Well John Dixon (95%) and I (5%) ;) fitted some of the poly bushes from the Energy Suspension Hyperflex doodah kit I got a while back.

 

Big thanks to John for the work :) and for babysitting my wallet tonight til I pick it up tomorrow - d'oh! :D:D

 

What did we fit...err, tension rod bushes both sides, the easy steering rack bush, front anti-roll bar bushes both sides, and front lower control arms both sides.

 

It took most of the day including going out to buy a chisel and an angle grinder lol

 

The effect: well my brake judder at high speeds has gone :D and generally the car feels a bit tighter and steering feels more sure. I'll have to get the rest of the set on at some point :S

 

Here's some pics anyway :cool:

 

Pete

A tension rod with new bush pressed in, we found a local place that did them for a fiver cash :)

 

This picture shows a new poly bush for the anti-roll bar (front), alongside the two taken off. Look at the difference :eek:

 

The one on the right was under a power steering fluid leak :eek: Scary!

 

Same bushes from above :eek:

 

The bolt through the bush between front subframe bracket and front lower control arm passenger side was fused to the metal tube inside the bush :rolleyes:

 

Turning the bolt only span the the metal tube inside the bush :mad:

 

This was by far the most time consuming job over the day, about 3 hours including two trips to Focus, and food, and expletives.

 

Hammering, chiselling and crowbarring didnt budge it at all. In the end we got an angle grinder and took off the bolt head on the left and the exposed thread on the right and dropped the whole arm straight out ;)

 

Burning the old bush out of the b4stard thing. John luckily had a spare bolt which we replaced for the one we cut to bits.

 

This is the offending bolt which survived WD40, blowtorch, chisel and hammer.

 

Good to see you thought of saftey first :rofl:

 

Job well done then, you driven the car yet ?. Any noticable difference ?

LOL I missed the best photo opportunity - that ones pretty tame, John really has an asbestos face :D:D And hands :eek:

 

Steering definately feels less light, and thats with the difficult steering rack bush not in yet. And the awful judder I had braking from anything above 70 has completely gone!

 

Oh yeah and my arch scrub on the drivers side front has gone too!!

 

Well worth doing.

 

Pete

Never know Pete, you might be able to avoid those roundabouts now :rofl:

LOL I *will* get some new front tyres ;)

Do they help you park as well??

Originally posted by jock

Do they help you park as well??

 

Dunno what you're talking about, you've got no proof, wasnt me guvnor ;)

Right, that's it, I'm off to Pemberton Tyres on Saturday to wiggle all my wheels up on a ramp, and see my wallet flinch as I do it...

 

What's this kit Pete, how much, where from, how much would fitting be, why is the Milka cow lilac?

 

I watched Wheeler Dealers on Discovery H+L last night and learned enough about the suspension bits to realise it's a job for the wallet not me. :D They'd bought a shagged Capri and changed the bushes on it. He got the new control rod bush in by putting a long bolt through the middle of it, putting big washers on each end to squish it, covering it in washing-up liquid (!), and doing up the nut on the bolt whilst the arm was held in a vice. I think there may have been TV magic involved, don't believe a word of it!

This is the kit : clicky from the courtesy site where I got it. I gather the zcentre does it for around £150 IIRC

 

If ;) it had all have gone smoothly, only a few hours for what we did. But theres plenty more to do yet.

 

Or you could pick and choose from here : clicky

 

I think it'd be v v expensive to pay a garage to do it :S

 

Pete

The rear subframe ones are a bugger to do. Got to drop the subframe, dismantle it, cut/press out the old bushes and fit the new ones, need to make a puller for the rear diff ones too.

I'd allow a full day to do it with a 2 post ramp and press.

 

Well worth doing, though there is a bit more noise in the car. Especially if you've got a clattery plate diff like me :D

 

The rhs steering rack one is a pain too, very tight access and loads of pipes in the way, I ended up dropping the subframe to do it.

Originally posted by John Dixon

The rear subframe ones are a bugger to do. Got to drop the subframe, dismantle it, cut/press out the old bushes and fit the new ones, need to make a puller for the rear diff ones too.

I'd allow a full day to do it with a 2 post ramp and press.

 

Well worth doing, though there is a bit more noise in the car. Especially if you've got a clattery plate diff like me :D

 

The rhs steering rack one is a pain too, very tight access and loads of pipes in the way, I ended up dropping the subframe to do it.

 

Cheers John I'll drop the car off later :D :rofl: ;)

No problem, just remember to leave your wallet again :p

Cheers matey. It's up on a ramp as we speak, since I've now developed a clutch leak somewhere! Bloody M25 yesterday clearly popped something.

 

I'm just going to put new (decent) tyres on and see how much better it feels, otherwise I'll have to see if I can come to some arrangement with a tame mechanic...