rear rebuild, making sure I get all the required parts

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Torque

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'96 Bird 4.6
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I rebuilt the front end last year and need to order parts to hopefully get the rear done soon. I'm a little confused from looking at the factory manual (CD) and parts house descriptions.
The manual says "upper rear suspension arm and bushing (2 req'd each side)", but the diagram shows one place for the bushing. I see rear-to-frame bushing kits with 2 bushings, so are there inner and outer bushings at that one location on the upper arm, so I need one kit per side?

The manual shows a bushing at the knuckle top and the part for sale is "rear at knuckle". Is that the part for this location?

The manual points at a lower knuckle bushing location and calls it "lower rear suspension arm and bushing". That's #8 on the diagram and there are 3 locations pointed to (the 4th one is to be inferred I presume). Is this one bushing part meant for all 4 locations (2 lower knuckle and 2 lower arm (front & rearmost)?

I've had the toe compensators in storage for years, just haven't gotten around to the rebuild. I may have sway bar links around here, too, but if not, I'll order them. What I need is clarification on exactly what bushings I need to purchase and how many. I have a Schley bushing press kit, so I hope to do this on vehicle.

Unless I'm mistaken, there is a total of 6 replaceable bushings per side, is that right?
There are only 4 bushings if I order 3 part numbers in various brands, yet in none of the RA descriptions for any brand does it say more than 1 required per side, but clearly there would be 2 missing. These are the only bushing types that seem available, so do I need to double up some of these?
rear to frame
rear upper to frame
rear at knuckle (upper)
 
Some good information in this thread by Rod:

Recommended Suspension Bushings for MN12's and FN10's

Recommended suspension bushings for MN12’s and FN10’s Written by: Rod Maksimovich (Racecougar) Whether you prefer a smooth, stock ride, or something a bit firmer and performance oriented, after twenty-plus years of service, all of these cars deserve a thorough inspection and possibly...
www.sccoa.com

Long story short, the knuckle has one upper and two lower bushings. The lower control arm has two bushings (toward the middle of the car). The upper control arm has one bushing (toward the middle of the car).
 
I can't answer your question cause I have not gotten to the rear end yet, but I congratulate you on taking the time to replace the parts. Only a couple tips I can think of:
Cougar and Thunderbird require a 4 wheel alignment when replacing suspension/steering parts.
The half shafts and bearings can get pretty warn and you may want to change those while your at it. Especially if the boots are torn.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Long story short, the knuckle has one upper and two lower bushings. The lower control arm has two bushings (toward the middle of the car). The upper control arm has one bushing (toward the middle of the car).
Click to expand...
Ok, so the "rear to frame" kit is the 2 bushings for the lower arm, the "rear upper to frame" is the camber adjust bushing (of which there is just one per side, despite the manual saying 2 per side), and the "rear at knuckle (upper)" is the top knuckle bushing. In that case, what are the two lower knuckle bushings? Are they repeats of the rear to frame lower arm bushings or something completely different and not for sale as aftermarket on RA? Do I have to go in search of NOS OEM for those?
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Avoid that mevotech UCA bushing like the plague, that’s clearly the one where camber adjustment is impossible
Click to expand...
It looks like the inner core is a separate piece. Does it not rotate freely? Did they mold rubber inside there around so that it binds?
 
White Lincoln said:
I can't answer your question cause I have not gotten to the rear end yet, but I congratulate you on taking the time to replace the parts. Only a couple tips I can think of:
Cougar and Thunderbird require a 4 wheel alignment when replacing suspension/steering parts.
The half shafts and bearings can get pretty warn and you may want to change those while your at it. Especially if the boots are torn.
Click to expand...
The horror. I hope I don't find that I need those, too. This vehicle has less than 100k on it. The roads here are hell on suspensions, so those parts go quickly, but maybe I'll get lucky with the drive components. I have yet to jack it up and take a good look at everything back there.
 
Torque said:
Ok, so the "rear to frame" kit is the 2 bushings for the lower arm, the "rear upper to frame" is the camber adjust bushing (of which there is just one per side, despite the manual saying 2 per side), and the "rear at knuckle (upper)" is the top knuckle bushing. In that case, what are the two lower knuckle bushings? Are they repeats of the rear to frame lower arm bushings or something completely different and not for sale as aftermarket on RA? Do I have to go in search of NOS OEM for those?
Click to expand...
Yes. Your "rear to frame" kit should be the inner lower control arm bushings. Those look fine.

As XR&-4.6 noted, do not purchase that Mevotech "rear upper to frame" bushing. It will not work. I recently purchased the Dorman BC851536PR for this and it should articulate properly like it is supposed to.

Your "rear at knuckle (upper)" should be fine.

I don't see the "rear at knuckle (lower)" bushings listed anywhere. Not sure on those. I don't have any experience with the Energy Suspension 43163G kit and details on it are a bit sparse. I see some places list it as a rear knuckle kit. It has six bushings and it says one set does the whole car. Maybe someone else here can chime in on that.
 
White Lincoln said:
I can't answer your question cause I have not gotten to the rear end yet, but I congratulate you on taking the time to replace the parts. Only a couple tips I can think of:
Cougar and Thunderbird require a 4 wheel alignment when replacing suspension/steering parts.
The half shafts and bearings can get pretty warn and you may want to change those while your at it. Especially if the boots are torn.
Click to expand...
I just wanted to add a tid bit here. When you get the 4 wheel alignment make sure you tell them the torque spec for the camber is 180 ft lbs for the fronts (not sure if it's the same for the rear) I've had major issues with my 97 not staying aligned because they don't tighten them tight enough and this has happened more than once at different shops.
 
Torque said:
The horror. I hope I don't find that I need those, too. This vehicle has less than 100k on it. The roads here are hell on suspensions, so those parts go quickly, but maybe I'll get lucky with the drive components. I have yet to jack it up and take a good look at everything back there.
Click to expand...
You are fine at 100k. BUT! It's time to replace the rear differential grease.
 
I installed the energy suspension 43163G kit and it works well. Pleased with it.
 
Kidd-7 said:
I installed the energy suspension 43163G kit and it works well. Pleased with it.
Click to expand...

This image shows 8 bushings: 4.3163G

The kit clearly doesn't include the eccentric camber adjustment bushings.
12 total replaceable bushings minus cambers = 10, but only 8 are included, so there must be another bushing per side missing from the kit.
Too bad manufacturers choose to make things more difficult than necessary. They know which bushings are needed for a complete rebuild, but no, giving you everything you need in one product/kit (or parts house) would be too convenient. I guess I'm supposed to just be happy that any parts are available for this old car.
 
For sure the eccentric is sold separately. I don’t remember what else I bought to replace those bushings, it’s been too long.
 
The
Torque said:
This image shows 8 bushings: 4.3163G

The kit clearly doesn't include the eccentric camber adjustment bushings.
12 total replaceable bushings minus cambers = 10, but only 8 are included, so there must be another bushing per side missing from the kit.
Too bad manufacturers choose to make things more difficult than necessary. They know which bushings are needed for a complete rebuild, but no, giving you everything you need in one product/kit (or parts house) would be too convenient. I guess I'm supposed to just be happy that any parts are available for this old car.
Click to expand...
People may only need to replace certain parts so they separate the pieces for sale. Not enough volume with these cars to make another packaging as to sell it all in a kit
 
The upper inner is a pain in the ass. To get it out, use an air hammer to dent it on three sides, deep enough that it falls out. You have to support the arm with a socket as you press the new one in
 
It's beginning to look like I'll have to press out the lower knuckle bushings just to get specs on them and see whether I can obtain them outside of the urethanes (Energy Suspension).

I had planned to go with rubber all around (granny ride), since I use this car as a cruiser only. Urethane if I absolutely must. Delrin on the horrible streets here is no joy, would be massive NVH.

I only have the one vehicle, which is why I was wanting to be sure what I need ahead of time, so as to not put my car out of commission waiting no telling how long for parts to arrive.

Hopefully, the lower knuckles are just repeats of the inner lower arm ones.

Also hoping at under 100k my subframe bushings are good. Last time I checked, they were ok, but that was years ago, so I guess I should verify they're good first, since I might give up and sell the car if they're shot and I can't get new rubber ones. I think I've seen some plastic kits out there for these, but again NVH.
 
I thought SCP had some, but they only sell poly or delrin.
 
Others might differ but I truly don’t notice the ride quality degradation of urethane vs rubber in the IRS, it’s frankly imperceptible outside the positive aspects(seriously diminishing wheel hop in my case). I didn’t need a press to press them out either, I just used threaded rod, nuts, washers etc and some pipe to draw them into.
 
The trw oem ones are on ra.
I thought poly was much, stiffer,but I did the entire irs,sport springs with poly cups, everything at once. The new poly cups raised the rear a good half inch.
 
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Didn't really read through this thread, so I'm not sure if it's been answered or not, but Amazon has the upper rear control arm bushing.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Didn't really read through this thread, so I'm not sure if it's been answered or not, but Amazon has the upper rear control arm bushing.
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*had
Now says "Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
My experience is that such items rarely return. I found it from other sellers who claim to stock it.
 
Torque said:
*had
Now says "Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
My experience is that such items rarely return. I found it from other sellers who claim to stock it.
Click to expand...
Search by the product number or name, sometimes the link is specific to one vendor and there are other vendors that may have it, but did not show up.

There is always eBay.... (Yikes!)
 
KevinVarnes said:

More Information for DORMAN BC851536PR

www.rockauto.com
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My rebuild order has been sitting in the RA cart, waiting to find out whether the lower knuckle bushings are repeats of the lower arm to frame pair.
The manual has arrows pointing to the lower knuckle bushings and the callout number for both is 8, same as the number for the lower arm to frame rearmost bushing.

But, since the bushings in that pair are different from one another, does that mean both lower knuckle bushings are actually identical to the rearmost lower arm to frame one? If so, that means, I'll have to order 3 pairs just to get 3 of that bushing, which will leave me with 2 spare foremost arm to frame bushings that I will have paid for and will almost certainly never use. Good thing the pair isn't very expensive.

If the manual is wrong and the lower knuckle pair is just a repeat of the lower arm to frame pair, then that would be better.
It also says 2 camber bushings are required PER side, so the manual isn't perfect.

From the CD manual (is the paper one the same?):
rear bushings.gif
rear bushings 2.png
 
The Knuckle bushings are totally different than the irs side.
 
Right, the bushings would be "blown" out and numbered. I believe 8 is referring to the LCA itself. None of the parts state bushing. And the knuckle business are smaller than the Arm to frame. If my knuckle bushing kit shows in the mail tomorrow, I can take a picture.
 
Grog6 said:
The Knuckle bushings are totally different than the irs side.
Click to expand...
Are these available separately like the rest of the bushings? I can't seem to find them for sale outside of urethane kits.
 
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