Rear suspension bushes

[Roger Blassberg 0]

At last I have had the rear suspension bushes changed.

 

By sheer coincidence, whilst it was being done those nice people at Herts County Council went out and filled in all the potholes, resurfaced all the roads with velvet and installed some very effective (and invisible) guide rails in the road surface on all bends.

 

Or so it seems.............

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[gradeAfailure 0]

Did you go for OEM or poly? I'm about to get mine done, and The Phirm poo-poo'd the suggestion that you lose the passive rear steering with polys - is this just a cunning tactic because polys can be fitted with the rear beam in situ whereas OEM ones have to have the beam removed for them to be pressed in?

 

Good to know that it'll make a difference though! Think I'll do all the wishbone and arb bushes at the same time... :)

[Roger Blassberg 0]

I went for standard rubber bushes as I prefer comfort and quiet rather than ultimate cornering. Definitely getting old.

Incidentally, my son claims that the rear seat is so comfortable and the sound of the engine so soothing that it is the best car he has travelled in for falling asleep........so I didn't want to spoil that with crashy noisy suspension.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[gradeAfailure 0]

Cheers Roger, that's made my mind up... :)

[andy 0]

That's exactly what I need to hear, I've been a bit disappointed with my crashy ride since the year dot. Am about to do the rear beam bushes and am praying that the ride quality improves.

[steve_16v 0]

I went for standard rubber bushes as I prefer comfort and quiet rather than ultimate cornering. Definitely getting old.

Incidentally, my son claims that the rear seat is so comfortable and the sound of the engine so soothing that it is the best car he has travelled in for falling asleep........so I didn't want to spoil that with crashy noisy suspension.

 

Mine used to have a comfortable ride ... till the coilovers went on! Even a narcoleptic would have trouble sleeping in it now :)

 

Going to get the rear bushes changed though, sometimes it's a little too crashy.

[chubbybrown 0]

Is it a DIY job,I suppose you need a press,but what about resetup ?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The polys will need more force to twist than the standard bushes, so the phirm are technically correct.

 

Shame Vibratechnics didn't do the rear axle bushes when I replaced mine otherwise they'd have gone in in preference to poly.

 

On ride, I've never found the Rado to be particularly good at absorbing bumps, standard suspension or uprated, but the H&R comforts are firm enough to do the biz whilst still compliant enough to hustle it through B roads without shaking about all over the road.

[gradeAfailure 0]

Hang on, VibraTechnics do rear arm bushes...?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, and rear wishbone bushes too....

 

I had the VT rear wishbone bushes done a couple of years ago and they were brilliant, but I misdiagnosed them as faulty when the rack started playing up so put standards back in. When they go again and when the rear axle needs doing again, VTs will be going in ;-)

[gradeAfailure 0]

Ooooo, where'd you get them from and how much?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Stealth mate ;-)

 

No idea how much the rear axle bushes are but the rear wishbone ones were about £70 from memory, not cheap! I would expect the axle ones to be over £100 tbh.... best check with the Vincemeister.

[gradeAfailure 0]

Ach, looks like it'll be OEM ones at that price...!

[bcstudent 0]

The handling and ride in my Corrado have noticeably gone to pot recently. I think this is the next job for me too since it's the cheapest on the list!

[dinkus 10]

Ach, looks like it'll be OEM ones at that price...!

 

and you were saying it was a sure bet you'd have VT ones on Friday :lol:

[gradeAfailure 0]

Yeah, well, finances... Just weighing up the options at the mo - if I get uprated rear bushes, then I want uprated fronts too, but I know that GSF do wishbones with the bushes already in for not a lot more than the bushes alone, and that'll save a lot of money and hassle fitting them...

 

Decisions, decisions!

[NickVR6 0]

Having helped (hindered in English) mine being removed and refitted i'd be rather suprised if you can get these bushes out without removing the beam!!

 

Mine had basically formed part of the beam after 12yrs in there. the edges splay out even with the right tool and you can crack the beam if you load it wrong removing them.

 

Its all possible regardless of how bigger mess they are, just cant imagine doing it on the car even dropping one side slightly. Lovely difference though mate! i went for oem too

[dinkus 10]

I've got a spare rear beam you can have if you want - fit the bushes sans-car then just do a straight swap...

[gradeAfailure 0]

Hmmm... Isn't there a special tool for fitting the bushes needed though?

[2cc 0]

Yes, you CANNOT fit the new ones without it; as NickVR6 said the old ones are usually so stuffed that you'll have to cut them out anyway. Can't remember the part number at the mo but it is v expensive (well, my dealer told me the new one they bought to do mine cost around £300)

I took mine off the car and down to the dealer's to press the new ones in.

John Mitchell has one too and was very accommodating when we were having fun doing Nick's

:roll:

 

PS We did a KB article on it

[willg 0]

anyone know how much it is to get a garage to fit rears suspension bushes for vr6, feeling a little lazy recently. (total price including parts and labour)

thanks

 

ps

 

just looked up the colour of my corrado and its called midnight violet - is this a rare colour as i have not seen many

[Roger Blassberg 0]

It took the garage about 5 hours, so whatever that costs at your friendly local spannermeister. You need also to factor-in the high likelihood of a new brake pressure valve , about £70, as this will most probably have to be sawn off. Might as well get the brake fluid changed too as the system will be open anyway.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[davidwort 0]

Yes, you CANNOT fit the new ones without it;

 

Not strictly true, I did mine with the beam off the car and with a long nut and bolt to act as a puller. A couple of big heavy washers and a couple of bits of metal to pack out the washer to the shape of the inner bush face.

 

Took me about four hours, but then I really took my time and it was carefully cutting out the old bushes that took most of it.

 

I was careful to get the positionning of the new bushes spot on and I had to pull the new ones in a bit further after the first time I offered the beam back up to the car, but the whole job was much easier than I thought it would be.

 

I would say the use of a two post garage lift helped me no-end though.

 

I'm sure the only practical way to do it on the car is with the proper puller tool though.

 

David.

[corradophil 3]

I did mine without a puller too, using various washers, bolts etc. Probably took 2 hours to change the bushes with the beam off the car. The biggest headache of the whole job for me was bleeding the brake system through after I stupidly let the fluid drain out - I was concentrating 100% on doing the bushes and everything else went out the window.

 

Definately could not have changed them with this method on the car, although if I were fitting poly bushes I'd give it a go.

[khurrado 0]

M brother got it done at designa dubs, fitted poly bushes giving the car a much stiffer ride, and it was a c***t to get rid of the old bushes, they took hours banging them out. £120.