Updating the rear suspension bushings.....? (1 Viewer)

[eclipsegst97]

the 470 has about 220 and feels its age, body roll in turns, slightly twitchy in steering during turn in and turns.
I "overland" on rough roads and do some light moderate wheeling a couple 2x a year, on "32s" with a 2/2/5" lift on dob's mono tunes with 30ishmaybe 40k
Ride has gotten worse in last year and half

Already getting new front LCAs and body bushings. Shocks seem ok, no leaking.

Now i'm looking at the rear suspension
I foudn some OEM rear control arms with only30k on them, now i'm trying to decide if its worht to swap out the panhard bar and the lateral control arms?
is replacing bushings possible on these? and "easy enough" or should I just go for some low mileage ones on ebay or upgrade them to beefier? even adjustable panhard?
Seems like reading thru the threads here the adjustable panhard could put the GX back in its factory geometry but would I need adjustable control arms?
Seems like concensus is that the adjustable are maintenance intensive and I ignore my GX enough as it is

Appreciate any insight. trying to save a few buck with the rear suspension honestly. the bushing looks old but not torn or missing. I'm in the rust belt but its a texas GX. and I've been religous about woolswax so replacing them should be simple. I just rather not have the GX on blocks for 2 weeks. buying used parts on ebay and updating them with aftermarket bushing would lessen the potential time the GX is down with updating the parts currently on the GX

 

[Rednexus]

At 220K, your control arm bushings are probably worn out. In terms of bushing replacement, IMO it's cheap enough to buy new arms (especially if you go aftermarket - some of the arms are only $40 or so on Rock Auto), that there is no need to spend the time/effort in pressing out the old bushings and pressing in new ones (I'm betting they will be rust-seized anyway).

For my personal rig, I have the following setup (which is maintenance-free).

- Rear upper control arms: Moog stock replacements from Rock Auto.
- Rear lower control arms: Sonoran Off-Road Fabrication (non-adjustable). I had Moog stock replacement LCAs and ripped a bushing after 4 years of use. These definitely flex better than the stock lower arms.
- Panhard bar: Mevotech stock replacement from Rock Auto
- Other: eimkeith panhard bar relocation kit. This is a simple weld-on and will correct the panhard bar geometry without needing to adjust anything.

IMO the adjustable arms seem nice, but then you will need to carefully adjust everything to position your rear axle square with the rest of the rig. I'm not sure this is easily doable at home and it might require an alignment shop to square everything up. So, I just went with non-adjustable arms and bars to avoid the hassle.

While you were in there I'd also replace the rear sway bar bushings and end links. At 220K, your front suspension probably also needs the same treatment.