (smaller) press towards the front and the bottom ones towards the rear, and use the reverse steps to press the new bushings in.



Then it was a matter of 15 minutes for each side to put everything back.
So in 3 hours you can do-it on your driveway, is not much difficult than changing your breaks.
Now lets see how the new bushings will behave. The passenger side had almost no issue what so ever (I might as well leave the original bushings) but the drivers side was a totally different story, even a kid could have moved the casting in respect with the arms. I really don’t get-it, is not like one side is driven on a different road than the other (and both are original).

[N*Caddy]

After >60Miles I came back with unexpected results…
I was expecting to get rid of the noise I hear specially when crossing over streetcar lines. Well the noise is still there, less but not by much. On the other hand something that I was NOT expecting to see after replacing the bushings, the car is like driving on very smooth ice. I mean not that is sliding or anything, is just so smooth, unexpectedly, is like hovering (and I drove on same exact roads as usually), no shimmies no nothing, the difference is like I just mounted new tires perfectly balanced (the tires are new any way).
I still don’t understand what has one to do with the other but I like it!
As for the noise, no more clunk when turning sharply on slow speeds (that’s for sure) and that inside trunk noise is still there (marginally reduced). That makes me wonder if the culprit is the spare wheel cover.

[abs]

N*Caddy -

Thanks so very much for posting the step by step including the pictures and providing a followup of your experience after the repair. I have two Devilles and need to do this procedure on both. I'm glad to know that I can do this work myself. I am considering bringing the knuckes to a machine shop to do the bearing pressing part since I don't have air tools and would rather not risk damaging the new parts.

Andrew

[N*Caddy]

That is THE BEST solution, but if you have the mother of all "C" clamps and a very large wrench you should be able to do-it yourself in no time. But since a shop would charge you less than the gas you spend to get there, yeah makes sense why bother take them out and send them to the shop.
And as I mentioned in some post I FOUND the source of the noise!
It was the right hand side Strut bottom nut, found it loose (I was able to unscrew it by had). Yup my trusty mechanic who replaced my struts last year (couple of thousands dollars). The very same that replaced my rack and pinion almost 2 years ago and I found-it loose back in March-April or so – job well done.

[Vinnyguti988]

Wow! these bushings that I purchased from Isapllc on Ebay are great I hadn't installed them for about 6 months and i regret not doing so sooner the car feels great on the highway on the road and it only cost me to install $20 and some blue thread lock $12 more so in total 32... the guy at the machine shop was impressed how easy they install since he had his doubts but so did I... My 95 STS now drives great and without that squeaky Noise ughh how i hated that squeaky noise...