Got my D1 back from the shop. WOW... what a difference. All the poping, crunching and slop is gone. The truck drives and feel so much tighter.
The bad part is that I am a bit lighter in the wallet. I was planning on this repair to be a $500-$600 total job for parts, hardware, labor, etc... I was off by a couple hundred.
I chose the DAP Inc. OEM bushings kit $99.95. It is a complete kit with front and rear bushings, including both f&r sway bar bushings. I chose NOT to buy the kit that included the hardware. This could be considered a mistake by some, and not by others. It took me a bit to source out the hardware. The only "local" place that carries large size Std Grade-8 or Metric Class 8.8 (or class 10) is Tractor Supply... and they have a limited selection. I paid $3.88 per pound for the Grade-8 hardware and I could only find the large 5/8" x 4" and 3/4" x 4" bolts and nylocks for the 5/8". I also used four 3/4" Grade-8 washers for the ends of the radius arm and trailing arm that back up to the M20 nylock nuts. While there, I also picked up some Grade-8 hardware for the rear trailing arm bushings that mount to the frame with washers, lock washers and nylocks to match. My total bill at Tractor Supply Company was $12.75
I still had to source out all of the large Metric stuff and the other hardware pieces. After searching around at Fastenall, various other marine and hardware stores, I fanally ended up ordering from
www.mcmaster.com. I may have changed my plan and ordered everything from McMaster had I known it was going to be as difficult to source the hardware locally. The downside to ordering with McMaster is that they only sell in quantity. Here is my order.
Metric 8.8 Zinc-pltd Steel Hex Head Cap Screw, M16 Size 100mm Length,2mm Pitch
Metric 8.8 Zinc-pltd Steel Hex Head Cap Screw, M14 Size, 80mm Length, 2mm Pitch
Grade 8 Hex Nylon-insert Locknut, Znc-yellow Pltd, 3/4"-10 Screw Sz, 1-1/16"w, 7/8"h
Metric Zinc-plated Steel Nylon-insert Locknut, M20 Screw Sz, 2.5mm Pitch
Metric Zinc-plated Steel Nylon-insert Locknut, M16 Screw Size, 2mm Pitch
Metric Zinc-plated Steel Nylon-insert Locknut, M14 Screw Size, 2mm Pitch
I have a few leftovers as most packages came with 10-20 of each of the above. Only 5 in a pack for the M20 nylocks. Total bill from McMaster with shipping was $42.65. Giving me a total for hardware of $55.40. The kit from DAP that included the hardware was a total of $169.95. Granted I "saved" $14.60 by doing it myself, but I did have to go thru a bit of a hassle with finding/ordering it up myself. I do however have extras for when/if I have to do it again (trail spares) or on another vehicle.
I have all the parts, I have all the hardware... time to get it installed. I took it to a small shop in Annapolis that I confirmed has a 20-ton press. I dropped the Disco off on Tuesday morning and expected it to be a few days as they would work it in when possible. I got the D1 back on Wednesday afternoon and they billed me for a total of 8 hrs. I figured that was reasonably fair and had no problems with that. I was also charged a misc shop fee of $45.00. That was for antiseize, lube, and a cutoff wheel they chewed up cutting off 2 stubborn bolts. Ok... that was fair too. What got me was their labor rate. I should have researched that a bit more carefully too. The 8 hr job set me back $780.00 ($97.50/hr labor rate). Ouch!
Lesson learned: I should have considered doing more of the actual install myself. For the almost $800 I could have purchased a Harbor Freight 20-ton press for $200, extra tall jack stands for $40 and the misc tools for $100 to do this myself. Granted it could have taken me a lot longer and if I ran into problems, the backup would have been to take the individual rad arm or whatever to the shop as needed. I then could have sold the press for $100 and still been a few hundered bucks ahead. Well... next time I will know what to do.
*If you do it yourself it's a $500 job if you also need to buy the tooling... it's $300-$400 job if you sell off some of the tools to recoup part of the expense.
*If you source out the parts and pay someone for install, it's a $900-$1000 job.
*If you have someone do it for you completely and use their sourced parts, I would estimate that it's a $1200 job.
I am happy with the end result and replacing the bushings was a solution to my clunk, bang, crunch in the suspension. I learned that this would have been a project that I could have completed and saved a bunch of $$. Thanks to those who gave their input, thanks to PT for his advice and I hope this helps others who are getting their bushings replaced.
Here is the post in the Tech section with all of the resourced data and prices.
http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42523
I am also going to post this info in that thread to link the two so that all of the info can be reached by those searching about bushings and bushings replacement.
I have nothing to contribute though, so I'll go sit in my corner.
