okay, so my dilemma is that my coilovers have been here for a week or so. I've been trying my hardest to find a daizen bushing set (might have found one, but i digress) to no avail. The reason i'm looking for the bushings is because i've looked at the front control arm bushings (mainly upper, haven't looked at lower) and they look pretty worn. My main question is, can I install the coils (and run them pretty low) and be alright for a while during which time i look for either a bushing set or new lower arms? I've got the highway shake above 70 and under braking, which leads me to believe lower control arm/caster bushing. I can get a set of LCAs for around 350 and would likely be able to install them myself. I would be installing the coils on my own as well. Or, in the case of the bushings, i would need them pressed in etc.

But, main question, would I be alright riding somewhat low on worn out bushings for a little while (maybe a few weeks max?) before correcting the bushing issue? Ball joints seem to be okay as well.

 

I am pretty sure you cannot replace the bushings in the upper control arms, you will need to replace the whole control arm as they are one piece. You can however replace the bushings in the lower control arms.

 

The shake above 70 may be tire balance, and the shake with braking may be rotors out of round. Worn arm bushings don't necessarily cause shaking. The previous are much more common. Your alignment will certainly suffer if they are worn that much. It seems if you're going to replace coilovers you may as well make sure everything is in order.

 

i think that should be fine. as long as you replace it on the long run. as long as the whole arm isnt moving side to side.

 

i should also include the fact that i believe the car had front end work done about 45k miles ago? The tires have been balanced numerous times but i may have lost a weight here or there. The front rotors may also be to blame. I had just read about the lower arms going bad causing the vibration.

i was under the impression that the daizen kit came with upper and lower CA bushings? I know the upper balljoint is one piece but i thought the rear ones were replaceable. Ah well. Hopefully my MT exhaust should come in monday at which point I'll install it and the coils and get her all aligned up. Now i just gotta find wheels. Thanks fellas.

 

I'm not sure what you are looking for in asking for approval?
The parts will probably not likely fail causing you to crash if you do your changes in 2 phases.

However when doing things in 2phases, you need to get a realignment after doing your suspension changes or you'll wear out your tires.
If you are going for 2 phases, you maybe redoing some labor work, dissassembling and reassembling, not to mention paying for 2 alignments.

After all of this, as the other people said, the changes you mentioned might not be solving the specific issues you were noticing.

 

obviously it would be ideal for me to do everything all at once; i know this.

I'm just calling upon members who have had coilovers for a long time or people who are very experienced with suspension geometry to make sure it will be okay for me to ride on the coils for a short time while i'm in the process of sourcing the other parts. I realize i'd be redoing some labor, but if i replace the lower arms myself it's more a PITA than anything. Having the arms removed and bushings pressed out, costly. But thank you for your insight.

 

Tanabe Medallion Touring? Probably my favorite GS exhaust! I've got the poor man's MT sitting here, Magnaflow's with double-walled tips.

 

haha yeah, snagged an unbelievable deal on one (huge thanks to jonny2k) that i couldn't pass up. Will be posting pics and sound clips once it's installed

 

I have the Daizen set and it comes with upper and lower control arm bushings.

BTW: J you have a pm.