How Many Hours For a Full Bushing Swap?

[Erik]

I have my box full of Superpro bushings here, and I was curious to know how long it should take a competent mechanic, with all the tools, and a lift, to do the swap of all the suspension bushings. Likely would be doing springs and shocks at the same time, so there would be some overlap.

Thanks!

[Erik]

Oh, and how much more for the Batwing?

[Prez1967]

I dropped off spare control arms front and rear to a local shop that charged me $200 if I remember correctly? Maybe less... They did it in an afternoon while they were walking by their hydraulic press.

I have not done my Batwing yet but that should be considerably easier to press the bushings in. More work to get the batwing out obviously. Was going to wait until I send my shafts out for a refresh to do those.

[1991 Corvette ZR-1]

D44 is the killer. Drop out required for that one and a break down of the parts secured to the cover before it can be removed to take to a press to push out the old bushings. Then whoever is doing the job will have to carefully cut the metal sleeve insert and then grab one cut end with needle nose pliers and curl it so it shrinks enough in diameter to be removed. Install of the new bushings can be done by hand after that. D44 bushings are usually best to do if the D44 has to come out for service.

[Erik]

Thanks guys. I might hold off a bit and make it a winter project.

What else is worth doing at the same time?

[1991 Corvette ZR-1]

Originally Posted by Erik

Thanks guys. I might hold off a bit and make it a winter project.

What else is worth doing at the same time?

I am a proponent of R&R on everything I can touch in a specific area while I am there. I also realize it is not for everyone, as not every ZR-1 owner on here intends to keep theirs forever. Depends on your mileage, but consider you will be removing the rear suspension pieces for new bushings. I did the following:


Rebuilt D44 with 3:90 gears (it was leaking)
Speedo correction gears due to changed rear gear
New rear wheel bearings
New U joint and half shaft joints, along with straps and bolts
C beam plates from ZF Doc

The leaking D44 was the main reason for tearing the whole rear apart, but I planned the new bushing replacement in coordination with its removal. Chances are, you will need to have a rear alignment performed after everything is back together. Winter or late Fall is the best time for these types of projects. If you consider doing it yourself, it is not a hard job, just tedious but the cooler winter weather will make it a much easier job to do.

My D44 rebuild was going to be $600 if I reused the stock gear but I wanted a little more zip, so I ended up at $1,000. Beam plates are $150 or so from ZF Doc. Rear wheel bearings are Moog brand. Half shaft joints, U joints with straps and bolts came from Denny?s driveshafts.