SuperPro Front Control Arm Lower-Inner Front Bushing Kit 2008-2024 WRX / 2008-2021 STI

On basically every car I’ve owned, I always get poly bushings for the front control arms. Helps with steering response and feel. Turn in becomes more immediate and predictable. However, these are not for the faint of heart when it comes to installing them. More specifically uninstalling the stock bushings. The stock ones are not solid rubber as you'd expect. Most of it is metal with a thin layer of rubber between one of the three metal layers. (Outer sleeve, thin layer of rubber, inner sleeve, then another thicker sleeve for the bolt to go through). I tried drilling the rubber out with a really thin drill bit, but broke two bits before giving up. I tried using a bearing press from auto zone, but it didn't have the right size ring adapter and because of the shape of the control arm, it's really hard to properly use. I then tried to ghetto rig my own press, which subsequently failed catastrophically. Finally, I used a 1.25" metal hole saw drill bit to shred through the inner sleeve while spraying it with penetrating oil. WEAR GOGGLES, it will throw tiny shards of hot metal. Once I managed to get all the way through (took maybe 15 minutes), I used a reciprocating saw to cut through the outer sleeve. And then I used a small punch to "peel the sleeve inward along the cut". Once you get that out, grease the bushing and I'd suggest putting the metal inner sleeve in first on one of the sides. Grease the other side and push that in, then use a rubber mallet or hammer to get that pressed all the way in. In total, it took me 3 hours to do ONE side, but I wasted a lot of time trying to press/drill before going brute force with the hole saw. I gave up for the day after getting the one side it. I HAD TO drive to the store per my wife's request so I got to feel it a little. After as hard as the stock bushing was to get out, I wasn't sure what, if anything, this would even do. However, I noticed that even with only the one side on, it significantly decreased the "dead zone" or "play" in the steering wheel before the wheels react. I've gone too far at this point to not do the other side. But once I'm done with the other side, I will never do this again. It's a great, and noticeable upgrade... but what a P.I.T.A to install. Save yourself time and headache and get the hole saw drill bit.

Paired with the rear control arm bushing kit, the car feels different!