28-04-2020, 10:56 AM
First off, you Aussies are so lucky in one respect. Compared to a UK car that is sooo clean underneath. One thing you won't have to tackle by the looks of it is a rusting chassis or seized bolts.
Looks like the knocking you're getting (mentioned in your other post) could be the drop links. Cheap n easy to replace luckily.
The rear control arm bushes may need attention too (will tighten up the handling) but couldn't tell properly from the pics. If you've read around you'll see most people recommend replacing them with Berlingo ones, which have a slightly different design but fit n last longer. The front control arm bushes aren't usually a problem.
Front anti-roll bar bush looks OK. These are split bushes anyway.
Re the beam bushes, although the rear ones have some minor cracking they're not usually the ones that cause issues with knocking / poor handling. It's the front ones, but they're difficult to see/check as it's hard to manually apply enough force to the rear beam to observe excessive movement. Look at replacing them if:
* you get a load banging from the rear when going over stuff like speed bumps or
* front suspension / steering is all sorted but handling still feels very loose going in to corners.
Otherwise I'd leave them alone.
As for the steering rack, the failed gaiter could well have compromised the inner track rod joint and rack & pinion itself. Only way to check though is to pull it out n then in the first instance I'd get looked at / reconditioned by a power steering specialist. They'll tell you whether it's within tolerance & may even be able to replace some of the internals if needed. Here in the UK a refurb cost me £90, including the new gaiters. (The ram can't be easily repaired so it's good that seems ok). The notchy feeling could also be caused by a failing power steering pump btw. With the aux belt off check it spins freely with no play in the bearings. (Pumps can be reconditioned for a little less than a rack, in the UK at least).
Looks like the knocking you're getting (mentioned in your other post) could be the drop links. Cheap n easy to replace luckily.
The rear control arm bushes may need attention too (will tighten up the handling) but couldn't tell properly from the pics. If you've read around you'll see most people recommend replacing them with Berlingo ones, which have a slightly different design but fit n last longer. The front control arm bushes aren't usually a problem.
Front anti-roll bar bush looks OK. These are split bushes anyway.
Re the beam bushes, although the rear ones have some minor cracking they're not usually the ones that cause issues with knocking / poor handling. It's the front ones, but they're difficult to see/check as it's hard to manually apply enough force to the rear beam to observe excessive movement. Look at replacing them if:
* you get a load banging from the rear when going over stuff like speed bumps or
* front suspension / steering is all sorted but handling still feels very loose going in to corners.
Otherwise I'd leave them alone.
As for the steering rack, the failed gaiter could well have compromised the inner track rod joint and rack & pinion itself. Only way to check though is to pull it out n then in the first instance I'd get looked at / reconditioned by a power steering specialist. They'll tell you whether it's within tolerance & may even be able to replace some of the internals if needed. Here in the UK a refurb cost me £90, including the new gaiters. (The ram can't be easily repaired so it's good that seems ok). The notchy feeling could also be caused by a failing power steering pump btw. With the aux belt off check it spins freely with no play in the bearings. (Pumps can be reconditioned for a little less than a rack, in the UK at least).