Front Suspension Bushings

[Grizzly5984]

So, I bought my 1988 Festiva L a little while back, and it has had one little problem since I've had it. When I brake to turn left there is a popping noise coming from the left front wheel and/or suspension. So I figured I'd start with bushings, control arms and tie rod ends since they need replacing anyway.

From RockAuto, I've found most of what I need, but some of it is a bit confusing when it comes to the bushings.

I need the bushings for the stabilizer bar where it mounts to the frame along with where it mounts to the control arms. If I buy the control arm assemblies with ball joints, do I still need to buy what is labeled as control arm bushings?

Is there anything else I need to check while I'm in there? I feel like I'm somewhat beating a dead horse here, but I haven't been able to find a straight answer.

Thanks in advance, Chandler.

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[Team Lightning]

Most of the control arms I’ve bought had the sway bar to control bar bushings with them. For the sway bar to frame bushings, check with the Festiva store. Ben sells bushings and much other stuff for Festiva’s on there. There should be a link to the store on here.

[ryanprins13]

Hi! And welcome to the forum. The popping noise is likely the ball joint which comes with the lca. If the bushings are basically falling off itl do that too.
So you need the front sway bar to rad support bushings.
Some control arms come with the outer control arm to sway bar bushings and some dont. They all come with the inner control arm to frame bushings.
Moog control arms are preferred, cheaper brands tend to not last long. One person said the acdelco outlasted the moog, but most just buy moog. Moog doesnt come with the the outer bushings. I bought the mas outer bushings off rockauto and they are incredibly hard urethane. I orderer the moog bushings to use instead, i didnt like them. I also dont believe the moog lca's i got from rockauto are actually moog so i ordered another set from here:

http://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/products/ford_festiva_1992

They are still in the mail.
Just check your tie rod ends before you order. No sense in doing the ball joints and then finding out you have to order the tie rod ends right away.

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[WmWatt]

Jack up the car and push and pull on things to see what's loose. A pry bar helps. When I bought control arms (ball joints) the rubber bushing for teh end fo teh sway bar came with them. When I replace the sway bar front bushings I had to go to FourGreen who shipped them from Korea by FedEx for which shipping cost as much as the bushing but still not a lot.

Popping noises could be the universal joint in the axle (CV or constant velocity joint). The usual test is to drive slowly in tight turns in a parking lot, forward and backward, and see it that makes the noise happen. Lots of posts in this forum on replacing CV joints.

[jawja jim]

I had a similar noise which was a bad control arm to sway bar bushing. When it failed completely, it caused severe torque steer.

[Grizzly5984]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses. I should have just gone to the moog website to begin with.

I have my bushings sorted out now.

I've searched but haven't found the answer for a CV axle question. Does anyone make HD axle replacement? If so, where do y'all prefer getting them from?

Rockauto.com has them from Cardone for 44.70 per side, but I wanted to get a more experienced opinion before I pulled the trigger.

Thanks, Chandler.

[Grizzly5984]

Ended up ordering all of my parts from Moog, other than the sway bar to frame bushings. I ordered them from SuperPro. Got new LCAs, outer tie rod ends, sway bar to control arm bushings, and sway bar to frame bushings installed Saturday.

The car handles completely different!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys.

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[ryanprins13]

Good to hear! Its a nice feeling to have a festiva that drives smooth eh?
I just got my moog suspension parts from the website i linked you today actually. Looks like one i got from rockauto was a real moog and the other likely isnt.
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[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I've got several Festies with worn out sway-bar-to-chassis bushings. I'd thought we had no source for those!

What SuperPro p/n works? I see spf1478-<nn>k, where <nn> is ID in mm (22, 24, or 26).

Interestingly SuperPro only shows these as suitable for 1991 to 93 Festies. Isn't the swap bar stuff the same across all years? I need bushings right now for 88/89LX.

BTW, I checked with O'Reilly today on this -- nothing available.

[WmWatt]

I got mine from Four Green

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I purchased two sets of sway bar to LCA bushings from O'Reilly. They gave me MasterPro K9737 "Strut Bar Bushing." Much to my surprise, their ID is too small to fit onto the ends of the sway bar. They're some sort of quite hard plastic with no "flex."

So I took the sway bar and useless bushings back to the store so they could see for themselves. The clerk tried to force one on and it cracked right in her hand. She looked at the box and saw a 2012 manufacture date and said "That's why -- they're old. I said "Noway, suspension parts like this should last 10+ years. She said "That's all we sell" and gave me a refund.

I had previously purchased two LCAs from O'Reilly. They're made by "Precision Control Arms" p/n PRE 2CB40029." They came with rubber outer bushings, so I used them to reinstall my sway bar (whose bushings were shot -- probably original 1988).

So .. does anybody have a p/n for sway bar end bushings that I can buy by themselves?

Also,

[ryanprins13]

The moogs and the other brand from rockauto have both worked for me. You have a festiva sway bar and not an aspire bar right?

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[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

My cars are all stock Festy -- no Aspire.

I'm still needing to know the sway bar diameter so I can order sway bar to frame bushings (see my post from August 4 above).

And what about the SuperPro site saying their parts are only for 91--93 Festies? Isn't the suspension identical for 88 thru 83?

[ryanprins13]

My cars are all stock Festy -- no Aspire.

I'm still needing to know the sway bar diameter so I can order sway bar to frame bushings (see my post from August 4 above).

And what about the SuperPro site saying their parts are only for 91--93 Festies? Isn't the suspension identical for 88 thru 83?

Oh, festiva bar is 22mm, aspire is 24mm. Best bet is probably the festiva store website. Ben sells those superpro bushings there and will have the right listings. If you really dont want to buy from him you can at least get the right part number off his website. He also sells the superpro lca bushings you looking for. But urethane ones will give a different feel to drive than the moogs just so your aware.

http://www.thefestivastore.com

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[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

ryanprins13,

Moog's site directs me to O'Reilly which is offering the same K9737 swaybar-to-LCA bushing with the too-small ID as I reported above. They don't even list a swapbar-to-chassis bushing.

Please describe what you mean by "different feel to drive."

Assuming I'm back to SuperPro-manufactured parts (I'd like to order everything from one source), I notice:

For the swaybar-to-LCA part, SuperPro quotes 4-8 weeks delivery. FestivaStore is silent on delivery. Price a few bucks higher, but if he has them in stock, it's a no-brainer. Also, SuperPro site lists p/n spf1477k, while FestivaStore lists p/n spf0161k -- what's the difference?

For the swaybar-to-chassis part, SuperPro says "in stock, ships immediately," while FestivaStore again is silent.

I haven't even been thinking about LCA "inner" bushings, which I see FestivaStore offers. I'm not really set up (no lift, won't go under cars on jacks) to remove LCAs. Do those bushings go bad about as often as other suspension bushings? Are they readily replaceable, or does one usually just replace the whole LCA (which as I recall cost only about $50 and you get a new ball joint as part of the deal)? I recall once trying to remove one and having the bolt just spin; apparently the welded-on nut on the frame broke loose -- don't want to mess with that kid of problem if I can avoid it!

How does one order from FestivaStore -- pick up the phone and call?