Ok, well it's been about a month and a half. Been busy. St. Charles was very courteous and had good prices....and they didn't keep me on hold forever.

Prices: UCA bushings - 14.25 each
LCA bushings(f/r) - 15.95/20.44 each

Now here comes the shocker <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />, 1000 clams for the labor from local shops around here. One shop said they can do all 8 for 650.

Is this job worth $650 labor + parts?

If so then I'll just have to pay it but if not I'd like to get the special tool. Does anybody know where I can get this? Dealerships don't sell it.

I would let them do it for that price. Its $150 more then I paid for just the lower ones to be done, and I supplied the parts. If it ever needs done again I'm definatly paying again to have it done.

FYI Importec has slightly lower prices

good luck

Alright, so here's the decision I need to make....
1) Order the parts, take it to the shop, get my truck back in a day and a half, pay ~$650.

2) Work on it in my own garage, possibly one side at a time, and buy some tools.
Craftsman 120V Air compressor and tools $277

12 ton press $80

Save $293 +/-.

An early Christmas present to myself in the form of tools would be nice but the task does seem daunting.

Still undecided.

It is not an easy job , thats why they charge so much for the labour.The only reason I was able to finish it myself was my mecahnic lent me some of his tools like his cutting torch and his press.Without those , I couldn't have replaced all my bushings when I did my truck.

Now the choice comes down to is it worth it to tear your truck apart and do the work yourself after buying the tools , or let someone else do the work and pay for the shop time.

Reviving this thread...

I'm finally getting around to doing this job, only 4 years later from when I originally thought I would have started. I've dug up my Genuine Isuzu bushings, looked at the bushings on the truck and have thought it out. Can someone tell me if this general path of action will work.

1. remove wheels
2. remove torsion bars
3. remove cross members
4. remove hubs and axle (4 bolts to frame for center section and 4 bolts for each half shaft)
5. remove tie rod
6. put portapower between front and rear LCA mounts to push out each bushing individually. The front bushing removes towards the front of the truck and the rear bushing is a "pass-through" so it can be pushed towards the rear.
If the outer sleeves are hard (ie impossible) to get out then cut 2 slits in the sleeve with a sawzall and use an air chisel to remove.
7. once bushings are removed use portapower again to push in rear bushing and for the front bushing, since it needs to be installed from the front of the truck, "tap" in with a 3 lb sledge.
8. reassemble

I know all of this is easier said than done but I wanted to see if this approach seems doable. There is a 4 ton and a 10 ton portapower sold. Will the 4 ton be sufficient?
I figure this would be a great opportunity to replace the oil pan and transmission pan gaskets.

Might be easier to just get replacement LCAs from a salvage yard...

In the picture above (RubyTrooper), the LCA was cut off because the rear bolt was siezed to the inner sleeve. The truck has lived it's life in Central Texas (i.e. no road salt/no rust) so hopefully after the torsion bar, balljoint and lower shock mount are removed it will come right out.

It may be too late, but..
The first thing I would do is pull the t-bar and see if the bolt will come free. Check the front bolt too. If they come out, you are half way there.
I had to replace one rear bushing on my desert car because of a stuck bolt and it turned into a I hate isuzus day for me. I finally got it done, but what a battle!

ok, well after many attempts and many different methods I finally got one of the front bushings pressed out. This means that I can get the other side out and that I can in turn press them both back in. This is what I found out, the special tool J-36834 was made by Kent-Moore. It has since been discontinued. I e-mailed etoolcart.com and they've been really helpful trying to find something that would work, but in the meantime I worked something else out. I used a ball joint press that I rented from O'reilly's. I used a part from the port-o-power that I bought from Harbor Freight (orange in picture) and it just so happens to have the same diameter as the front bushing. I used my breaker bar to "pop" the bushing loose. I thought I was going to break something. I had to make sure to line up the "orange part" with the outer sleeve of the bushing.