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I’ve posted about this issue before, but it continues to get worse and eat through tires, which is a bit more alarming now because it’s winter and even though the weather has been mild this year, I don’t want to end up in a ditch or worse because of this (and now the SRS system has a fault- so it’s disabled) the part in question is a “rear lower rearward suspension bushing” according to an auto tech friend of mine….or at least, that’s what he was able to come up with
I did manage to find a home repair video from someone with an ’05 Endeavor (similar chassis) who used some DIY ingenuity to remove the old bushing and replace it (here) Would this be a viable method to replace the part, or should we wait until we can afford to have it done by a shop/dealership? I’ll attach some pictures of both sides to give a better idea of the damage. Any help is greatly appreciated!
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My daughter went through the same thing with her Galant. No bushings were available and the entire part (called a steering knuckle for some odd reason) was only available through the dealer for about 250 each. Part only, no labor.
I’m a bit one-up as I have a metal lathe but what i did is take a round piece of aluminum stock and cut several solid bushings out of it to replace the rubber/steel ones. It worked fine, stopped the wandering, and eliminated the fast tire wear problems.
I used aluminum because it’s so easy to work with. I think the piece of aluminum was about 2 dollars and it took me about half an hour to whittle a couple of them out. Hope that idea helps you in some way.
Well, considering we only have tools equivalent to “baby’s first toolbox” because of [insert long story here] that may not be so easy…but, there may be a metalworking shop nearby that can machine a couple of those for us. As far as finding the part, I found a “front lower rearward” bushing on RockAuto, but I have no clue if that’s interchangeable for the rear as well. I’ll check with the local dealer service dept and see what they say. Thanks for the idea though ^-^ I may be able to do something with that
*Edit: A quick google search later, and I was able to find the correct part elsewhere, so I guess now I’m just worried about getting the old bushing out. In the video, the guy used a sawzall to make a few relief cuts in the metal collar of the old bushing to get it out, and used lube, a 2″ (?) plumbing nipple, and a large socket to push the new one in. Sounds like it’d work without a hitch, but I want to get outside opinions before I get halfway though and realize I made a big mistake
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