James

Hey Guys,
I finally got my car in for the installation of my Vlamos lower control arm bushes. I started the thread a month or so ago and promised that I would finish it off with the ease or difficulty of installation.

The technician was very experienced and once the arms were off the car he took a grand total of maybe 30 minutes for each arm to chisel out the old bushes and press in the Vlamos bushes. He did this by burning out the rubber/sleeve and then air chisseling out the bush sleeve. I was impressed with how easy and fast it was with the right tools and technician. He commented that the Vlamos bushes were impressive given their OEM-like molded/machined construction.

In total I replaced both front shocks as one was leaking oil, the lower control arm bushes, and the entire set of tires as mine were almost bald. The transformation in handling and ride quality was nothing short of amazing and I attribute half to the front end repairs & alignment and half to the new rubber as I didn't change the rubber until the day after I did the front end. I must say that my rear control arm bushes were showing initial signs of slight cracks but they were far from complete failure.

I would recommend that any front end worries be first addressed with a new set of tires and an alignment if you are driving on worn out tires.

Cheers,
James

Buttercup

So how's the ride quality?

By the way, do you know how long it took for the mechanic to take off the old bushings off the arm? Was it longer than putting the Vlamos on? How much did it costs to do all 4 lower control arms?

One HoT

iTrader: (5)

James..Where do you purchase Valmos bushings? Do you have any pictures of the actual product? Thanks

James

Air chisseling them out took 20 minutes and pressing in the new ones took about 10 minutes for each lower control arm.

The ride quality is the same as it was before but everything is tight now.

You can e-mail Andrew Vlamos at vlamos@bigpond.com for pictures and more info.

James