Miata Mailing List: April 1993, Message #113
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   From: (none)
Subject: worn bushings, anyone?
   Date: (none)

i'm trying to track down a "handling mystery" in my car.
it feels like the wheels wobble or jiggle a little while
moving, and you can feel some odd movement in the
suspension, even when just starting into motion while
leaving the driveway.  it isn't "normal" behavior, but
it's been doing it for a while.  i'm wondering if any
other Miatas with fairly high mileage (i have 42K miles)
have experienced this.

things it isn't:
it's not the wheels (it does the same thing with both my winter
and summer wheels), the shocks are new, the wheels have all
been recently aligned, and the bearings were done relatively
recently and seem okay.  all the bolts i checked seem to be tight.

so what is it?
my suspicion is that it might be some worn bushings, either in the
control arms or the anti-roll bar linkages.  i guess i need to check
this more carefully, but from my brief eyeball inspection, it looks
like there might be some play in these that could explain the behavior
i've been feeling.

does this seem to make sense, and has anyone else noticed abnormal
wear in this area?  for that matter, what IS "normal" wear - obviously
these bushings can't last forever, but how long is normal?
the roads i travel aren't the smoothest (they're under repair a lot),
so i presume that would help increase wear rates.

finally, is bushing replacement a do-it-yourself job?  it doesn't seem
like it should be that hard, although i didn't look too carefully at
how everything goes together (yet).

any ideas or advice will be much appreciated!


Ken
(11 Convertible Days in April, and counting...)