When I hit bumps (which are everywhere this time of year in Minnesota) I feel loeseness in my front suspension/steering system. My car is Sport Package equipped and I run low profile tires (Blizzaks this time of year) so there is a very direct road/driver relationship. With 120K miles some of the parts have to be deteriorated. How do I determine which parts to replace and how may I take this opportunity to upgrade to Dinan or other parts?
Upper control arm bushings are suspect number one here. If you jack the car up you can pry in a couple of carefully selected spots (careful, mush of your suspension is aluminum!) to check the condition of those bushings. Ball joints can be checked with a big pair of channelocks (you have to squeeze the joint and look for any play.)
The rubber bushings can go bad rather quickly on these rides so +1 on the control arms (thrust arm bushings?). You can replace those puppies with the M5 or X5 bushings for better performance and longer life (ask me how I know). I had the infamous shimmy and it disappeared after replacing the thrust arm bushings...my wheel bearings tested fine. With the miles on your suspension, I'd opt to replace everything up front bushing wise, test and possible replace the wheel bearing since you're in there and probably go with a better sway bar too (just my opinion). With all new bushings up front, you should get that solid feel you're wanting to experience...
Yes, the upper control arm bushings are the same thing as the thrust arm bushing. Wheel bearings should only be replaced when they are bad, and you will know because they will make quite a noise before going out on you.
