S2 suspension / steering refresh

[cdickinson]

Whilst making the most of the festive break I've finally ordered 968 castor mounts and during preparation today (soaking everything in WD40) I noticed that some of the bushes look very tired (not surprisingly). For example, the outer ARB (??) rubber bush is sagging so much there is a gap of at least 3mm on the inside - this is when the car is jacked up - see attached.
How much of a problem may this be causing, if any at all?
If I should replace, should I go for polyeurethane, or just standard - bear in mind my car is a cabriolet so it won't ever be track demon!
What other bushes should I replace whilst I'm at it? (I'd rate myself as a moderate DIY mechanic!)

My car has covered 52k.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[TTM]

Go for standard bushes. With worn out bushes you are likely to hear some sort of "clunk" when going through speed bumps.

 

[sawood12]

Chris - it doesn look like there is something amis with that bush in your photo. I would replace it as soon as is convenient. I can't recall from memory what the ARB bush looks like but I would expect to see some metal surrounding the bush and from your photo it looks like there is no surrounding metal. Either way it doesn't look right and i'm surprised it has got through MOT's unless it has recently given up the ghost. The bushes themselves are pretty cheap and should be a job easily done by a moderate mechanic such as yourself.

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

Chris - it doesn look like there is something amis with that bush in your photo. I would replace it as soon as is convenient. I can't recall from memory what the ARB bush looks like but I would expect to see some metal surrounding the bush and from your photo it looks like there is no surrounding metal. Either way it doesn't look right and i'm surprised it has got through MOT's unless it has recently given up the ghost. The bushes themselves are pretty cheap and should be a job easily done by a moderate mechanic such as yourself.

There is no metal in the ARB bushes. They are push fit, 20 mins work at most

 

[cdickinson]

Thanks Guys. Ironically the car passed it's MOT less than 100 miles ago - as this is the same on both sides then they must have been in this condition for quite a while! I'll get back under the car tomorrow and work out which other bushes are tired and fairly easy to replace (might do them all if possible) - hopefully the car will feel a lot tighter after all this.
Cheers,
Chris.

 

[ross255]

That actaully looks like the wrong size has been fitted, it doesnt look that worn, perhaps someone put the m030 ones on, as they have a thicker bar even on the ends.

I know this because some stupid poly bush place sent me the wrong ones, only realised they were for the thicker m030 after fitting them, so they know look like your untill I get the correct internal size.

 

[Hilux]

That actaully looks like the wrong size has been fitted, it doesnt look that worn, perhaps someone put the m030 ones on, as they have a thicker bar even on the ends.

Agreed, worn bushes will wear one side or be baggy, that bush is still round and is deffo too big IMHO

 

[cdickinson]

It is just a very tired bush...... Having checked PET I was struggling to work out which bushes I needed as there are 3 options for the inner and 2 for the outer.

Full credit to Nottingham OPC who offered to measure my ARB to ensure I get the correct parts (it cannot be determined from the chassis number) - they even ordered all options into stock for me so I could take the correct ones away yesterday, excellent service! I'll get to fitting them all next weekend.

For the record, the size of my ARB is 26.8mm (the largest) and the total cost of 2 inner bushes, 2 outer bushes and 4 drop link bushes (2 per side) came to £46. (It would have been £20 cheaper if I had one of the smaller ARB's).