J450NP13

Dealer told me a while ago that I should replace my bushings soon.

I hear a slight knock sometimes if I hit a hard pot hole...but most of the time it's ok. Should I have the control arms replaced of just the bushings?

blazej01

How many miles? Which bushing is it?

J450NP13

It says one of the front uppers on the dealers invoice. But I hear it in the back.

90K miles

2001 S8

What do you mean by "in the back"? Rear suspension? Front control arm closest to the cabin?

However, if the bushings is bad, at that mileage I'd just replace the whole arm. The ball joint is probably pretty worn out, as well. And only a matter of time before it tears and starts making noises.

Good luck.

J450NP13

In the back..... sounds like a ball joint to me.

thats what I was thinking....just replacing the whole are.

Ive seen posts on here of guys just replacing the bushings and was wondering if that’s just a bandaid

MP4.2+6.0

In front the bushing really is the wear part. From having disassembled at 100K miles on the (heaviest) W12, no observable wear on the ball joint for the upper arms--most common front issue. Probably better part of 100 threads w/ same drift about it being the bushings when it is the front arms. The bushings also sell for about ¼ of what the full arms sell for. The practical issue with bushings only approach is you need a press to swap them. Thus a lot of DIY'ers probably buy whole arms or full kits, and unfortunately more than a few probably buy the "cheap" ones. Then they find the other meaning of "cheap." Dealer approach per the TSB's is also bushings only. Again, this is front. Post is a mix of front and back, which needs to be sorted.

J450NP13

Yeah...I'm not going to go cheap...I'd rather just replace them all. The dealer told me that their were "bushings" that needed to be replaced...then at a later date I asked them to look for them and they said the front upper ...I can't remember on what side. But I am hearing something going on in the back.

I have looked at them and I can't tell if one of them are bad.

J450NP13

Anyone have any directions for changing front and back control arms. I have searched and haven't been able to find any...only other models.