Pinto Car Club of America

 Today had someone tell me he could see where one on the drivers side had moved up and down,by looking at where it goes to the frame.So he says it needs to be replaced.I do hear a clunk once in a while on that side.

So is it something I can do myself? Has anyone done it before? Will I need to get an alignment,is there some way to approximate it good?

Do I have to get under the car o get to the bolt at the frame? I could see where the rod went in but not the other side.

Polyurethane or rubber? I hear a lot of people say polyurethane ones caused strut rods to break,and other people say 10 years and they never had it happen.

Strut rod bushings are easy to do. Support the car on jack stands under the lower control arms. Remove the tires. Remove the nut, large washer and old bushing from the strut rod (on the inside of the frame rail) then remove the 2 nuts at the other end that attach to the lower control arm. Make sure you position the jack stands so they are not in the way of the 2 nuts. With the car sitting on the jack stands positioned under the control arms makes it easy to remove the rod. It may need a little tapping to get it loose from the control arm. Once removed the remaining bushing can be removed and everything cleaned up. Install new bushings of your choice and reinstall it. Actual time to r&r one side is about 30 minutes...not very long at all. I actually have to remove the ones on my car to install the headers so if you need pics let me know and I'll send you some. For just a daily driver stock bushings will last a very long time. I've never heard of strut rods breaking due to using urethane bushings before. If the car hasn't been aligned in quite some time it probably wouldn't hurt to it. Funny wear on the tires or the car pulling to one side or another also indicates the need. Let me know if you need those pics.

 Thanks I feel more encouraged now to try it myself :)

Can you post the piictures or do you want to email them to me? Anything will help give me confidence. Or maybe keep me from cussing as much.

I have seen what they call a bushing kit for about $20 and another one says bushings and shows more pieces,and its over $50. I would think only the rubber parts need to be changed.