I have a 2000 Kia Sportage EX that has a problem with the front doors where it gets a bit difficult to close. The rear doors are fine.
I was told that this is because of the body frame bushings. I bought a bunch of OEM bushings but I was told that the OEM will just wear out again and I will be replacing those pretty quick. Instead I could use hockey pucks or a better than OEM material.
Now, because this is an old vehicle and not a popular model I can’t find aftermarket bushings for these. I can’t fab or modify them myself either…
Are hockey pucks better? Will a shop do custom stuff like this for me? Considering the fact that the frame and the body will be separated, will a regular shop help me install bushings that would help me raise the height of a vehicle a bit more so I can install bigger offroad tires? Nothing crazy, just raise it a bit. If this is a bad idea please tell me why it is too. I am here to learn.
I suppose it could work, and thought I was the front runner in hillbilly repairs. I would assume a shop would not be fabricating parts out of hockey pucks, but who knows. Too many questions, head hurts.
Replacing frame/sub-frame mounts with solid mounts is a standard procedure on race cars, Camero and Nova are two examples. I would not want sold body mounts on a street car, the harshness would not be welcomed.
This is a repair that you would need to perform yourself, most people would not pay a large some of money to repair or modify an old vehicle.
Let’s say I will just go with the OEM bushings. I have all of them ready to be installed. How much do you think a shop will charge me for a job like this?
This is my first time dealing with a body on frame vehicle. How doable is replacing the body frame bushings as a DIY job?
I had about four replaced on my Buick. They were about $35 each. I had an old guy do it that had a shop I used when I was a teen. I think he charged somewhere north of $200 and he was sorry it cost so much-ha ha. He had to work like crazy because the nuts kept turning on him trying to take the bolts out. He could have charged twice that much and I wouldn’t have blinked. So hard to say but just do it right.
Unless this 21 year old vehicle lived in an area without salted roads or sea air, replacing body mounts can get ugly very quickly. Rust. Rusty bolts, rusty frame. Rust will make a 20 minute job a 2 hour job for a pro and impossible for an DIYer.
Stop by a shop and ask them to quote the job. Then they can see the car and what kind of job it is.
The replacement bushings will probably not die before the rest of the car does. If they last as long as the originals, you’ll be driving a 42 year old vehicle, and that would be pretty impressive.
Hockey pucks might work, but I confess I’m not really up on how they’re constructed or what they’re constructed of. I would think that what little engineering probably goes into them involves making them resistant to momentary side impacts from flat pieces of wood, and they might well lose integrity (at least, sufficient integrity to stand up to a bouncing 3,000+ pound vehicle) if you drill a hole in them to accommodate the bolts.
That reminds me of something. Years ago, (I was probably in the 8-10 year old range), my grandfather took me to a Hershey Bears game in the old Hershey Arena (aka the Barn), we were about 3 or 4 rows behind the penalty boxes (my grandmother got them from her work), and my grandfather was telling me “always make sure you keep your eyes on the ice, pucks can fly off the ice at any time” and as he’s saying that, one flies up from the ice and skips off of his wrist! The guy who caught it gave it back to me, and I still have it on my desk. I can definitely confirm that it’s a solid hunk of rubber
