I have a 1996 Plymouth Neon Highline. I was told that my back (vertical) bushings are bad and need to be replaced. How easy is it to replace these bushings? Will a simple farm press do the job or do i need special tools to do it? Or would it be easier to have a service or machine shop press them for me and what would the cost be roughly? Thanks!!!

 

you need to remove the control arm..the one verticle bolt in the back, a horizontal one up front, the lower ball joint, and the sway bar(if equiped)...a farm press should do just fine...you shouldnt have any problems...

 

If you can get a polyurethane bushing set, even better. Prothane's complete kit is under $90. It'll help a little bit with wheel hop, and get rid of the "70 mph shakes" that most neons have.

I don't think I'd bother replacing the ball joint unless it's wiggling. But definitely both of the bushings.

Best of luck!

 

i had to replace my bushings a while back, the worst part was removing the old bushing that was molded onto the sleeve/spacer thing, took forever, of course I have an 03, didn't have a press available to put new bushing in, but had a crap load of grade 8 bolts, washers, and nuts laying around, did the trick just find. Only broke one of the bolts I was using to press, man did it hurt when it snapped

 

Be sure to read the instructions with whatever bushings you go with. I'm sure stock rubber replacements will want the entire thing pressed out. My prothanes were designed to leave the original outer shell in there, so I burned out the ole rubber with a torch...