Replacing rear suspension bushings

[Phil_Parsons]

So, I'm planning on doing a suspension rebuild on my car. I've had a read through past threads and will probably use KYB (maybe Koni) shocks, springs and replace the front top mounts and drop links. The front wishbone bushings are also perishing on my 75k 2003 car. So, I think I will buy some refurbished ones from GT4 Play, with Superpro bushes. I'm also wondering if I should do the rear control arms. I'm not sure what condition they would be in at the age of my car. Has anyone had experience of replacing these bushes? Are they likely to be a pain in the butt? I've considered buying some used ones to re-bush ready. From last experience, new bushings are a great way to make the car more precise but can be very difficult to remove and fit, so any experiences would help.

[Joesson]

@Phil_Parsons
Last  year I replaced some of the suspension on my 2002 -70k 'ish 2,  this included front and rear KYB shocks, from Parts in Motion. Front gaiters and stops from Autodoc. The rear gaiters were still good.
I refurbished the front wishbones with Super Pro bushes from TCB who also supplied the ( necessary) vertical and horizontal fixing bolts. Remember to rotate the horizontal Bolt head, not the nut as the face of that has locking teeth. Similarly tighten the (new) bolt head while holding the nut.
These were refitted under load .
The top mounts were still good with no discernible play in the bearings that I had repacked with grease some years ago. I did need replacement felt washers in that area.
Front and rear Drop links from Autodoc.
I had derusted and repainted the front and rear ARB's some years ago. Many I have seen on here do need that treatment.
Worst part of the job was removing the bolts from the wish bones.
I cleaned the wishbones with a wire brush in my angle grinder. Painted them with a one pack primer less K20 ( maybe) .
Seeing the price including SuperPro bushes now I may have been tempted.
Springs were all OK and as previously had been stripped and painted when I did the ARB's.
Would have been Much easier on a lift but I managed with the car  on axle stands . I would not want to do it again though!

PS
As for the rear/ bushes/ arms, @Ardent may have some arms  available.

[Ardent]

Arms are earmarked for @spit

[Iain]

Rear arm bushes aint to difficult to change but its quite a bit of work. 

If the car is purely for road use then they are probably still fine as they are. I replaced all mine for polybushes (mine is full track car) at 70k and there was nothing wrong with the oem bushes that came out.

[J88TEO]

I have another set of rear arms, if you are interested.

[Phil_Parsons]

Thanks for the replies. I kind if suspect that the rear bushings are still good. I don't think that they are worked as hard as the front ones. So, likely I'll treat them as a seprate job to do at another time. I recently replaced the suspension on a Suzuki Swift Sport, with Bilstein B14 and did not replace the rear bushes as they were still fine. What I did learn from replacing the bushes on the front of that car  is that you are only ever one stuck bolt away from having a bad day. Everything was seized and the bushings were a pig to change for the rubber Hardrace, ones. I could have brought OEM ones from Suzuki, for £300, but figured I'd save money by replacing myself, big mistake. Tell you what though, when I did it the steering was much more accurate and the car is good on road and track.

So based on this experience, I reckon the £280, refurbished, Superpro bushed arms from GT4 Play seem good value. Shame they don't do control arms. The car may do the odd track day, buy it's primarily for road use and I think a pretty standard MR2 with a suspension refresh would be fun on track. Right now, I think the front end of the car is not as accurate as it might be and I wasn't sure if that was perished bushings or worn out top mounts. I'm surprised the top mounts can last so long with just repacked grease. For now though, I'll prepare the way by trying to loosen up seized bolts. I've been meaning to get anti-corrosion treatment done on the car. There is a place in Tipton, (West Mids) that uses something called Krown. It's like an oil that is sprayed on the underside of the car, after cleaning. It also acts as a penetrating oil, so should make it possible to remove the likely seized bolts.