Has anyone had any experience working on the suspension of these neons? I need new control arm bushings and im contemplating taking it to a shop or not.

 

i installed the complete prothane suspension bushing kit on my car....putting in the new bushings was really easy, the problem was getting the old ones out

 

could you give me some details?

 

well its fairly easyto remove the control arms, but once they are out, you will need to burn the old bushings out (causes alot of ash and smoke so dont do it around anything important). once the old ones are completely burnt out, press the new bushings in with a press or a vise.

then, to install the control arm back into the cross member, take a pry bar and pry the rear opening of the cross member when the control arm sits open a bit wider....then lube it up with some grease...then use a rubber mallet to beat the control arm back into its location...

sounds harder then it is

 

ill prolly wind up buying whole new control arms to make life easier :rofl:

 

not like there is much of a price difference between new control arms and just the bushings....only like $300-$400

 

new control arm with bushings and a new ball joint is 180x2

 

$360 compared to the $100 for the bushing kit....
though the bushing kit also gives you:
tie rod boots
front and rear sway bar bushings
front and rear sway bar end link bushings
front control arm bushings
rear trailing arm bushings
rear lateral support bushings
and i htink a few others...

notto mention it extremely increases your cornering and handleing abilities

 

took some pics on the passenger side today

Control Arm Bushings



Ball Joint



Sway bar link


tierod