One off bushes - suggestions?.
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Discussion

texaxile

Original Poster:

3,752 posts

179 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Hi,
For the life of me I can't work out how this has happened.

I ordered a complete set of rear bushes (NOS) from Mitsubishi for my Lancer Turbo. They turned up, all present and correct. Old bushes removed, not without a fight having been in there 30 years, all new ones went in easily with some gentle persuasion , except for one. The part numbers match up, on the micrometer it's the same size as the equivalent bush the other side, but for some reason in the Trailing arm it's .03mm too small as as such it falls through.

The old bush is pretty badly damaged after being pressed out, so we can't get an accurate measurement because the outer sleeve was corroded. For the life of me I can't work out what has happened, all I know is that my Lancer was one of the first off the line back in the day (number 32) which might or might not have any bearing upon things. Either way I'm stuffed, the bush is NLA from Mitsubishi so I'm going to need two made up to spec.

My question is that would it be possible to get them made up out of Poly as a one off , or is there a way around this by machining then sleeving either the arm or the bush itself?.

Any suggestions gratefully received, although "sticking some mastic in there" , as suggested by my brother isn't really ideal.

Cheers
Pete

Slidingpillar

761 posts

165 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Try your local bearing and seals place. They can often get stuff made, I refurbished a pair of 1930 telescopic shock absorbers this way.

texaxile

Original Poster:

3,752 posts

179 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
I thought of this mate, sadly our local bearing manufacturer went out of business a few years back. I've already emailed Powerflex, they replied telling me it's not worth their while, which is a shame.

chrisr29

1,272 posts

226 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Could you get the hole in the trailing arm sleeved up a size so the the undersize bush fits?

Otherwise, maybe get some bushes machined up out of nylon. Does the trailing arm move only in one plane, or does it flex from side to side a bit as it moves up and down?

v8250

2,747 posts

240 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
I buy my industrial plastics from here http://www.directplastics.co.uk/polyurethane-rod

It's easy to hand profile your own bushes, accurately machine the outer, then drill the centre. Finish with fine grade paper. You can even polish the surface with G10 compound if required. Use white grease as the fitting lubricant.

chrisr29

1,272 posts

226 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
v8250 said:
I buy my industrial plastics from here http://www.directplastics.co.uk/polyurethane-rod

It's easy to hand profile your own bushes, accurately machine the outer, then drill the centre. Finish with fine grade paper. You can even polish the surface with G10 compound if required. Use white grease as the fitting lubricant.
Does polyurethane rod machine ok? I'd have thought it was a bit too soft.

markymarkthree

3,601 posts

200 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
On some Ford bushes you are meant to use the outer sleeve of the old bush, dont know if thats the case here.
This place made me some poly-bushes once.
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9mSs2KVwy9ULwkAmeF...

I have always used copper grease, should i have used white grease? if so for what reason.
Should it be white grease with lithium as there seems to be a few choices.


davepoth

29,395 posts

228 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Just a thought - is it the trailing arm at fault rather than the bush? Has it been worn away a bit? It might be worth seeing if the arm is available at a reasonable price.

felixlighter

228 posts

176 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
texaxile said:
Hi,
For the life of me I can't work out how this has happened.

I ordered a complete set of rear bushes (NOS) from Mitsubishi for my Lancer Turbo. They turned up, all present and correct. Old bushes removed, not without a fight having been in there 30 years, all new ones went in easily with some gentle persuasion , except for one. The part numbers match up, on the micrometer it's the same size as the equivalent bush the other side, but for some reason in the Trailing arm it's .03mm too small as as such it falls through.

The old bush is pretty badly damaged after being pressed out, so we can't get an accurate measurement because the outer sleeve was corroded. For the life of me I can't work out what has happened, all I know is that my Lancer was one of the first off the line back in the day (number 32) which might or might not have any bearing upon things. Either way I'm stuffed, the bush is NLA from Mitsubishi so I'm going to need two made up to spec.

My question is that would it be possible to get them made up out of Poly as a one off , or is there a way around this by machining then sleeving either the arm or the bush itself?.

Any suggestions gratefully received, although "sticking some mastic in there" , as suggested by my brother isn't really ideal.

Cheers
Pete
Hi Pete, this may be the answer you are looking for.
http://www.nagara.co.uk/MakingBushes.htm

v8250

2,747 posts

240 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
chrisr29 said:
Does polyurethane rod machine ok? I'd have thought it was a bit too soft.
Yes, most plastics will machine very well providing the machining is not rushed or too much cutting/machine pressure applied. The trick is to keep heat build up to a minimum. One can always run the water tube to cool the material.

robinessex

11,994 posts

210 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
Something odd here. 0.03mm is about a quarter the thickness of a human hair!!!!! Suspension bushes aren't usually that tight a tolerance.

texaxile

Original Poster:

3,752 posts

179 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
Hi,
typo on my part, sorry (only just noticed smile ) 0.3mm difference, enough to make it push through by hand but no discernible gap.

The bush in the arm was the original one with the car, it was fairly well rusted in but eventually pushed out, sleeve and all. My only option now might be to take the other Trailing arm off, push out the equivalent bush and measure everything up (which I'll have to do anyway if I'm going to put poly in).

I'm erring on the side of the Bush being wrong somehow. It has the part number stamped into the rubber, and it matches up with where it is supposed to be, but might just be a one off. Regarding part numbers, the official part (which was supplied by Mitsubishi) was MB110720, the part number of the bush which I've since found after rooting around in a bin containing half eaten burgers, swarf and other pleasantries was MB111357. Since checking the MLR archives I've found out that both numbers were listed for the application, but the one that came out was definitely bigger.

One bit of good news though, I've searched the part number on Gooooogle and it comes up as being available, but only in bulk from Ali Baba and such other mass producers.

If any PH detective can find me an MB111357 in the UK I'd be most appreciative ,even to the point of buying a virtual beer, ale or white wine spritzer. In the meantime I'm going to talk to the very helpful friend I have at Mitsubishi and try to figure out if I can somehow get one off another application (Wide body Starion seems a possibility).

Thanks again for your suggestions thus far chaps,

Cheers
Pete