Hi,

Have 2009 Cobalt LNF SS T/C coupe, almost 32,000 miles on it.
I'd like to tackle replacing my lower control arms, to get lifetime warranty bushings,
so I don't have to mess with them, ever again.
I don't trust my ability to test whether the bushings I have are worn out or not,
but apparently they will, or already have, so while I have the will,
I figure I should change them out before the bolt on the trailing bushing rusts any more.

I'd like to not have to take the arms out and have bushings pressed out/in.
I've read enough threads to believe that John's bushings are the best, but JPR doesn't sell the arms anymore with his bushings installed.
I'm in a small town in the middle of nowhere and I'm worried about a shop tearing the rubber on the new bushings,
especially the leading bushing, if I just had the bushings swapped into my OEM arms.
I'm also concerned about the ball joint stud being the correct diameter on a new arm, as noted in a lot of threads.

I've cruised through all the posts on here that I could find back into 2017.
Does anyone have good part numbers for arms that worked for them?
Also, arms with Moog spherical bushings, do the spherical bushings have the longest life?

Thanks,
chevy2

 

You got two options Powell or OTTP . Both are very good. OTTP version is a little cheaper but not by much. This will eliminate you having to deal with pressing the new bushings into the control arms.


LNF FE5 Control Arms W/ JP Cabs 25930724_5JPC
25930724_5OTTP LNF FE5 Control Arms W/ OTTP Cabs

 

Monieg5gt,
Thanks for confirming; I had the version with JP cabs stickyed (sp? Is this even a word?).
It looks from everything I saw on both pages that the leading bushings are some other (unidentified) brand, and that CED is suggesting JP's leading bushings shown at the bottom of the page as "PRS2" as a product accessory.
So I wonder why whoever put these arms together for sale wouldn't have pressed in the JP "PRS2" leading bushings also.
Maybe the leading bushing isn't prone to wearing out? It's not as critical a part? It would make the arm too expensive? The leading bushings are easier to change out than the trailing ones?
BTW, thanks to Byrd for this:
"2. Draw a white line on the control arm and the bushing to position the bushing as it should be when installing it."
from
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/susp...nstall-328413/
regardless of what route I take.

Has anyone installed these arms "as sold" (without the JP leading bushings) and could tell any difference?

 

What kind of driving do you do with the car? Those OTTP and PRS bushings are designed for road racing and are NOT to be considered lifetime maintenance-free items, especially since you live in an area that salts the roads in the winter (but I'm guessing that since you have 32k miles in 11 years of ownership, that the car doesn't see winter streets). They will stiffen up the steering feel of the car a considerable amount - meaning you'll feel everything in the steering wheel. A friend and I used to joke about how we could tell the thickness and grittiness of a painted line on the road after swapping to full PRS arms.

I get the impression that all you're looking for is longevity, and I think you'd very likely be better off just sticking with Moog OE replacement stuff, as it's a lot less expensive, is still a quality product, and will maintain the stock comfort levels in the car.

And yes, the front bushings are not pressed in/out, so they're a lot easier to change.

 

Very true . I forgot to mention that. If you are doing driving year round you might want get moogs or solid bushings from zzp. Only reason why I got mine is because my car doesn't see any winter driving and used on weekends for back road driving.

 

Driving style- like someone's grandmother. I'll get on it in a single gear, but that's it. It's not a rule, it's just that that's all it takes to get the job done.
To wit: I was in 2nd, behind a farmall on a two-lane road, cleared a corner, pulled out to pass as I stomped the gas, the car pulled to the left so hard I thought I would end up in the ditch on the other side. I don't know whether it was torque steer from bad bushings or not, cuz I was headed in that direction (left to the left lane, then right to pass) anyway and maybe I wasn't prepared for how hard the car will pull in 2nd gear (GMS1). I didn't end up in the ditch, and didn't need to upshift to complete the pass, but I was as freaked out as the time when I owned a previous car and I got run completely off the road while I was doing 65 mph (the speed limit) by an asshat that was taking too long to pass another car, both of them coming at me from the other direction. That time I drove completely off the road as the asshat had my lane, totally intent on creating a head-on if I didn't vacate my lane, so I slid down the dirt sideways, looking out the passenger side window until they both passed, then slid back onto the pavement and continued on. It took about a minute afterwards for the adrenalin to kick in; then for another minute or two I could barely steer the car I was shaking so bad LOL. Point; my cars are mostly an exercise in potential, but they need to perform in order to save my life.
There's a few spots of road with good twisties; I really dig 'em, and so far no one else has been able to keep up with me in my bugeye, but that game doesn't pop up that often. I haven't tried any of that with the SS since the tractor pass; it's all highway miles except getting from the house to the gas station to the freeway, and back. I did feel that the SS handled well enough when I "tested" it a little when it was new.
Mainly, with the SS, I'm looking to get the car to 100k miles with the least amount of parts replacement. I finished all the mods I'm going to do, a couple years ago.
The car's garaged. It's true, we have snow in winter, and I have to take the car out periodically for exercise, but I do that when the roads are dry.
I'm kind of a weight-reduction guy (but not a freak). My favorite car was gutted and handled like a go-kart. It was T/C but also avg 39.5 mpg and I felt confident that I could get out of other people's way.
I don't understand your comment about the front bushings not being press out/press in. Would you elaborate?
I read some more suspension build threads since I started this thread; you posted in some. My take from that reading is that whatever leading CAB comes with the arm is good enough, as they're fairly stout pieces. Or do I need to do more research?
Thanks for reading and for your take on this.

 

I'd probably recommend sticking with OE-type stuff then. No sense in spending that kind of money on a car that doesn't get seriously thrown through the paces; GM proved that the stock equipment is quite capable of performing when required.

You don't need a hydraulic press to replace them like you do the Trailing CAB's.

 

Thanks for your time and weighing in on this.