Polybush Question....

[rado-steve 0]

Hope you guys can help :clap:

 

I've gotta renew the suspension bushes on my C!

 

Are Powerflex the only poly bushes available these days??? I used to have Bonrath ones on my old MK2 and they were wicked! Also not sure wether to renew all bushes withj brand new VAG ones (To keep some ride comfort) or fully polybush or poly bush the rear and std VAG ones in the front????

 

So......

 

1)How Good are Powerflex bushes??

2)Are they're any UK importers for Bonrath??

3)Are VAG Rear Beam bushes that much of an arse to fit?

4)Am I gonna have loads of probs if I polybush the rear and std VAG bush the front???

5)Any other suggestions..... :grin:

 

Cheers Guys

 

Steve

[Goldie 2]

I used standard VAG items on mine when i sorted mine last month. Not that much of a pain to fit if you can get access to a bench vice and the proper tool or something that is like it.. They feel brilliant, its tightened everything back up and the last ones did 100k and werent even that bad so no reason why these ones wont...

[CTWG60 0]

Hope you guys can help :clap:

 

I've gotta renew the suspension bushes on my C!

 

Are Powerflex the only poly bushes available these days??? I used to have Bonrath ones on my old MK2 and they were wicked! Also not sure wether to renew all bushes withj brand new VAG ones (To keep some ride comfort) or fully polybush or poly bush the rear and std VAG ones in the front????

 

So......

 

1)How Good are Powerflex bushes??

2)Are they're any UK importers for Bonrath??

3)Are VAG Rear Beam bushes that much of an arse to fit?

4)Am I gonna have loads of probs if I polybush the rear and std VAG bush the front???

5)Any other suggestions..... :grin:

 

Cheers Guys

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

Powerflex and the like do stiffen up the suspension but they do wear out quicker and transmit more noise and vibration as you probably already know. As a daily driver car one of the first jobs I did was replace all the rubber at the front and rear along with struts all VAG factory stuff and I have to say the difference between 15yr old rubber bushes and new items is night and day. Feels like a new car and you get a feeling for what the magazines where talking about when they reviewed the car all that time ago. The rear beam bushes I let a garage do later on along with a new brake bias valve and braided hoses all round. First and last time I use a garage to do work on this car. They didn't bleed the rear brakes properly. :shrug:

 

Anyway I say go with the factory stuff, and you loose the rear steer affect if you use poly's on the rear. I'd say you need a tool to install the new bushes I think the knowledge base has more info.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Poly rear axle bushes are a damn site easier to fit than rubber ones!

 

Removing them is easy. Jack the car up really hight, undo the axle bolts and let it hang on the dampers. Then you just chase out the old bush with a drill, then cut the old shells out with a hacksaw. The poly bushes then just pop in in two halves, nice and easy. If you liked the Bonraths, you might appreciate the Powerflexes more as they're softer and more forgiving. Bonrath poly is like rock and I personally hate it!

 

I agree with the others though, rubber is better. Too stiff removes certain compliances in the chassis needed for rapid B road pace.

[CTWG60 0]

cut the old shells out with a hacksaw.

 

:) Anything involving a hacksaw is never easy and usually involves swearing, sweating and pain hence the name HACKsaw. I can't hack hacksaws and I hate hacking away at things.

 

And I'm surprised at you cheesewire I never had you down as a rubber man. From your posts I always imagine you as some sort of Hardcore MadMax character on the road with a glowing red bonnet from the heat of your turbo and flames out your tailpipe kind of thing all hunched over the steering wheel pushing porsches and bmws out of the fast lane of the motorway. :D

[Yandards 0]

Heres another reason not to fit poly bushes:

 

Vortex

 

It basically covers the effect that fitting poly bushes to the front wishbone rear bush, you end up with a nice oval shaped piece of metal. Best upgrade route is to fit mk 4 items instead.

 

Oh and I agree, fit the OE rear beam bushes, really need to do mine on the nugget.

[boost monkey 0]

Jack the car up really hight, undo the axle bolts and let it hang on the dampers.

 

Is that safe? I mean you could well be loading the dampers with vertical forces for which they are not designed, i.e. extra forces due to gravity, plus the springs will be forcing them further in that direction potentially past their limit? I know from trying to man-handle a rear beam that they are not light!

 

Just wondering really, looking forward to the science! :D :dorky: :salute:

[Andy665 0]

My Aqua Blue G60 was fully polybushed when I bought it, it was very taut but was not particularly comfortable and the back end was prone to lift off oversteer - the Nugget handles just as well and is a damned sight more comfortable with OE bushes

[rado-steve 0]

Heres another reason not to fit poly bushes:

 

Vortex

 

It basically covers the effect that fitting poly bushes to the front wishbone rear bush, you end up with a nice oval shaped piece of metal. Best upgrade route is to fit mk 4 items instead.

 

Oh and I agree, fit the OE rear beam bushes, really need to do mine on the nugget.

 

MK4 Front Bushes will fit the Mk2/Corrado front arms OK???

[junkie 0]

Poly all the way.....

[Dec 1]

Jack the car up really hight, undo the axle bolts and let it hang on the dampers.

 

Is that safe? I mean you could well be loading the dampers with vertical forces for which they are not designed, i.e. extra forces due to gravity, plus the springs will be forcing them further in that direction potentially past their limit? I know from trying to man-handle a rear beam that they are not light!

 

Just wondering really, looking forward to the science! :D :dorky: :salute:

 

Mehh, shocks have pretty tough upper limit stops, so I wouldn't be overly worried about damaging them by doing that, but it only takes a couple of secs to actually unbolt the beam from the shocks, so I normally just remove the whole thing! :|

[Yandards 0]

Heres another reason not to fit poly bushes:

 

Vortex

 

It basically covers the effect that fitting poly bushes to the front wishbone rear bush, you end up with a nice oval shaped piece of metal. Best upgrade route is to fit mk 4 items instead.

 

Oh and I agree, fit the OE rear beam bushes, really need to do mine on the nugget.

 

MK4 Front Bushes will fit the Mk2/Corrado front arms OK???

 

Would not worry too much about the front inner bush but fitting the rear mk 4 bush will be worthwhile.

[rado-steve 0]

Heres another reason not to fit poly bushes:

 

Vortex

 

It basically covers the effect that fitting poly bushes to the front wishbone rear bush, you end up with a nice oval shaped piece of metal. Best upgrade route is to fit mk 4 items instead.

 

Oh and I agree, fit the OE rear beam bushes, really need to do mine on the nugget.

 

MK4 Front Bushes will fit the Mk2/Corrado front arms OK???

 

Would not worry too much about the front inner bush but fitting the rear mk 4 bush will be worthwhile.

 

This one in the Pic :grin:

[boost monkey 0]

Yes steve, that's the one!

 

Didn't know you were so creative, did you go to London Art College? :lol:

[Kaktus 0]

Sorry for the hijack, but do you guys know the price on the OE front and rear set from VW? :tongue:

[CTWG60 0]

Sorry for the hijack, but do you guys know the price on the OE front and rear set from VW? :tongue:

 

Just buy a full wishbone with the bushes for about £45. Saves a lot of hassle.

[Kaktus 0]

Cheers mate. But i was more interested in prices for the k-frame, subframe and steering rack bushes. :wink:

[g60karmann 0]

I need to replace my rear beam bushes and was thinking of going poly, but want to get some different opions on this. I have almost spun the rado out going a little too fast round some round abouts, mainly because it feels so grippy and then all of a sudden, slip out goes the rear end without warning :shock:

 

Do you think this is because my current OE bushes are shot and will new OE bushes improve this or do I need to go for poly bushes to get a better feel for the rear end?

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[yeti 0]

just seen this thread and sorry to hijack but does anyone know of a garage in the bedfordshire area that can fit standard rear beam bushes apart from VAG...

 

they quoted £500+ for the job and as far as i've been told its a 3hour job, the VAG bushes come in about £60inc VAT so i dont know where the extra numbers come from... Every garage i've spoken to said they can only do poly without the proper tool :( which costs almost £500 inc vat for them to buy it... By the sounds of it fitting the poly ones is a fairly straight forward job i could do on the driveway but after polybushes on the golf i'd like to fit the new VAG rubber ones!

[pete_griff 0]

just to leave my 2penneth - when i recently did all my bushes i have gone for uprated audi tt bushes on the front, as they are harder than the standard rubber ones, but are still rubber and softer than powerflex - so the best of both worlds IMO.

 

i have powerflex on the rear, partly as they were so easy to fit as i was doing it myself, and as cheeswire says, they still allow a little flex (although granted, not as much as standard jobbies), but personally i'm a big fan of having lift-off oversteer on tap when you want it. standard are probably very good, but you will get fitting issues unless oyu have the right kit and, with the way that the rear beam moves, (personally) i can't see there being a massive difference in longevity between the standards and powerflex.

 

i haven't done many miles in the car, as by the time i got it all finished, other things broke on it and then i had to leave the country for a while!

 

first impressions remain good though :)

[paul20v 0]

this is still inconclusive for me , i would probably go poly on the rear for ease of fitting and buy new arms for the front all fresh and tidy then :)

[Toad 0]

i will mostly be using Vag rear axle bushes, and TT/R32 rear wishbone bushes with standard front wishbone bushes, or possibly new wishbones depending how stodgy they are.