s2konroids

OK my mate now has access to a garage, and I'm looking to tackle the seized suspension bushes - something that I and alot of owners just didnt think about or enter our minds.

I had the geo checked last year, and IIRC 6/8 points were seized really cant rememeber which ones. Chris franklin had a look at the report i got and he said it wasnt dangerous but it would tramline - what ever that means? (i guess fishtail in some scenarios?), cant say I have found it dangerous even when i have put my footdown, no doubt i havent took it near to its limits. Needless to say its seized out of spec.

Please bear with me as I'm trying to get my head round this .

My question is could i remove all the arms and just replace the bushes?.

My plan would be to buy new bushes, plastic bits and bolts and replace, seems simple enough but surely there may be problem that i havent thought of, that might rear their ugly head.

I believe they need to be cut out (with grinder etc), but would that require cutting of the arm?, ideally I would just wish to cut the bolt or burn them out remove and replace.

Whats the cost of just oem/bog standard bushes?

As i say please bear with me, is there method in my madness?

Discussions welcome, I'm looking at a solution. COG quoted me >1000 pound!, plus I'll probably learn something with my friend who is a good mechanic.

One thing is it might be dangerous to drive if it all went ahead? (because geo would be wildy out), nearest geo spot is 5 mile away.

GrittyShaker

Tramlining is following grooves left in the road by countless other vehicles. Mine does it sometimes on motorways. It tries to follow the path that HGV's have left over the years. Not particularly dangerous, I don't think, as long as you have your wits about you. Not as bad as fishtailing, anyway.

s2konroids

Here is a printout of the geo report.

Sorry for crap quality i dont have a scanner. They didnt adjust the green at the point this was printed.

s2konroids

Thanks scott, i havent noticed the car doing that well maybe slightly.

Just debating if its actually worth doing, no doubt on track it would be a different story.

My only gripe is am i missing out.

Ultra_Nexus

It won't be easy, but if you can get yourself a grinder and an air saw, you'll be able to free off all your bolts.

Then, get a press and push all your bushes out.

Buy new bolts and bushes and fit

I make it sound easy, but the PITA is cutting the collars out

Dembo

What's going on with the caster on that? It should be something like 5-7 degrees.

CG will have quoted so much because that's how long it takes to cut out those bolts. If you've got someone who can do the work for free then go for it, but I wouldn't fancy doing it myself and your mate might not fully appreciate what he's letting himself in for.

You will need either replacement arms with bushes in place (i.e. from a breaker), or all new bushes and a press to fit them. You'll also certainly need the geo doing afterwards, but if you mark the positions on the adjusters you can at least get it back to approximately what it was and it won't be too terrible to drive.

eSeM

You will probably also need some new bolts and drop links.

Take a look Here!



(Not a job I would ever want to do again)

s2konroids

Hmmm cheers guys.

Maybe its worth letting chris franklin do the work, if i can get hold of some replacement arms or get them of him i know he does supply them.

I do get a bonus shortly that would cover the work, dont know if i want to blitz it all on that guess it will be worth it though . Its a bit of trek for me.

I did say i would give my mate some money so its not free i told him there would be a lot of work involved, i can see it taking a good few solid days.

s2konroids

Thanks Dembo, maybe if me and mate cut the old arms out and just replace with 2nd hand arms with good bushes (unseized) intact this might work out less time consuming.

I reckon 3 days solid roughly would do it? i will helping though aswell.

Either the above or let COG do it.

Gaspode

Which is why it's fecking expensive to get it sorted.
After hearing the horror stories I took my S when new to get the bushes greased.