VS V6 executive front and rear bushes

[spaceageVS]

Hey guys,

have just bought an executive as a doer upper, 200km, it has been lowered with king springs and standard shocks. the front and rear shocks are buggered, (from not being shortened) so i know i need to replace them, but it still feels way to loose in the rear end. For instance ill pull in my driveway and it feels as if the diff is slightly twisting, it is also very loud in the rear just cruising you hear every bump in the road. i jacked it up to have a look underneath, and there were a couple nolathanes in there but the rest looked completely standard. the front end pin had nolathanes but that was it. as I am a man on a budget (very very low budget haha) I was wanting to know a few things-

-Which bushes in the rear end should i replace first as i cannot afford to buy the whole lot in one go? i want it feeling tight in the rear like my VR.
-i will be doing them myself, do i need to get any bushes pressed out?
-nolathane VS standard bushes? (allowing for budget, I can get nolathanes cheap through a friend)

Any help would be appreciated.

Also, for the ecotec engine is a pod filter better than standard reliability wise? I just want this car very reliable and road safe for this xmas/new year.

I have already serviced it ( complete colant flush and thermostat, oil filter and oil, trans filter and fluid) is there anything else i can do on the cheap side to keep it healthy?

thanks again people, any help would be appreciated, heres a couple photos

[hako]

Presuming it has a solid rear end it will probably need panhard rod bushes ($30 just slip in) and upper control arms ($60 pair have bushes already pressed in). I'd do the panhard bushes first as they locate the rear end.
The standard aircleaner is much more efficient than a pod or even a K&N - do a google to find out for yourself.
To keep it healthy the main thing to keep an eye on is coolant and oil......never let either run low. And easy on the right foot. Good Luck.

[spaceageVS]

awesome thank you hako, anyone else want to shed their opinion?

[jzt4kikz]

vs mate do your lower arm bushes, most likely strut top's and strut top bearings, most importantly your front castor bushes that go into the crossmemeber....if u drive ur car and brake at around 10km's or more and have someone watch ur front wheel u will see it move back and forth very important for this ammount of k's if they aint been replace. Rear end just do your diff mount and arm bushes.... if i had next to no money i would check engine/transmission mounts and replace them 1stly, followed by the diff mount and then front castor bushes......then the lower arm bushes front and rear, and then strut top mounts..then the others like your sway bar D rubbers etc

[spaceageVS]

awesome mate, i thought about the lower rear arm bushes being the problem cause thats what it feels like, il def get on to these, do i need a press to get them out?

[hako]

You need a press to do all bushes except the panhard rod (which is probably causing your diff twisting problem. For the average person, new arms (Chinese copies) are the way to go because you need to pay a garage to press the new bushes in although you can burn the old ones out and press the new ones in with a heavy vyce and plenty of lube. The lower arms are about $200 a pair, upper half that and bushes half again. All available on Ebay. You really should buy a Gregorys workshop manual or borrow the one from the library as it has complete details there. Haynes and Ellerys manuals are not as good as Gregorys IMHO.
You haven't yet said if you have a solid or independent rear end...I'm presuming solid (cheaper to fix).

[spaceageVS]

cool, yea solid rear end, $200 for the lower rear arms or just the bushes for lower rear arms? I have found upper rear arms on trademe for 110 nzd. cause im in new zealand they maybe a bit darer but i can source nolathane quite cheap.

[hako]

$200 for the complete arms....but I'd get the car off the ground and check them individially before replacing them. Don't you have a WOF every 6 months?

[spaceageVS]

yep it just got a wof before i bought it. i just tried something before, i stood where the petrol filler is and shook the car and you could see the body moving horizontally and wheels stayed put. only in rear. i will get rear upper arms this week and hopefully some lower arm bushes and panhard bushes aswell.

[hako]

, i stood where the petrol filler is and shook the car and you could see the body moving horizontally and wheels stayed put. only in rear. ll.

That will be shot panhard bushes ....about $40 and 5 minutes to replace them....don't even really need to jack the car up. I'm surprised your car passed a WOF in that condition but I suppose it depends on who is doing it.

[spaceageVS]

the panhard bushes look mint to me, even replaced as they are red but il replace them anyways. yea im surprised too, the wof was from a testing station aswell, anyways everything else is mint just needa sort this problem out. starting with panhard and uppers. should i go with nolatane?