Just changed rear axle bushes & suspension- What a differenc

[drunkenmunkey 0]

Just thought I'd share this, bored at work and all....I changed the suspension 1st & took the car out for test & ride was vastly improved [running 17inch rims], firm but supple, I put on Weitecs GT kit because they were cheap but seem good quality.

 

Then I changed the R.A.B.s and what a difference! Admitedly it took me a while to do & the council may well have been out & resurfaced the road in the time it took me to get the brake regulator off :oops: but the car feels tight like a new car, no crashing or banging.....to anyone looking to improve the ride of their C have a look at changing these first before spending loads of cash on suspension....this is probably old news to most of you but to me it's a revalation, no more shaking2:

 

I'm off out the play on the country roads..........................

[IrishG60 0]

Good advice.. thanks! :salute:

[herisites 0]

How hard were the RAB's to change mate? Did you use a proper press or did you just fashion something up?

[drunkenmunkey 0]

The R.A.B.s were a complete b#stard, well actually to be more specific the laying on the floor under a gap of 45cm with years worth of road dirt falling on me was a b#stard, otherwise it was OK I just took my time & did over a weekend.

 

On the Friday I jacked her up scrubbed everything down with a wire brush, then took a plumbers torch to the nut of the brake regulator mounting [being VERY careful to avoid all hoses lines etc], this seemed to work quite well, I sprayed freezing spray on the bolts and they came off OK, they were knackered by the time they came off but at least they came off.

 

On Saturday, I took the beam out, I just cut the brake lines as I was changing them anyway, this made undoing the unions easier IMO, I have a local friendly garage who pushed the old ones out & stuck the new ones in for £30. I've read that you can just drill out the rubbers & then carefully hacksaw the metal surround until it gives & then whack them out using a hammer & a length of copper pipe [or something else softer than the beam metal].

 

Then back on went the beam, regulator, brake lines & bit & bobs, bleed the brakes & there you are.

 

The worst bits were definitely the brake regulator, you have to be very careful not strip the bolt heads otherwise you could drill it out maybe? Once dissconnected moving the pipes was tricky [again the plumbers torch came in handy] and supporting the axle when taking off & putting on was a bit of a fiddle.

 

I just printed out the guide on Wiki which made life MUCH easier, the Bently manual is pretty pants.

 

Is this something you're planning? From the pics it looks as though your cars a beaut', can't see what else would need doing to it :)

[herisites 0]

Is this something you're planning? From the pics it looks as though your cars a beaut', can't see what else would need doing to it :)

 

Cheers for that. Yeah it looks ok but still a 12 year old car underneath really! I have done all the fronts myself, im just worried about doing the rears really. Although im going to be fitting goodridge hoses all round soon so i suppose it makes sense to get the rear axle off whilst the brake lines are off and put in some new bushes!!

[grey-vr6-dan 0]

I recently did mine becuase of nasty clonking. All fixed now. I used the hacksaw method to get the old ones out and the got the beam up on the workbench on some blocks of wood and got some various sized sockets bluetaced together that went around the new bush, so i could get it in the vice, then tightened the vice up to squeese them in. They were so tight though but I got them in in the end.

[zak 0]

the rear beam bushes is on my list of things to do, it's encouraging to read that the difference is significantly noticeable.

 

did you use oem bushes?

[grey-vr6-dan 0]

I used standard bushes from GSF, but I know you can get powerflex bushes for them

[g60greeny 0]

how much would this cost for me to get someone else to do it,as my cars my daily i would need it finishin once its started :lol:

i could do it myself following a guide etc,but if i messed it up i would be in trouble we no car :?