Ok so I'm upgrading my springs and shocks to a sport setup with the H&R springs and bilstein shocks. I busted my front lower control arm bushings during the install, probably from karate kicking my wheel hub trying to get the old struts out. They were all worn out, especially the passenger side which leaked out a nice size puddle of oil. The same bushing on the other side also dripped a bit of oil, but not nearly as much. However I am hearing loud clunking sounds from both sides so I am replacing both lower front control arms. As Disguay recommended, I had already went ahead and bought new tie rod ends (went with the Euro-Parts brand just to get something in there). As I'm looking at my back suspension, which I haven't even really started yet (I gave it about a 15 minute try at the end of a long day yesterday and gave up). It looks like my sway bar bushings are f#cked, where they connect to the control arm. The side I was TRYING to unbolt started dripping a little oil. I went under there to tighten it up today and noticed the little bars connecting to my hub, I'm not sure what they are called, rear front control arms? Well anyway, both ends around the bushings were coated in oil, leading me to assume they're shot. If they are the part I'm thinking of they run about $75 a piece. Not sure what to salvage and what to replace. This suspension project is getting expensive as heck, but I am getting an alignment after this, so if I'm going to replace them anytime soon, it might as well be before then. I'm just wondering what are typical bushings and suspension parts that wear out and should be changed around 80,000-100,000 miles? I guess every car is different but I'm just wondering what I'm looking at to get the rear in shape.

 

They all wear out. Bushings are like any other maintenance part, after a while they go bad and need to be replaced. So the more of them you replace the better off your suspension will be. If you want your car to handle really well you need good bushings, worn out ones will flex even more than new rubber bushings will and cause random unwanted changes in suspension geometry as the suspension travels up and down.

 

Ok, I was just trying to get an estimate of what I would need for the front and rear. Got front lower control arms, got outer tie rod ends. Thinking I may need sway bar end bushings and possibly rear front control arms? (Not sure the exact name of these). Mine were all coated in oil. Not sure how much I am wanting to spend though now. I am getting close to the $1,000 mark with all the suspension lowering and alignment. I'm pretty sure just about everything could use being replaced, I'm just not sure what I can do now. The main thing is getting my car quiet and drivable, but I also want it to handle well. If I align it, can I replace some of the bushings later without drastically messing up the alignment?

 

That depends on how bad the bushings are and if you get adjustable parts or not. Keep in mind that there isn't a lot of factory adjustment points and many people haven't been able to get their alignment into spec without replacing worn out parts and sometimes needing to get the adjustable upper rear arms to get the rear camber correct.