Perished Wishbone Bushes........Symptoms?

[Toms306]

Hi guys,

Basically my mate has a bad wheel wobble from his hdi meridian, its not the wheels and its not the tracking. Most other things look alright and can't find any play.....except pretty badly perished wishbone bushes, could these cause the problem? If not what problems would they cause when they need replacing as there aren't any other problems with handling or anything atm and my mates a bit of a tight arse lol so won't have anything done that doesn't need doing lol.

[cwspellowe]

Tramlining is the main symptom, the car pulls all over the road as it hits bumps and things.

[Matt]

Clunking on speedbumps and potholes was my symptoms when mine went

[Ed Doe]

really twitchy handling. When mine were going (just the drivers side) I was having to hack it over to the university test mine for my dissertation, and this one long right-hander was so sketchy, just wanted to swap ends seemingly.
If its a wobble through the steering wheel it could also be a f**ked wheel bearing.

If it's a big 'wobble' which increases with engine rpms in some gears, it could also be a driveshaft. When mine was going it got to the stage where if i accelerated in 2nd or 3rd it would shake the beading on the bonnet! The gearstick also looked like it was about to jump out...

[Toms306]

Hmm ok cheers guys, annoyingly I don't have DOCs on my insurance so i can't drive it myself and just gotta go with his description.

Pretty sure its not the bearings as they all feel fine. Also don't think its driveshaft/gearbox related. Should've said its actually a high speed (50 plus) wheel wobble but he also said the wheels occasionaly feel 'loose' at slow speed like full lock in multi storey car parks.

He has tomorow off so I'll check stuff over again and ask if he gets tramlining or twitchy steering.

[Daniel306]

What i normally get is when you put the foot down it pulls one way and when you brake it goes the other way, but this can also be track rods, pull the hand brake on and put it in 1st and try pull away, then in reverse, should see the wheel move forwards and back in the arch if it is the bushes

[mark_airey]

Personally I would jack the car up, wedge a crow bar in somewhere on the wishbone and see if something moves more than others to the point where you would deem it, excessive

[Mattcheese31]

Personally I would jack the car up, wedge a crow bar in somewhere on the wishbone and see if something moves more than others to the point where you would deem it, excessive

absolutely this . .^^^^^ . .that's what i did . .. .

[Ben Jay]

How easy is it to change them? think mine have gone

[Toms306]

Personally I would jack the car up, wedge a crow bar in somewhere on the wishbone and see if something moves more than others to the point where you would deem it, excessive

absolutely this . .^^^^^ . .that's what i did . .. .

Thats exactly what I'm gonna do when he gets here!

Gotta find my crowbar first though....got a feeling I left it under the seat in the silver one....which got sold on Saturday! If I did I'll have to go get the other one back from my Dad! :roll:

[Toms306]

How easy is it to change them? think mine have gone

Pretty easy to change the whole wishbone so I've read.....or can just change the bush BUT need a press for that.

[samass]

pretty easy,
wheel off,
ball joint off (dont pull out drive shafts)
then two bolts on the P bush, one at the front
wrench it out
ram it back in
bolt up

it can be an arse getting the bolts holes to line up, but all in all i did both mine in a couple of hours

but yeah, entire wishbone over just doing bushes, they are a massive jebend without a press

[mark_airey]

How easy is it to change them? think mine have gone

Just change the whole wishbone, they are only around £35 from a parts supplier and come complete with bushes and ball joint, as far as changing them goes its 3 bolts to the sub frame and 1 pinch bolt on the ball joint, as far as mechanical jobs go its a fairly simple one!

[Ben Jay]

right sounds like a plan! ECP do them?

[samass]

yep, might try give you ones for a van or something silly, but they will do them

[Toms306]

right sounds like a plan! ECP do them?

Yeah they do, lemforder or QDrive..............but Q-Drive looks like cheap shite to me haha.

[samass]

also, the gsf ones are made of cheese, had to change mine after 10k, that was back in jan, now i can feel the car start to tramline again

[Toms306]

Also, ECP have 25% off atm with promo code EASTER25.

[mark_airey]

right sounds like a plan! ECP do them?

Yeah all parts supplies will do them, just make sure you read this thread:- <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2674" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2674</a><!-- l -->

as it contains some fairly important points you need to know before starting!

[Toms306]

right sounds like a plan! ECP do them?

Yeah all parts supplies will do them, just make sure you read this thread:- <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2674" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2674</a><!-- l -->

as it contains some fairly important points you need to know before starting!

Oh god, not the 16mm/18mm thread again....don't even have to open the link to know what its gonna be!

[samass]

yes, VERY important thread that one

[Chris]

If its just the p bushes, why bother with the whole wishbone?
There like 6 quid each from the factors and take 5m a side to change with the wishbone off.

[Toms306]

If its just the p bushes, why bother with the whole wishbone?
There like 6 quid each from the factors and take 5m a side to change with the wishbone off.

Its not the P Bush, its the other bush, would need pressing in if it was changed on its own.

[Chris]

The p bush is the rear bush.
the round ones on the front dont tend to go tbh.

[Toms306]

The p bush is the rear bush.
the round ones on the front dont tend to go tbh.

Eddited, i meant the front one lol, its at the back when you're laying under the car.

P bush doesn't look great either tbf, may be something to do with the 60mm drop on the car? :think:

[mark_airey]

The p bush is the rear bush.
the round ones on the front dont tend to go tbh.

Eddited, i meant the front one lol, its at the back when you're laying under the car.

P bush doesn't look great either tbf, may be something to do with the 60mm drop on the car? :think:

If the car is really low then it twists the bushes more than normal and wears them much faster than normal as they are pressed in at an angle to suit the factory ride hight and only twist when the suspension moves while if its really low they will be twisted all the time,

You can get around this problem by getting the bushes pressed into place at an angle more suited to the car

[Toms306]

Eddited, i meant the front one lol, its at the back when you're laying under the car.

P bush doesn't look great either tbf, may be something to do with the 60mm drop on the car? :think:

If the car is really low then it twists the bushes more than normal and wears them much faster than normal as they are pressed in at an angle to suit the factory ride hight and only twist when the suspension moves while if its really low they will be twisted all the time,

You can get around this problem by getting the bushes pressed into place at an angle more suited to the car

And breathe....slight lack of punctuation there haha!

Hmm, well we'll see what happens then, should be here about 1.

[mark_airey]

And breathe....slight lack of punctuation there haha!

Hmm, well we'll see what happens then, should be here about 1.

it was fine when I first wrote it, until I added loads of extra bits in, but you may have a point!

[Rippthrough]

Also pulls around like a bastard when you hit a puddle.

[Mattcheese31]

it's not easy to change P bushes at fcuking all, i did it, but Tom you will 100% fail mate and i'm not trying to be funny, change the whole wishbone bud . .