caddy5511 Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 I am unable to find replacment control arm bushings for my 97 seville sts. Can anyone STEER me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 The dealer dosen't have them? I just got some for my 92. I think they have the same control arms. They are a little tough to replace. The whole control arm has to come off unless you are just replacing the back bushings. Those seem to be the one that wear the quickest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 The dealer dosen't have them? I just got some for my 92. I think they have the same control arms. They are a little tough to replace. The whole control arm has to come off unless you are just replacing the back bushings. Those seem to be the one that wear the quickest. It seems that 97 is the only year that this bushing is used. Aftermarket offers to 96. The dealer offers only the complete lower control arm, but I am told none presently available. That is very hard to belive but its where I am at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Are you talking about front or rear? Inner or outer? I believe the INNER bushings are replaceable on the rear control arms. The OUTER bushings are part of the knuckle, and as far as I know, nobody has replacement bushings for those -- you have to purchase the whole knuckle. For the front control arm, I'm pretty sure everything is replaceable on those. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Are you talking about front or rear? Inner or outer? I believe the INNER bushings are replaceable on the rear control arms. The OUTER bushings are part of the knuckle, and as far as I know, nobody has replacement bushings for those -- you have to purchase the whole knuckle. For the front control arm, I'm pretty sure everything is replaceable on those. It is for the front control arm and is the bushing that is fore most ahead of the wheel. After 96 the control arm changed. After 97 the whole car changed. So they made this control arm for one year. It seems the aftermarket dosent list for the 97. They list up to 96 then go to 98. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Check www.partsamerica.com. They list front control arm bushing kits from Energy Suspension. They may not be the same durometer as OE, but it's a start anyway. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Check www.partsamerica.com. They list front control arm bushing kits from Energy Suspension. They may not be the same durometer as OE, but it's a start anyway. I am on the hunt. Partsamerica cant confirm so I e-mailed energysuspension.com and am awaiting news. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Check www.partsamerica.com. They list front control arm bushing kits from Energy Suspension. They may not be the same durometer as OE, but it's a start anyway. I am on the hunt. Partsamerica cant confirm so I e-mailed energysuspension.com and am awaiting news. Thanks. Energysuspension.com sez there is no application for 1997 STS. I need some good thinking here guys. Come on people impress me!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 First I am surprised you need them they don't wear out often. What makes you think you need them? Call either Rockauto or Gmotors.com and ask them to confirm that no bushing is available. If they are not available I can only say 1) buy a lower control arm, or 2) find a good lower control arm in a scrap yard. Mike I just did a search on www.car-parts.com and 4 lower control arms were available with a B rating for about $65 each, they were in Canada. Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 First I am surprised you need them they don't wear out often. What makes you think you need them? Call either Rockauto or Gmotors.com and ask them to confirm that no bushing is available. If they are not available I can only say 1) buy a lower control arm, or 2) find a good lower control arm in a scrap yard. Mike I just did a search on www.car-parts.com and 4 lower control arms were available with a B rating for about $65 each, they were in Canada. The local dealer sez there no new ones available. Used might be the way to go. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 The fact that they are no longer available would disuade me from buying a 97. They are available for my 96, odd huh? Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeal1892 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Yea, The control arm bushings do wear out mine were bad when my car had 60k miles on it. The dealership and I went around after it. BBF you gave me the info I needed to replace them it was a link to a crash parts list it had the GM numbers on there I can look them up if anyone needs them I printed off everything from the site related to my car and put them in the Cadillacs binder. Michael - I wonder if there the same as the 97 bodystyle Seville. As if my thinkings right my car is considerabley wider ? with the wide track stuff from the era ?? Im not sure just a mere question really ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeal1892 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Ok, I dont think I did get the number off the parts list. Maybe someone from here gave it to me. I cant find anything on it other than the whole thing which is how the dealer tried to sell it to me . But I cant find anything Michael - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 The fact that they are no longer available would disuade me from buying a 97. They are available for my 96, odd huh? I dont think they are discontinued, its just that there isnt any now. Mabey time for a different dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 The track of a 98 vs. a 97 isn't all that different, but the control arms are of a completely different design. The 98 is on the G-platform, whereas the 97 is on the K-platform. How are you guys defining "bad" bushings? The front bushings on my '97 are fine, with over 150,000 miles. In fact, everything on the suspension except for the brakes are original on my car. The most worn items I believe are the rear knuckle bushings...but after 10 years, I'd expect at least SOMETHING on the suspension to be worn out. But not after 60k. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 The bushings on my car had degraded to a point where they actually fell off. Of course, my car is 14 years old. I knew something wrong when I was getting clunking noises from the front end. Generally when the bushings get dry and split up, it's time to replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeal1892 Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I spray mine with pb blaster... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Wow. Yes, I'd say that gone = worn. Where do you live? I understand the salty winters of northern areas really wears rubber bushings quickly. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 I live in Northern Virginia, the car has been all over the country. The bushings were just really OLD. It was time. I should have replaced them earlier. However, you can't see the inner bushings because it's on the back side of the subframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy5511 Posted June 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 The track of a 98 vs. a 97 isn't all that different, but the control arms are of a completely different design. The 98 is on the G-platform, whereas the 97 is on the K-platform. How are you guys defining "bad" bushings? The front bushings on my '97 are fine, with over 150,000 miles. In fact, everything on the suspension except for the brakes are original on my car. The most worn items I believe are the rear knuckle bushings...but after 10 years, I'd expect at least SOMETHING on the suspension to be worn out. But not after 60k. the front end has klunk and up on the lift the bushing look as if they have torn areas of fresh rubber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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