What exactly do the bushing under the overland spacers do?

[Wiley]

Are these just to prevent the squeaks? I lost a spacer (have it though) and as you can see my bushings are in rough shape. I want to jack up the van and locktite everything down, but have little faith I can find the bushings down here in Baja, and plan on going straight to mainland mx from here. You can see my bushings are not in very good shape for a 2004. While I would prefer not, I think I can deal with squeaks for the next 6-12 months.



I read they go for 200$, plus with gas from here back to the US it would be a costly decision, but I do have other important needs, (my vaccum line I picked up from Chevy doesnt seem right, and that problem has already caused visibility issues for me) so I am not opposed to going back. Appreciate the help as always.

Love the van, Chevy... not so much.

[doyoulikeithere]

It wont handle as well with worn out bushings, and if you have a lift and they are really badly worn, it could lead to weakening and possibly breakage of the long bolt that holds the van to the frame. That could aslo bugger up the threaded hole it goes into. isn't there any way to have them shipped to somewhere close to you? Are there any UPS stores there? They sell and service lots of Chevys in Mexico. I didn't think it would be a big issue to get parts there, but sounds like maybe it is.. have you tried Mexican auto parts stores, and they tell you to drive home?

[Wiley]

Hey thanks. It just happened, so I haven't really had time to even think about it. I can most likely get them sent here, but I don't really want to hangout here unless necessary....plus I then need to pay someone to do it since I don't have a floor jack. I have a list of other pretty good problems, so may head back and enter mainland from the US rather than ferry from here. I was hoping it was just a noise issue so I would only have to worry about finding someone to jack up the van to lock tite it, so glad I asked!

There is a Chevy lot here in Cabo, but it doesn't look like they service vehicles. It was closed last night so I will stop by today to ask if there is somewhere here in cabo san lucas, san jose del cabo, or La Paz before making any decisions. I was under the impression that these are a bit tough to get and I need to go OEM from a different thread I read, which is why I haven't looked anywhere else either.


I think I would be in better shape had it happened on the mainland, but also dont want to go there and see I am wrong. A quick google on chevy in baja has some guy complaining about the chevy places here and saying he needs to drive back to SD...which is why I dont have high expectations for the area, baja is certainly a different animal than mainland in both good and bad ways. Who knows, maybe his problem was different, or he was just complaining. I do not want to come across as complaining, this is all part of the adventure, just gotta take it for what it is.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

While the bushing looks bad, I wouldn't worry about it. Install the parts back in with locktite and get on your way. You can always plan on replacing them later. With all the hard-core wheeling I did with the SPB and it being 14 years old, the bushings never had an issue. Never had a bolt loosen up either. I never-seized all of mine. Were they torqued the first time?

Use your own jack to raise the front end up to make room to slide the parts in. Just loosen the other 2 on that side and jack the body up using a length of wood as body support.

[Wiley]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help, im gonna run back. Had people from Expo on their way down here offer to bring me new bushings so I could have been all set, but after thinking it through I want to run home and for some quick changes, things like signing over a car title, etc.