Just remove the stock bushings and put the aluminum bushings in their place. There are four little nuts on each bushing to remove. Also remove any little rings or spacers that are installed. Some cars have them, some don't. Mine didn't. Use new bolts (best source for quality bolts is a pair of subframe recall kits p/n XF1Z-5A364-AA. Use the washers that come with the kits between the bottom of the bushing and the bolt.
The hollowed out (female) Al SFB half goes on top. The male half goes through the subframe hole from below and into the female half. Also, when reinstalling your subframe don't raise the subframe with the bolts. Raise the subframe with a jack and support with jackstands (or better yet use two jacks) until it makes contact with the body and then snug up the bolts. Then loosen them a turn or so and align the subframe using the Helms procedure which is the following (really simple):
Take an 18" or so length of 3/4" outer diameter pipe (1/2" EMT electrical conduit is just about perfect. It's dirt cheap. Take a hacksaw with you to the hardware store in case you need to buy a big 10 foot length like I did and you don't have a truck like I did. That way you can cut it into a few pieces to fit in your car). Just aft of the front subframe bushings there is an alignment hole on each side, both in the subframe and in the body. You stick the pipe in the driver's side hole and align the subframe so the pipe is sticking straight up and down into the holes. I used the pipe as a lever to shift the subframe around and it slid easily (The fact that I put grease between my subframe bushings and body helped! eek! ) Then tighten that front driver's bolt. Then go to the passenger side alignment hole and do the same thing: stick the pipe through the two holes and shift the subframe if necessary using the pipe as a lever until it's sticking straight up and down through both holes. Then tighten that passenger bolt. Then tighten the rear subframe bolts. Although spec is less for stock bushings I tightened to 100 ft-lbs. I think some people have tightened to 120.
Also if you want to set your caster to maximum you would do pretty much the same thing while aligning the subframe EXCEPT once you have the pipe sticking straight up and down through both holes then use the pipe as a lever to pull the subframe all the way forward and then tighten the bolt while holding some tension on the pipe. Repeat for the other side and then tighten the rears.
Also, I wouldn't mind getting some people's opinions on using grease between the subframe bushings and the body. I haven't had any problems so far and I figure A: the torque on the bolts will hold the subframe in place. B: the grease helps dampen some NVH. I certainly don't have any that I find noticable much less bothersome. C: if it causes me problems from the subframe alignment shifting over time then I will just drop each corner a bit and spray brake cleaner through the gap to clean the grease out.
Anybody think that grease is going to be a problem?
<small>[ August 18, 2003, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: shojuan ]</small>
