Bushes question please help

[scottieboymk2 0]

hi i know there are many topics regarding bushes but it doesnt really clear up anything so i need some clarification lol firstly can anyone vouch for the quality of the bushes from VWspares.co.uk?

 

Also are powerflex bushes bad e.g do they really cause long term problems to the car? ive been quoted 35 quid each for rear bushes from main dealers and about 17 quid for the r32 rear wishbone bushes which i believe fit the wishbones dont they? all prices are exclusive of vat.

 

please can someone help me as the choices are vast and i want good quality bushes but if the vw spares ones are as good as genuine ones they will do.

 

One more question has anyone changed there front wishbone bushes themselves as i am scared to death of snapping a bolt off

[davidwort 0]

depends what you want from the car,

comfort, no extra noise or vibration and longevity, go for all VW original parts

cheap, reasonable OEM ride go for FEBI etc near to OEM parts

tighter feel and sharpest handling, then R32 wishbone and poly rear beam ones may be best for you.

 

there's no harm in trying to remove the wishbone bolts, if they move OK and free off then the job is not too bad to do at home, even the rear beam bushes are do-able at home with a bit of inginuity.

[beastie4126 0]

I have found rear beam bushes to be a pig to get off and install on previous cars so my VR was given Poly bushes which are damn easy to install in comparison. www.awesome-gti.co.uk are doing them for £40 the pair at the moment.

 

I managed to snap the head off the front non sump covered wishbone bolt due to corrosion welding the threads together. In hindsight if I had taken the time to coat the bugger in plus gas/ wd40 a few times prior to starting the job it ma not have happened.

 

Remember that you will need to jack up engine and or drop the subframe to get at the bolt behind the sump.

[scottieboymk2 0]

thanx for your help i am new to this lol do you have powerflex bushes if so is the ride a lot worse? i have heard it takes away passive rear steering or sumthing along those lines i just dont know what is best to buy as i am not willing to save a buck i just want it to be good quality

[scottieboymk2 0]

also do you think the rear beam is easier than the wishbones? its the subframe bolt im worried about they dont seem rusty and are m12 at the end of the day there pretty strong but if it snaps it will be chaos haha. does plus gas really work

[Yandards 0]

I cannot recommend polybushes for anywhere on the car.

 

If you fit poly rear beam bushes you will loose the passive rear steering function that the rubber ones provide.

[MonkeyVR6 0]

I've read about 4/5 post now about how Powerflex rear beam bushes are NOT the thing do.

 

However, no-one has actually said why bar a limp statement about passive rear steering. Will fitting Powerflex really make that much difference, or are people just guessing?

 

I've had some real fucking nightmare jobs with this damn car, always expensive. So surely fitting bushes that are easy to fit and will last longer than the originals would be beneficial?

[volksworld13 0]

you gotta hand it to vw, my axle bushes have been on there for 15 years, 155k latethey are still there, and only now need replacing, i persoanlly wouldnt go down the powerflex bush road, hard ride, and loose the rear steer, the bushes are designed to give/movement ,in the rear bush, thats why it s a funny shape, i suppose without this style of bush you would compromise the feel of the back end, thats all i can make out of it.

im sure the mods know more :confused4:

[aide 0]

go compare a poly bush side by side with an oem item, the inner core flexes on the oem item but not the polybush, the oem item is encased, whereas the polybush isn't, the oem items are difficult to get in for a reason, i'd rather have them very tight than just tight. in addition, once fitted correctly you almost need to lever the beam back onto the mounting brackets with oem bushes, it's called pre-tensioning according to yanyards who has the VW workshop manuals, i'd wager with the polybushes it slots right in.

[beastie4126 0]

Well having driven my car with standard VW and poly bushes I can only state that I find the handling better with the poly bush. This is subjective though as the bushes replaced had almost covered 99,000 miles. It would be interesting to do a back to back comparison.