Rubber Bushes

[peterux]

I was moving the car into the garage tonight and was moving it backwards and forwards to get the car in the right position. I was looking at the offside wheel to get the car in the right position. (not much space in my garage).

I was amazed to see how much the mudgaurd moves as the stub axle rotates under braking (from about 3mph!) I could see the mudguard bolts moving up and down about 1cm. The rubber bushes allow the top wishbone to move about and not just up and down.

I think a set of hard'sh polybushes for the top wishbones will be top of my list of upgrades once the car is finished.

Anybody else noticed this?

Peter

[Patrick]

Yup noticed mine move quite far under braking. I'm looking at changing them out as well. I can see why they no longer wish to supply the rubber ones.

However the powerflex ones they supply are really muchos expensive, especially compared to the set you can get from rally design.

[peterux]

I've got the Rally Design Polysports on the lower wishbones. They are bright yellow and quite soft.
I might go for the Polyrace(harder) on the top wishbones. Do you thnik mixing them on the same axle would be a problem?

Peter

[Patrick]

Don't think so I've got the powerflex ones on the bottom wishbones and rubber at the top, seems to drive and steer fine. I'm wait on costs from a few places on more powerflex ones.

[MartinClan]

Just had this email from Terry

I can now do these at £16 per arm. Just managed to get a better deal :-)
Cheers
Terry

Ps I'm quite happy for you to mention this on the web site. If people
however want to get the old type they are from Sierra front inner track
control arm

Robin

[Patrick]

I've replaced my top wish bone bushes today with the Rally Design ones, I went with the harder ones (PB013B).

Suspension deformation under normal braking as substantially reduced, it feels more solid at the front. I've not had a chance to properly drive it yet but I would say its very much a worth while improvement if you're still running standard fiesta TCA bushes.

Also my top wish bone had surface rusted underneath around the welds so worth a check ever so often.

[peterux]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I've replaced my top wish bone bushes today with the Rally Design ones, I went with the harder ones (PB013B).

Suspension deformation under normal braking as substantially reduced, it feels more solid at the front. I've not had a chance to properly drive it yet but I would say its very much a worth while improvement if you're still running standard fiesta TCA bushes.

Also my top wish bone had surface rusted underneath around the welds so worth a check ever so often.

How do they compare to the ones Marlin sent you (Powerflex?) for hardness?

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by peterux

How do they compare to the ones Marlin sent you (Powerflex?) for hardness?

Quite similar I would say, nicer too as they are black rather than purple.

[MartinClan]

I started to fit my new lower suspension arms this evening. First job was to fit the "new" aftermarket bushes. The problem is that they don't fit! They are too loose allowing the metal insert that carries the bolt to rotate within the poly moulding. Easily checked by clamping the bush in a vice and trying to move the suspension arm. The metal insert should not slip within the poly bush - all movement being absorbed by the poly bush itself distorting.

So they look good - but wouldn't last 5 minutes in practice. I am not sure what the problem is. Could be the eyes in the suspension arms are a little oversize, or just the bushes are not suited to the job. Any suggestions gratefully received!

I think I might have to return to original Ford Fiesta parts assuming I can get them. I would recommend anyone else using these bushes with the new suspension arms to check them carefully.

Ho hum....

Robin

[Patrick]

How loose is loose? You can normally push the metal bit in by hand with these. In my experience these tend to work more like a "ball joint" than a bush.

[peterux]

Yeah, my rally Design 'slip' rather than 'distort'

Peter

[MartinClan]

How loose is loose? You can normally push the metal bit in by hand with these.

Yes - mine are like that.

Yeah, my rally Design 'slip' rather than 'distort'

Hmm - yours as well. I can't help thinking that the metal sleeve rubbing on the poly bush is going to wear it quickly. I thought the theory of these was that the process of clamping the whole thing in place, with the through bolt, compressed the poly bit of the bush so that it gripped the metal sleeve and then all the movement was taken care of by the poly bush flexing. I wonder if anyone else can shed some light on this?

As an aside - I popped into my local Ford dealer today and he confirmed that the Ford Fiesta bush that we all previously used is no longer available - so whatever the answer it won't be this.

Robin

[Patrick]

I cover my poly bushes with copper grease so they slip more easily and don't wear out quickly

The front lower rear wish bone bush on my E46 is a polyflex one, its made out of two pieces - these two pieces are covered in copper gears and slip inside each other. They move freely with the wishbone like a ball joint - so you get a much smoother less restricted movement on the wishbone. I figure the same theory applies to these. The bushes act like a rose joint / ball joint allow the components to move freely.

[GreatOldOne]

Mine where a tight push fit on all of the suspension eyes - top and bottom. I used copper slip to aid the fitting, as suggested on the note with the parts from floflex. The inner metal sleeve was much the same - tight, but not overly so

[MartinClan]

Originally Posted by GreatOldOne

I used copper slip to aid the fitting, as suggested on the note with the parts from floflex.

Aha - I didn't get this note with my bits from FloFlex. Did it say anything else I should know about?

Regards

Robin

[GreatOldOne]

No - just that. I was going to use red rubber grease, but when I read the note I used my copper slip instead.

[MartinClan]

I have decided I am not at all happy with the polybush solution - particularly on the lower wishbone. If the sleeve rotates within the bushes then the bushes will be rotating with the wishbone (as it goes up and down) Therefore the outsides of the bushes will be rotating against the suspension mounting brackets. It won't be long before they wear in that case.....

Fortunately I was able to salvage the original Fiesta bushes (Supplied by Marlin but no longer available according to Ford) from my first set of wishbones so I am going to use these.

Anyone else have any theories about this?

Robin

[peterux]

I presume that this would be the same for all cars fitted with poly bushes fitted?

[MartinClan]

Originally Posted by peterux

I presume that this would be the same for all cars fitted with poly bushes fitted?

I'm not so sure. The problem could be that the original use of the bush is in a stabiliser bar designed for lateral location rather than rotation. In this case the rotation around the sleeve would be minimal.

There is also another problem with the poly bushes as GOO discovered. The rubber Fiesta bushes allow some movement of the metal sleeve within the bush back and forward. This allows the wishbone to fit even if it is a few mm out of size. The poly bushes don't allow this meaning the wishbone has to be an exact fit. In fact my old and new wishbones are exactly the same dimensions - but neither would fit using the poly bushes without doing something drastic (as GOO did)

Having salvaged them I think I will stick with the rubber bushes for now...

Robin

[RobDorey]

Peter,

How do you get on with the yellow bushes?
Did they fit okay?

I've also knadgered my old bushes, changing to the new wishbones.

I wonder what colour the Polyrace ones are?