that last pic with the washer is like mine too...i thought it WAS normal.

 

I thought so too, then someone said it may not be. So I thought I would ask on here.

 

its the other way around with that washer

 

yes the three upper bushings are what i mean. avoid getting the ones from the dealership because they are made to perfect OE specs but the metal on the spindle has expanded slightly and you have to sledge hammer the SOB in. or you can take it to a shop and have them press it in lol. i chose to sledge hammer it in but just make sure your aims are dead on like 98% accurate or you'll start to see deformation on the bolt head side of the bushing. the inner ones are slightly easier to get in but also requires a sledge if you don't have a press. as for the washer, i think it's supposed to touch the rubber part of the bushing and the spindle. yours is just old like everybody elses, thus the super conical shape. again the sledge is your friend lol.

 

haha im ******* staying away from you hiwords.

 

Nothing against the sledge hammer method, but I think I'll just remove the arms and bring them to my mechanic to press in. Not sure I would trust my accuracy and patience enough to do it your way, lol.

What about the rear subframe? What should I be looking for?

So the left wheelbase being a 1/4 inch longer than the right isn't likely to be problematic?

 

hey a2thy, you might as well have all the rear bushings replaced if you havent already. I dont know old your car is, but eventually you will start hearing squeeky sounds. WD40 can only do so much to get rid of the annoying sound.

 

look around the rear subframe and check for cracks. idk if the wheelbase is a problem but a bad subframe could be the cause of it.

this is really important when you are install the new A arm with the new bushings. don't tighten anything down and then put the wheel on and lower the car. you need to jack up the spindle so it's about the height of where your wheel would be, then tighten the bolts down. if not, you risk messing up the bushing prematurely and your car will squeak. mine still squeaks on the side i installed the audi outter top bushing, not too happy about that.

 

My car was in a front end collision, so wouldn't the front subframe be more likely to be damaged? The only abnormality I could find was the left side of the frame being pushed in 1/2 an inch to an inch. Are there any other ways to find what else is out of specs, measurements, etc? I noticed that the front left tie rod points down and back from the joint on the inner tie rod. I'm thinking it's supposed to look like that though.

 

Anyone have an answer for my last post?

I'll have those rear bushings pressed in as soon as my mechanic feels well enough to go back to work. I also decided to check the tightness of my steering rack mounting bolts just for piece of mind. They were all good and tight, but when I removed the battery I found a whole mess of what I thought was just surface corrosion. Turns out there was also plenty of pitting on the battery tray and on all the mounting surfaces on the body itself. I'm in the process of taking that whole area down to bare metal and thoroughly removing/treating the rust. What a PITA!