1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
If you have time and not money, I might be inclined to get a use stanchion arm, order all sets of bushings from Genuine Saab, and replace all bushings. I don't think you can do that on the car as you need a press for the control arm bushings AFAIK.
You can separate the ball joint although you might want to order boots to be safe. You won't damage the joint but you may rip a boot.
The down side is that the ball joints may also be worn and you are putting new bushings in. But, it saves you over $200 in parts.
FYI - if you pull the control arms, you may need sway bar end links - they get rusty and may or may not come off in one piece or be reusable. You also need ball joint nuts and tie rod nuts as both are "self locking". You may also need ABS mounts if you can't get the old ones off.
As for whether or not you should do it... you have a lot of repairs to do. The body issues you mentioned take the value down quite a bit. Check the book, adjust for damage by a few thousand. Consider the cost of gettting another car vs. the repairs. If you are short on money, you can do the repairs in some priority order i.e. you can live without A/C, you can live with the body damage, etc.
The clutch is $1k if you have someone do it. Again, if you have the time and tools, parts are cheaper, it's a high labor job. It might last another year or two, you can't always tell.
The A/C means something is leaking, possibly the lower hose under the radiator if you have not ever replaced it. That's $100 in parts IIRC for the hose, dryer, o-ring, etc. Plus you need it vacuumed down and filled for at least $100 at a tech with a pump.
Remember that repairs don't add to book value. They just maintain it. With the body damage, it's not a real good investment. But, if you need to keep funds short now, then repair what you must and replace later when you have more flexibility.
posted by 98.110.15...
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