I started taking apart the control arms that I picked up last week, pulled the new ball joint, and proceeded to take the nut off to remove the bushings.
The rubber looks good and is not dry rotted I was planning on blasting and putting new bushings in.
As the title says "Might as well or extra work"? Thoughts?

 

I'm in the MAW camp.

 

If it looks good run it. There is plenty of time to replace the bushings when they are actually worn out.

 

For under $15.00 you can replace them now and not worry about later.

 

They look excellent in the pics. Leaving them would be fine. Probably get just as much out of them as new ones.

Good luck!!!

 

Might as well upgrade to polys

 

Replace them now when the suspension is disassembled.

 

^^^^ X100!! If you don't do it now while it is all apart, you'll kick yourself later when you have to take it all back apart just for this task.

 

I'm the poster child for MAWs. Having said that, the photos don't really look bad, and the UCAs are relatively lightly loaded. How do the bushings look at the inboard edges? If you can see cracks in the rubber, replace them now.

Oh, nice engine run stand.

 

With new part manufacture these days sometimes the quality is questionable and new is not always better... It's a real judgement call based on how often vehicle is used versus time available to repair in the future should that time ever come...

 

If an OG part is good leave it alone! The new stuff just isn't as good. My 2c anyways.

 

agreed,new stuff sucks.my wife has an 03 trailblazer,160k miles,over the last 2 years i have replaced the front sway bar links twice and they are junk again,funny how the originals went 140k miles but the replacements can't even make it over a year.

 

If you replace them, definitely use a premium polyurethane part. I don’t know what some of these manufacturers are using in suspension parts, but it’s absolutely junk. I replaced the upper control arm bushings on my car the first time in the early 2000s. They lasted a couple years before the rubber started to crack and swell. I replaced them, didn’t last half as long as the first set. The current Energy Suspension parts have been in there 10 years and still look good.


I don’t understand how the OEM stuff can last 30 years and still be usable (maybe not perfect, but acceptable) while replacement aftermarket stuff can’t last more than a few years.

 

Buy Moog parts and they will last another 50 years.

 

Went with the MAW now getting ready to reassemble.
I tried to mark the original orientation of the shaft, the best I can tell it's symmetrical and it doesn't matter how the shaft is oriented.
CSM and assembly did not seem to indicate either.

 

The shaft is symmetric. Orientation doesn't matter. When it does, GM either marks the parts (RH/LH) or incorporates a feature so it only goes one way.