Q&A

It matters how worn your bushings really are. If they were really bad, you would notice a shift when you were braking and accelerating and there may be some steering issues, like pulling if one side is much worse than the other. yes, I have replaced just the bushings before, you press them in and out, but not too many Techs have this kind of skill these days. Most don't press the bearings in and out of hubs either, they just put in a whole hub or whole control arm, which makes the Dealership more $$ in Parts revenue. Try to find a shop with real Technicians and not just 'parts installers'. Good Luck!

not sure about the cruiser but i did so on my 92 dodge shadow. if you live in northern locations, chances are that the bolts holding the arm to the stubframe , are hopelesly frozen. i had to cut-off the bolts with disc grinders and reciprocating saw to get the arm off. replacing the bushings is not difficule ,it is "the getting at them"

Question ,how good are you are working on cars ? If you have ever done a strut change on the front end ,your more than halfway there . The best is to find a whole control arm assembly on ebay .Usually can get a pair for about a hundred and you will have a new control arm ,bushings and ball joint . When doing the bushings you should also replace the ball joint as the control arm has to be removed to do this anyway . I changed my bushings and ball joints on my 2003 PT and by the time I was finished I ended up paying more than if I had purchased a "complete " control arm as the bushings and ball joints must be pressed in at a machine shop ,and they charged me $27.00 a piece to do that . So factoring in all that ,buy the complete units. Get yourself a "Chiltons" manual or just go to the library and borrow a service manual ,they are great helps when doing a "new" job . Most important ,if you do the job yourself, get the car aligned as the steering will probably be "way" out .