Silence2-38554

So, the trailing arm bushing on our '02 Forester's driver's front LCA is leaking weird, thick, black silicone goop. Rather than just replacing this one (dealer quoted $115), I would like to replace both sides with a polyurethane bit instead. Can someone please point me toward a Whiteline / Energy suspension bushing set that will work? These seem to be a difficult bushing to come across, as most sites label their trailing arm bushings "rear trailing arm bushing" which..... could mean at the rear of the front LCA or the actual rear trailing arm. Thanks!

The Rookie

Track control or Lower control arm, not trailing arms on the front....they don't 'trail'!

So LCA it is.

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98 s-turbo now breaking for spares , now driving a BMW 320D M-sport

Bassmaker

Many guys have done the polybush thing in the control arms because they were so much less expensive than the OEM parts but, for me anyway, the ride was absolutely awful afterwards. The roads over here are not the best anyway but the polybushes increase noise as well as stiffness so if comfort is high on your list, it might be smarter and more economical to just bite the bullet and get the jelly filled Subaru items. I ordered the OEM bushes an hour after fitting the plastic ones, they really were that bad for me so it worked out very costly but as I can't see your location, perhaps your decision should be down to the roads you drive on and whether performance or comfort is more important? The Subaru parts handle fine but the firmer polybushes make everything 'tighter'.

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Scruffy 99 S Turbo. TD04-19T hybrid. DeCat. JGM.

Silence2-38554

Thread Starter

Thanks for the reply, that's good to hear. We're currently living in Houston, TX & the roads are absolutely terrible, so I think we may be going for a new oem bit. One final question, when I got a quote from the dealership, they recommended replacing both sides at the same time, so that one side does not "put more pressure" on the other. This seemed pretty ridiculous to me, but I figured I'd ask. Any thoughts?

Also, I just noticed that the local dealership quoted $106/side, while subarugenuineparts.com has them for $16/side. At least if both sides should be replaced it won't be that painful....