Couple of suspension questions please

To fix a shaking problem (the rubber is disintegrated & the wheel has play) I am planning to have lower control arms, outer tie rod ends, sway bar links & upper & lower body bushing kit installed. The motor mounts are new, am I missing anything?

I have a choice of Dorman, Moog foreign made or Moog USA made control arms. The Moog USA is double the price, is it worth it?

Maybe this is a stupid question but there are no upper control arms listed, is it part of the subframe and are there any other bushings? Thanks guys, you have helped me so much.

Make sure the new motor mounts are not damaged somehow.

Check wheel alignment and balance.

Check hub/rotor assemblies for runout.

If you check on the Dorman site you will see they sell 2 grades for front LCAs. You may have to shop on eBay for the better "Premium" grade. You may find they cost less than Moogs.

The Riv's suspension geometry eliminates upper control arms and also is why shaking and weird tire wear are such a Thing if the front end's not in good repair. Jack up the front on left or right, take off a wheel and just look, it's *really* simple.

Other bushings include subframe body mounts, there are six of them on the front end, and I don't know what "upper and lower body bushings" even are.

I'm pretty sure your motor mount on the nose of the engine by the water pump isn't new, and I don't know what to recommend that you do if you were to find it was faulty/failing.

Motor mounts are good I did have them checked again, I bought a new oem mount for the big one by the radiator.

Wheels were balanced at least twice including 4 new tires, the car tracks straight and will be aligned after the work.

Good idea on the hub assemblies.

I will check ebay on the premium Doorman vs Moog problem solver USA lca's.

My sub frame mounts (I called them body mounts) are shot, I found a full kit on ebay.

Thanks Albert.

carguy8888 wrote:

Motor mounts are good I did have them checked again, I bought a new oem mount for the big one by the radiator.

Wheels were balanced at least twice including 4 new tires, the car tracks straight and will be aligned after the work.

Good idea on the hub assemblies.

I will check ebay on the premium Doorman vs Moog problem solver USA lca's.

My sub frame mounts (I called them body mounts) are shot, I found a full kit on ebay.

Thanks Albert.

Talking about the can shaped mount by the water pump that the serp belts are routed thru, not the transmission mount on the lower frame rail by the radiator.

Now I know what you're talkin about, I'll have to look at that as well. Even though I probably cannot replace it, correct?

I was told they don't really wear out but I have heard of that. There are similar mounts for other cars, I suspect one could install the rubber from one or another of those into the Riv mount if you hollowed it out.

I certainly hope I don't have to go through that.

carguy8888 wrote:

I certainly hope I don't have to go through that.

Easier than it sounds but not trivial. There are similar mounts for a number of cars, and the way the Riv's is made you could rebuild or have rebuilt the insert. See https://www.autohausaz.com/vw-auto-parts/vw-scirocco-engine_mount-replacement.html for example inserts. Getting it in there would be the tough part admittedly. but such an insert for a different V6 should work fine as the vibrations being damped will be very similar.

I will check that mount. The lower arms and body mounts will be first b/c they are definitely shot.

carguy8888 wrote:

I will check that mount. The lower arms and body mounts will be first b/c they are definitely shot.

Yeah, the upper mount will probably be OK unless if the lower ones were wack long enough the vibrations will bust the upper one.

Hopefully w/ only 60k.

I wonder if they have Bilstein Shocks for the Buick Riviera.

Gabrial is the way to go.