Well, we're putting a master kit in a Classic soon, just wondering if anyone has any tips? I've got access to a nice press. Is there a good order for doing things? We'd like to have the car down for only a weekend at a time. Thanks in advance.

The front end is pretty straightforward. You might as well check the tie rod ends, and replace the ball joints while you have the control arms out. I have heard of a few people who've had problems with the rear lower control arm bolts, they've bent or broken them.

Chris
92 SE-R with full ES kit (except rear control arms!)

Hardest part for me was separating the #$%# balljoint. After I bought a good separator (like in the FSM) things went a LOT better. You should definitely think about doing the balljoints at the same time, "while you're in there"

For the actual bushings you should have no problems with a press. The front control arms only have one bushing assembly each that needs to be pressed in/out. The other larger bushing can be removed with a vice and a minimal amount of elbow grease.

The rears however look like a major PITA, which is why most people (myself included) have only the front bushings installed. There's two arms on each side, and each one has two bushings to r&r. I would do the fronts first and then evaluate how long you think it will take for the rears vs. how badly you want the bushings replaced back there.

This is a trick that Scott Higashi sent to the mailing list a few years ago, and it works like a charm!

********************
Here's my own trick to remove the ball joint...

Take a 14mm open end wrench and put the "crow's foot"
between the balljoint nut and the spindle/hub. Basically
straddle the BJ bolt. Then, loosen the BJ nut back against
the wrench to "press" the balljoint out. It'll break free with a bang, but it'll break free!

Works every time, and I've done it a LOT!

-Scott
********************

Chris

heh heh... you said bj... heh heh...

Thanks for the help guys. My biggest concern now is the 140,000+ miles of Michigan rust on the bolts.

I installed the ES MasterKit on my classic.
I had the hardest time removing the front control arm bushings. Since you have a press, it shouldn't be a problem for you, though you may still want to heat up the outside of the bushing to soften the adhesive that hold's them in.
I'd recommend that you replace the front ball joints while you have your suspension apart. In contrast to Scarpa, I didn't have much of a problem getting them off. After removing the retaining clips, I moved the ball joint area of the control arm so that it hung over the edge of my driveway just above the lawn then stood on the opposite end and finally took a precise SWACK to it with my 12 pound mallet. One or two hits were all it took to remove them.
Regarding the difficulty in replacing the rear bushings, I'd say they were easy from my experience. A propane torch and something to push them out, say a long screwdriver, is all you need. Shell Black's documented proceedure on www.se-r.net is quite helpful.

Hope this helps,

Doing ES bushings?

Goto your local hardware store and get a 15 dollar propane torch.

Heat the bushings up evenly (yes they will catch on fire :) ) and then depending on how bad your stockers are, they will 'pop' out or they will need a bit of persuasion (just give em a shove with a screwdriver)
This will make a mess. After you have the old bushing out, heat the arm up and burn off all the crap (sticky black tar) then clean em up with some degreaser/fine sandpaper, paint em (if you like) and grease the shit out of them (I would rather have a bit of grease all over all of the suspension pieces than have squeaks) and then install.. and go get an alignment ;)

the only one that does not just burn out is one in the front control arm (small one towards the front of the car on both front control arms) this one will have to be slit and hammered out, basically, you take your hacksaw apart, and put it back together with the blade inside the hole, then slit the sleeve, and hammer it out.

Takes about two hours to burn out all the bushings and clean the pieces, and install new bushings.
Then just bolt it all back into the car ;)

david lau

The main problem I had was 11 Ohio winters and bushing sleeves on the rear suspension. I needed 2 new bolts (the long ones at each corner) because the metal sleeve in the bushing was now part of the bolt. I could not remove the driver's side toe adjusting bolt because of the same problem.
So I have a full ES bushing kit minus one OEM (270,000 mile) bushing.

Can someone give me a price on the Master Bushing kit from ES.
And does this bushing kit cover any of the Moter mounts??

Hey Its311Pete,

I got my master bushing kit from the below web site. The master bushing kit does not come with the motor mount bushings.

http://www.suspension.com/nissancars.htm

I hope this helps,

SE-R Newbie