Rear subframe bushings

[millbrilesabre]

I'm replacing my rear control arm bushings, subframe "insulators," and trailing arms. I have the rear subframe out now and as you can see, one of the bushings is partially split. There are no replacements available. Oem is discontinued and there is no aftermarket part. Idk if this is causing any isues yet but if not then it probably will before long and I dont want to have to take this damn subframe out again.

Do you think I should do a diy bushing replacement with window weld? Or just leave it as is? Or do you have another solution?

 

[millbrilesabre]

Maybe I will just get a liquid rubber compound and fill the voids... Bad idea?

I want to keep this cars handling soft like its meant to be, so this may not be ideal. But maybe if I go with a softer durometer rubber it will help prevent the original part from falling apart and flexing too much, without adding a ton of stiffness and nvh....?

 

[millbrilesabre]

Its not as bad as it sounds on paper. Disconnecting the parking brake was the hardest part for me. Getting things back in place and lined up correctly will be difficult but with 2 jacks it should work out fine.

Ignore the fact that I have these dirty car parts next to a mattress. Oops. Just realized it while I was uploading the pic. You didn't see that.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

I'm replacing my rear control arm bushings, subframe "insulators," and trailing arms. I have the rear subframe out now and as you can see, one of the bushings is partially split. There are no replacements available. Oem is discontinued and there is no aftermarket part. Idk if this is causing any isues yet but if not then it probably will before long and I dont want to have to take this damn subframe out again.

Do you think I should do a diy bushing replacement with window weld? Or just leave it as is? Or do you have another solution?

your best bet is using something with a hard enough durometer to stiffen it but i ultimately think you would possibly cause a vibration in the event it is not that bad ./worn , I wish you didnt pull this down without more looking into it , because the rear subframe and control arms are usually very unrelated to shaking especially under constant throttle

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Clean up the mount and show me more closely if you can

And there not being any replacement mounts sucks but its fortunately not a complex rubber mount, its simply a sleeve inside a molded rubber donut
The crappy part is we dont know how much strength or thickness its intended to be ,so we cant match it

But if its bad as it may be possibly, a urethane would work, but to keep it soft like you desire we will see what we got going on.

You should consider a rear sway bar at this time since you already have that all down cleaning up your underbody, spray any prevention methods you might want , a set of brackets/end links/bushings you could have a much crisper steering (Thus less body roll in a corner ) without loss of ride quality

This will also make the rear end have less tendencies in crosswinds and curves

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Also control arm bushings in the rear, you should inspect them, they are the hardest suspension part because doing them requires dropping the subframe which you already did. they are available from multiple sources , some NOS , and they dont go bad very fast (220k on mine, not even a noticeable issue with them)

 

[millbrilesabre]

your best bet is using something with a hard enough durometer to stiffen it but i ultimately think you would possibly cause a vibration in the event it is not that bad ./worn , I wish you didnt pull this down without more looking into it , because the rear subframe and control arms are usually very unrelated to shaking especially under constant throttle

My control arm bushings are bad and preventing a proper alignment so thats the main reason I was doing all this. Just found the subframe bushing issue by chance.

By bad I mean, i thought i saw some play in them with the wheel shake test. But its not very bad at all, the rubber is all still there and it wasn't really free play it was just extra flexy. But upon removal, they look a bit deformed and the center pins were not bonded to the rubber, they pushed straight out. My alignment was close but even with my shocks fully inflated my camber was still a little too negative and i think that was at least partially becauze of the LCA bushings. Could also be from the rearmost rear subframe insulators/bushings which are definitely bad and luckily i have replacements for those. I'll add more pics tomorrow

Whats the best way to remove the LCA bushings? I have a shop press but idk how I would use it for these, the shape of the control arm makes it very awkward. And the back side of the control arm is the same diameter as the lip of the bushing for like 95% of it's circumference, so there isn't much to press against. all it has is a tiny flat spot so that makes it difficult, idk if it would even be possible to use a shop press for these.

 

[millbrilesabre]

I would like to add a sway bar. I already bought new links and bushings not knowing I didnt have the bar! Cuz i wanted to refresh everything and i saw them listed for this car so I assumed they would fit. I may check the junkyard for the bar tomorrow.

 

[HotZ28]

The simple solution is to replace the control arms with new units that have the bushings already installed!

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

The simple solution is to replace the control arms with new units that have the bushings already installed!

do they sell new ones? They havent been made since 2011 and since they arent high wear, theres zero reason to do that
Just push out the old ones and put the new ones
Id just google it , there should be a way to use something to help push it out, like a hand held ball joint tool or something (for vehicles with removeable ones that press in)

 

[CottonPicker]

I have an 05 with worn out REAR lower control arm bushings. Been looking for the past 2 years. Rear wheel alignment is off. Easy to see this on a hoist how the rubber is failing on all 4 LCA Bushings. Seem to be similar to the Front Lower control arm bushing in how the fail. Searched old stock for bushing and arms. Wrote to Moog. Was told to make my own and they gave some p/n.

 

[millbrilesabre]

I have an 05 with worn out REAR lower control arm bushings. Been looking for the past 2 years. Rear wheel alignment is off. Easy to see this on a hoist how the rubber is failing on all 4 LCA Bushings. Seem to be similar to the Front Lower control arm bushing in how the fail. Searched old stock for bushing and arms. Wrote to Moog. Was told to make my own and they gave some p/n.

The bushings are available from mevotech, i got them from rockauto. I have had them for years now because I decided to hold off on doing the job after I realized how involved it was.

Maybe when I reassemble I'll take enough pics for a writeup

 

[DrivenDaily]

Its not as bad as it sounds on paper. Disconnecting the parking brake was the hardest part for me. Getting things back in place and lined up correctly will be difficult but with 2 jacks it should work out fine.

Ignore the fact that I have these dirty car parts next to a mattress. Oops. Just realized it while I was uploading the pic. You didn't see that.

Yeah, that's just bad form, man! I mean, who in their right mind has car parts in a garage? 😀

 

[millbrilesabre]

Here are a couple more pics of the bad front one (front of rear subframe, to be confusing), and the 2 that I actually have replacements for.

Forgot to take pics of the LCA bushings but I got 2 out and 2 almost there. I ended up using a hacksaw to cut a slit in the metal and then a chisel and hammer to bang the sides in, and lastly I used a 34mm axle nut socket as a drift to pound them out.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Here are a couple more pics of the bad front one (front of rear subframe, to be confusing), and the 2 that I actually have replacements for.

Forgot to take pics of the LCA bushings but I got 2 out and 2 almost there. I ended up using a hacksaw to cut a slit in the metal and then a chisel and hammer to bang the sides in, and lastly I used a 34mm axle nut socket as a drift to pound them out.

If you wanna clean them up i think you can definitely try window weld, personally if you didnt have obvious flex in the subframe while on the car torqued down, id avoid using window weld, if you use it conservatively you can probably reinfroce the tears without making it too stiff (might transmit vibrations if stiffer)

 

[millbrilesabre]

Well I found out that the discontinued one comes out real easy, I thought I would have to destroy it to remove it but i decided to try and give it some light taps just to see what would happen, and it popped right out.

Its part #15237958 and the gm parts catalog shows it was also used in the 2011 lucerne and dts so I guess I will try to grab a good one at the junkyard from the newest one of those I can find.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Well I found out that the discontinued one comes out real easy, I thought I would have to destroy it to remove it but i decided to try and give it some light taps just to see what would happen, and it popped right out.

Its part #15237958 and the gm parts catalog shows it was also used in the 2011 lucerne and dts so I guess I will try to grab a good one at the junkyard from the newest one of those I can find.

worth a shot, thats a good sign, because i think the 1998-2000 or 1998-2001 cars use a different one(2000 lesabre is the earliest in lesabre, but Aurora, Park Avenue, Riviera, and a cadillac go back to the 90s)
That means the same cadillac also goes back that far.
Expand your search with 2002-2005 Boneville
2002-2003 Aurora
2002-2005 Park Avenue
2002-2006 Cadillac (something) as well as 2006-2011 Cadillac

while youre at it, if the car is low mileage, the REAR SHOCKS are superior in everyway, and their rear sway bar may be better than the one you sourced (whats yours from?)
There is other things you can rob off them if you desire, such as the air compresor and bracket assembly, the height sensor, 3800 and 3..9?3.6? are the only compatible years for wheel bearings/brakes etc

The rear brakes are bigger than your lesabre, the front brakes are too, requiring larger diameter wheels but just figured to throw out there. Master cylinder might be worth ripping in case they differ and they can be used for better use of those brakes. just a thought.

The wiper motors covers electronics would be useable to adapt Rainsense to cars without it, but youd need the sensor and wiring , but the cover is easy to get.

The engine/trans mounts if you got them OE and used in good condition, are also superior. harder to get tho. Underhood lamps if you dont have one might work
Cadillac and possibly buick lucerne may have an aluminum spare, if they do, its lighter and will work on your car and fit in the well.
Wheels all swap

 

[millbrilesabre]

TY for all that info! I did not have a sway bar yet, but I pulled one yesterday from an 08 lucerne. I also took both of the rear subframe mounts which were a little different than mine, the rubber looked solid all the way around but they were hollow with a fluid sloshing around inside. I forgot to take pics before it was too late.. I did notice the shocks looked a lot beefier, I'll have to keep that in mind for potential future upgrades.
I got all the bushings done and the subframe back in the car yesterday with the swaybar mounted. Planning to finish everything up today

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

TY for all that info! I did not have a sway bar yet, but I pulled one yesterday from an 08 lucerne. I also took both of the rear subframe mounts which were a little different than mine, the rubber looked solid all the way around but they were hollow with a fluid sloshing around inside. I forgot to take pics before it was too late.. I did notice the shocks looked a lot beefier, I'll have to keep that in mind for potential future upgrades.
I got all the bushings done and the subframe back in the car yesterday with the swaybar mounted. Planning to finish everything up today

the lucerne mounts were different? do you know what year?

 

[millbrilesabre]

the lucerne mounts were different? do you know what year?

An 08. cxl trim. The yard actually had 2 of them side by side that were the exact same year, model, and even color. And both said cxl. So I took 1 from each, they were both the same.