ping glen - 1st gen LHS, engine subframe bushings

96 LHS 3.5L. all 4 engine cradle bushings are beat to hell and
crumbling...literally. Alldata who is correct sometimes and sometimes a
little bit off is not showing anything about the bushings being pressed into
the engine cradle. looks fairly simple, as long as proper safety
precautions are taken, and you make sure you get them tight enough
afterwards. in my case I'm going to be changing an inner tie rod too and
have already done other front end work so an alignment will most likely be
done Tuesday morning.

to your knowledge are the bushings pressed in ? Also any good ideas you
have come across to make the job easier or faster?

 

You might get something out of the post by Chewievette here:
http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1247877#post1247877
Keep in mind that those guys had some polyurethane bushings custom
molded. I think the new ones come with the inner sleeves, so you
wouldn't need to transfer those.

Also, a search in those forums may turn up some discussion - they
discuss replacing these bushings a lot. I've not done it on my 2nd gen.
Concordes, but from reading the LH car forums, it seems they have
problems with the nuts that are welded to the frames. Probably just
depends on how much problem rust is in general in your area.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

There are a total of 8 cradle bushings, upper and lower for each one. These
bushings are not pressed in. If you purchase these from the dealer they are
expensive. I would highly recommend soaking the bolts up at the top really
good with some Rust penetrate that Chrysler sells. It is the best stuff I
have ever used. If the nuts spin at the top in the frame you may have to get
a large pry bar to wedge into the slot and try to hold the nut from
spinning.


Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

oh joy.......penetrating oil and pry bars. just like working for CAT
again..lol ok.

now to find them somewhere other than dealer is going to be a challenge. so
far everyone is telling me "no dice...go see ma mopar". and they are 62.00
for the lowers and 65 for the uppers, so $508.00 before tax....... yee ha

 

thanks bill...it was very informative and looks like he's making those now.
wonder how they feel though......

 

Look at them carefully because most of the time you don't need the uppers

 

the left front upper I can spin with my fingers, so I am thinking it should
be done. that and a previous oil leak I didn't know about that has soaked
them some, plus over 132,000 miles, so I might just do them anyway.


got a line on some that have to be ordered from some manufacturer but I'm
waiting till the part place opens on Tuesday as they have to call their main
office to see if they can get them from the manuf. if not then its either
website time, or dealer. having to buy all eight is almost as much as the my
damn stimulus check!

 

Yup, sounds like a plan

Glenn

 

thanks dude. you da man!

 

Is that pricing for standard (SDA or SDC) suspension or for sport (SDE)
suspension? I ask because you can get them (OEM parts) all day long
from on-line discount dealers for $40 each (standard) or $57 each
(sport) (substitute shipping costs for sales tax).

Part numbers are:
Standard upper: 4695759
Sport upper: 4695761

Standard lower: 4695755
Sport lower: 4695762

On-line parts pdf catalogs: http://www.chryslerparts.net
One of the on-line dealers with good pricing (there are others):
www.1stchryslerparts.com

Of course you may need to replace some of the metal hardware if badly
rusted.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

local dealer quoted me lower 4695755 66.57 each

and then the 4695759 upper for 62.27 each

I contacted the parts manager at another dealer who gives us a 25% discount
for being a member of the local mopar club, and he gave me some different
uppers. said the were superseded by the 761's I think. they were 72.00
each but with discount on all of them I saved about 125.00

 

Too bad you didn't get the sports for the lowers since they do the
"heavy lifiting". Maybe it's not too late to get the sports lowers and
turn the ones you got back in (i.e., not installed yet)? The $72 price
for the sports uppers and lowers is full list price. $53 is full list
on the standard suspension lowers.

Anyway - 25% discount is about as good as you can get from a dealer -
on-line or local with club discount, so you did good on price. The
local dealer where I am starts out at 10% *above* list - and don't give
any discounts - even to local shops. I laugh when I drive by sometimes
and see their big banners out that say "Special This Week: 10% Off on
All Parts!!", which means they're selling at full list that week.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

yeah there in already


update coming later tonight

 

my numbers were off. he gave me 762 lowers, and 759 uppers.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/robs440/oldbushings.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/robs440/enginecradlebushings.jpg

 

OK - so standard uppers and sport lowers - better than vice-versa. Did
you have any problems with the nuts breaking loose when removing the old
ones? I've read some horror threads on replacing these bushings on one
of the LH car forums.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

nope came off easily with a breaker bar, the bolts are pitted and somewhat
rusted though from Florida weather and Colorado winter roads (previous owner
lived out in the sticks. after buying it I moved down here in the land of
sweat and humidity) so i'll need to replace those this week.

 

Even though you'll probably never need to replace them again, you will
put anti-seize on the new bolts?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

well since I have a huge can from my days at caterpillar, yeah that will
most likely happen! >:-{)

 

holy crap. new bolts 10 bucks each!

 

So the old ones are starting to look better to you now? Hey - the nuts
are old. Why not old bolts (with anti-seize) too?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')