Bushes.... To Uprate Or Not To Uprate

[one-lady-owner 1]

I've decided that my car is in need of some new parts, there have been a couple of creaks and slightly odd handling characteristics recently adn I'm putting it down to the fact that bushes were nicely parked in a garage most of it's life and now I've been hooning round b-roads and I think it's time!

 

I'm doing: Wishbone bushes, droplinks, TRE( the rubber boots have seen much better days!), I'm also thinking of doing the rear while I'm at it!! (The beam itself is in good nick, but the sandwicj mounts have seen better days me thinks!)

 

My question is, it's a standard 1.9, and I've got no real intention of doing anything to it, power-wise, as I'd rather have a car with ridiculously good handling, and standard power for now! Is it worth uprating any of the bushes on a standard 1.9, or not? I do love a good B-road blast.

 

Point me in the direction of some good places to buy them , be it standard or not!! I don't mind spending a bit of money if it means I get better kit!

 

 

 

(I've done a search and can't find anything, 'twas only a quick search so sorry if it's all been covered before!!)

[boombang 2]

I'd go all standard.

 

Standard wishbone bushes come as kit from Pug (have to do a search for the part no, can't remember it). Very good value, has new nuts and bolts and they do last well.

 

Standard ARB bushes are polyurethane anyhow, again not stupid money and actually do fit (unlike a lot of aftermarket stuff).

[one-lady-owner 1]

I was leaning toward standard.......

 

I think I'll probably leave the droplinks until last, I do have a knock, but given the price of new droplinks I'll see if changing everything else solves it first!

[billybluesky 1]

I was leaning toward standard.......

 

I think I'll probably leave the droplinks until last, I do have a knock, but given the price of new droplinks I'll see if changing everything else solves it first!,

 

I started a replacement progamme like you there`s a wishbone bush replacement thread by tom fenton

using holesaws (very effective), then i fitted group n baker front suspention top mounts along with some ebay bilstein sprintline struts these alone transformed the handling , next solid mounted the rebuilt rear beam, the result is a sharper more responsive and rewarding daily driver oh and new droplinks are about £11 each plus vat i just fitted two

[one-lady-owner 1]

I had seen Tom's wishbone thread, I'll be looking a bit closer at that when I'm about to do it!

 

Is it worth doing the top mounts on a car that's only done 70k then? I wasn't sure if it was worth it! I think the main reason I was leaning toward standard everything was that I have friends who live all over the country so I do have to do the occasional long journey, I don't want my longer motorway cruises to become unbearable!

 

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where'd you get drop links that cheap???

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

GSF over in Totton will do you drop links that cheap they are in the trading estate on the way over to ashurst.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

But they are sh*t, As with everything you get what you pay for

Wishbone wise I would just get new one's as the amount of time needed to replace the bush's is silly and normally the ball joints wear out long before them

[BusEngineer 7]

Personally id go standard apart from top mount rubbers and rear beam mounts, have Group N (or whatever they're being called at the moment!) top mount rubbers and a solid rear beam mount kit. Will transform a standard car and make it feel much more positive in my opinion and you wont notice any more road noise unless your car is stripped out.

Should be able to get both from Baker BM which is Stew off the forum, and get forum discount too

[billybluesky 1]

I get most of my parts ( droplinks,wishbones bushes etc) from unipart automotive ( partco) or andrew page the wishbones appear to be oe type and recently paid £52 for one they also have 309 ones at £60 the wishbone bushes took a saturday afternoon to do and iirc cost under £20for both sides

i can update tomorrow with the make of droplinks if it will validate their worth as i`ve only recently fitted one i cant comment on how good they are!

[one-lady-owner 1]

I only mentioned the cost of drop links as when I say standard I mean main stealer standard, full wishbones are £340 each side, and droplinks are £84 per side..... that and I really don't mind spending an afternoon changing wishbone bushes. it's those kind of jobs I enjoy doing!!

 

I just keep reading too many differing opinions and horror stories about cheaper pattern parts, I'd rather go and haggle a little off the price at the dealers and get decent stuff at the end of the day!

 

Although I may Grp.N the top mounts and rear beam mount ( I'm not convinced I need solid mounts on the back of a standard car!!) just to tighten it up a little bit!

 

Not one to shy away from a job, so just wondering, how involved is it to change the top mount rubbers?

[shalmaneser 26]

ECP or GSF (forget which one) do lemforder droplinks @ £25 each - these are OE parts, I compared them to my original OS droplink and they're almost identical (couple of tiny differences). The other was a pattern part and was the part that failed - unsuprisingly it was the NS link. Bloody drain covers.

 

Made a big difference to my car, feels much more 'solid' over bumps with no clunking.

 

I have polybushes on the front ATM, as that's what the 309 bones came with, and they are annoying and squeaky. You only notice at low speeds though, obviously. I'm happy with them for now and i can't be arsed to change them but i wouldn't go out of my way to get them if i was refreshing my original bones - just put in standard ones.

 

well worth changing the ball joint boot on the wishbones as well, you can get the boot from here -

 

http://www.southwalesprops.co.uk/index.html

 

for about a tenner including P&P. It's worthwhile as it will extend the life of your balljoints, and if they go it's new wishbone time, which is a major ball ache (ahahaha).

 

I changed my top mount bearings at the same time as all the above, don't know how much difference it actually made but i thought i may as well given that everything else was changed!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

As in my sig, I now supply Motaquip parts (Peugeot) and these even have OE bushes etc fitted and the same ball joint for £130.00 a pair

[SurGie 54]

^^^

Bargain.

 

Does that inc 309 gti ones ?

[welshpug 1,645]

Wish I'd seen that before yesterday Miles, just ordered all the Bushes and Balljoints for my ZX from Motaparts, DOH!

[McDude 33]

I can second that the Motaquip parts are spot on. Motaquip are owned by Peugeot and are the genuine bits.

 

The question about how hard is it to change the top mount rubbers - piece of p1ss if the required bolts come undone easily. Pain in the ar5e if they don't. The rubber donuts just sit on top of the strut so they themselves aren't difficult. If you have the bones off and are doing the droplinks then you only need to undo the pinch bolts to the hub and the three bolts on the turret and the whole coil/damper assembly will come out.

 

Having done a wishbone fairly recently, just try not to pull out the driveshaft as you do it as you don't want to change your gearbox oil too!

[swordfish210 20]

Having done a wishbone fairly recently, just try not to pull out the driveshaft as you do it as you don't want to change your gearbox oil too!

 

Bungee chord around the hub to stop it pulling out

 

If it were my car i would go all standard apart from the rear beam bushes and top mounts as i would have solid beam mounts and Grp N top mounts to really tighten the ride up. I didnt find the solid beam mounts to make any noticable difference to the ride quality, just an improvment in handling and it was the same story with the Grp N top mounts.

 

I would also fit a pair of Bilstein OE replacement dampers as they are excellent on the road and are pretty well priced from Euro Car Parts. You could also fit a set of GTI-6 rear dampers.

[rubyna 4 1 Cars]

Wish I'd seen that before yesterday Miles, just ordered all the Bushes and Balljoints for my ZX from Motaparts, DOH!

 

 

Mei our local Motaquip sells the bones for 205s had a pair Xmas time £45 a side, dont know about

the 309s but i cant see why not If you want the phone number drop me a pm and i will send it on. .

Luke..

[welshpug 1,645]

I have their phone number, but they are a 30 mile trip, and its for the ZX not the 205 which was sorted on the wishbones 2 months ago

 

any idea if they deliver south at all?

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Just a case of finding a local supplier, thankfully mines 5 miles away and they deliver.

not sure on the 309 one's but can find out no problems at all

[billybluesky 1]

well sales pitches aside new bushes and maybe Group N rear mounts should improve things the main stealer prices are way out of my budget so replacing cheap cr*p on a more regular basis will have to be hope this helps to enjoy the thrash around the b roads

[one-lady-owner 1]

Right I think basically I'm going with the following:

 

New wishbones (motaquip, probably courtesy of miles, given that your not too far away, maybe we could talk about a good price for cash on collection? )

Grp. N top mount rubber

New OE ARB bearings and droplinks (still not sure where to get droplinks, but I'll figure it out when I come to buy them!)

New TRE's (not handling related really but I need them anyway!)

I'm considering replacing both driveshafts at the same time, I'm getting a definite clunk that screams inner joint...... if I do them it'll be diff seals and g/box oil, possibly clutch as well, I know it's heading towards needing doing.

Rear sandwich mounts, either Grp. N or solid, I'll decide when i come to buy them, still haven't quite made my mind up!

 

Wishbones (motaquip), Top mounts and beam mounts (bakerbm) ARB bearings and droplinks (possibly stealer, depends how rich I'm feeling!), TRE (factors probably), Driveshafts (here is an interesting one, stealer want £126 per shaft, so maybe not! OE spec from somewhere!), diff seals (stealer), clutch (if I decide to, OE spec from somewhere)

 

Basically I need to everything conceivable to the car that MIGHT need doing within the next year, as from next september I'll be off to sunderland uni to do an automotive engineering course and will have no money whatsoever to do anything!

 

This list is partially for you all, but mostly for me so I've got it all written down somewhere!

[SurGie 54]

not sure on the 309 one's but can find out no problems at all

 

 

Nice one Miles, i'l be interested in a pair very soon.

 

Cheers