My mechanic has told me that the upper rear trailing arm bushes require replacing on my '98 EL Fairmont Ghia. I have been given a ballpark figure of $300-$400 for parts and labour. With my extremely limited mechanical knowledge I was hoping someone might be able to tell me if this is something that is safe to put off for a while or if it is something I should have rectified immediately. Considering the car does not have IRS can it still affect the wheel alignment?

Depends on how bad they are. I'd fix them if they show major wear.

These ones are $185 + $19 postage.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FORD-EL-AU-F ... 27cc786b03

s**t easy to fit. 2 bolts on each one. Put the car up on axle stands under the body and jack under the diff. Do one side at a time.

Thank you.

I had a look at the workshop manual and replacing both upper rear trailing arms with new ones looks quite straight forward for a novice. It removes the need to have to deal with pressing out old bushes and pressing in new bushes. The manual states that the nuts and bolts holding the trailing arms in must be tightended with a torque wrench when there is weight on the rear axle. I imagine this would mean that the vehicle needs to be on the ground. I don't think there would be enough room behind the wheel to get to the arms when the car is on the ground.

You should be able to do it on ramps, which is fine.

Have a look at them. If they just show slight cracking then they should be done but aren't urgent. If they are falling apart then do them.

I just replaced the rear arms on my AU (similar) and the best way is to put the car on Jack Stands and do them that way. Like SWC said, do each side at a time and, if you have standard exhaust, the R/H lower front arm bolt will be a little tough to get out but do-able.

When you have done both sides and have it all ready to tighten, use a floor jack and start to raise the axle until it just starts to lift off the Jack stands and that is enough load to fully tighten all the bolts.