Front/rear suspension refurb
Discussion
m3jappa said:
I'd like to change all the bushes on my tuscan, are the existing ones difficult to remove? i.e any special tools involved?
hole saw first bud,this removes bush rubber,then cut outer metal casing carefully so as not to damage wishbones etc.then the casing will tap out,very easy job;)If your stripping the front suspension, you may as well get the suspension arms blasted and powder coated. I went down this route and the cooking process even facilitated the removal of the old bushes as their inner cores were cooked/soft.
As said above, the basic black poly bushes din't make my ride excessively hard just make sure you havn't gone for the racing bushes.
And trust me, when your under the car and looking at dirt/rust/grime, you will spend hours cleaning and painting. I planned about 50 hours for my refurb and must have spent easily 100, but hay it's winter and you have lots of time to do the job well. Have a search for previous threads on chassis refurb / wheel arch refurb.
As said above, the basic black poly bushes din't make my ride excessively hard just make sure you havn't gone for the racing bushes.
And trust me, when your under the car and looking at dirt/rust/grime, you will spend hours cleaning and painting. I planned about 50 hours for my refurb and must have spent easily 100, but hay it's winter and you have lots of time to do the job well. Have a search for previous threads on chassis refurb / wheel arch refurb.
Graham said:
The only thing that actually needed changing were the trackrod ends as the rubbers had perished.
Just for the record I had the same problem, but because the TREs were showing no wear I simply replaced the rubbers and shoved an extra teaspoon of grease in for good measure. The rubbers are held on with a spiral spring clip which can be removed with help of a thin blade screwdriver.I've had several emails from people so I think the best thing to do is put this to bed now:
1. The colour of the poly bushes do not 100% indicate the hardness. The colour is simply a dye that is put into the poly when moulding takes place. Some companies do colour code them but there is no standard for what it means.
One company's black bushes may be rock hard for race applications while another may be softer for road use. So when you hear comments like "errr black bushes... I wouldn't fit them as they are for racing and will make everything hard", ask the question of where this nugget of information has come from. Which supplier was this? Which car model? Chances are that this information will not be forthcoming and it is a generalisation based on the fact that some hard bushes are black and somebody fitted them when some other version may have been a better choice.
2. The Powerflex bushes are not available in different grades. They are designed to be suitable for road use. They also work well on track. They do not make the ride like a racer, although if the originals are worn, you will notice the suspension sharpening up.
4. The Powerflex bushes are typically black. This does not mean that they are super hard race compound bushes.
5. The biggest contributors to ride harshness are tyre pressures, the tyre profile (yes lower profile rubber band tyre/wheel combinations may look cool but they remove a lot of complience which the suspension was designed for). The other problem is that these tyres often need higher pressures to ensure the tyre stays on the rim and that further exaggerates the problem.
1. The colour of the poly bushes do not 100% indicate the hardness. The colour is simply a dye that is put into the poly when moulding takes place. Some companies do colour code them but there is no standard for what it means.
One company's black bushes may be rock hard for race applications while another may be softer for road use. So when you hear comments like "errr black bushes... I wouldn't fit them as they are for racing and will make everything hard", ask the question of where this nugget of information has come from. Which supplier was this? Which car model? Chances are that this information will not be forthcoming and it is a generalisation based on the fact that some hard bushes are black and somebody fitted them when some other version may have been a better choice.
2. The Powerflex bushes are not available in different grades. They are designed to be suitable for road use. They also work well on track. They do not make the ride like a racer, although if the originals are worn, you will notice the suspension sharpening up.
4. The Powerflex bushes are typically black. This does not mean that they are super hard race compound bushes.
5. The biggest contributors to ride harshness are tyre pressures, the tyre profile (yes lower profile rubber band tyre/wheel combinations may look cool but they remove a lot of complience which the suspension was designed for). The other problem is that these tyres often need higher pressures to ensure the tyre stays on the rim and that further exaggerates the problem.
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