Rear bushes.....

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 7:37 am

Hi all,
I'm going to have to remove the petrol rank to tackle the rear arches... However as the tank is out I'm doing the brake lines also.....this is prob a good time to check and replace bushes...

My question is how to test rear bushes for wear? (No free play felt at top and bottom or side to side) And any recommendations? (I'm avoiding poly)

Getting the beam off and to work to get them wound out is no problem just don't want to have unnessesary work done !

No history of trailing arm bushes being changed
Rear subframe where changed 7 years a go / 40k since .

Car has 200k and drove very well when it was last driven.

Car is a 318is......

Thanks....

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:02 am

If the beam is coming off change them - no brainer especially if they have done 40k and 7 years.

If the beam has never been off you may find that the trailing arm bushes have never been done - again change them. It will be obvious when you take the beam off if they are fecked.

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:27 am

As above, if its coming off take the opportunity to renew the bushes with proper branded parts, Lemforder or Febi.
Its only unnecessary if they have been done within the last few years with low milage since.
I would be replacing brake pipes with Kunifer and fitting new flexis and wheel bearings at the same time

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:49 am

Cool thanks guys.

Its turning in to "while I'm there" jobs.... Oh the joys!!!

Yeah the brake hoses hard lines and clips where due to be changed as was advised on last mot sheet and are prob the originals, kunifer and new flexies where done to the front by me so yep same for the back.

Bearings ...... I'll pay someone to do that feat ha!

Ok, subframe off trailing arms off brakes off pile of bits and drop to the garage then.

Ta for the advise, last rear bush invoice from a garage I saw was for a e36 compact (same set up) was £300 for subframe bushes ! ( not one of my cars btw)

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:24 am

£300 is a bit steep.

Ps ask DanThe^ for a set of bush void fillers, great product.

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:28 pm

I'll bear it in mind.....

Next stop car parts for less .....

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:39 pm

slideout318i20 wrote: Next stop car parts for less .....

Don't forget to divide your order up into £50, £75, and £100 separate orders to maximise your discount.
There's also the trick of leaving unordered goods in your 'basket' for a day or so, which sometimes produces a surprise email with a 7.5% discount code.

Post Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:16 pm

Yeah just saw that, Ive priced it up and will be staggering the cost, I'll strip it down first...

Including paint for the carrier and trailing arms and someone else to wind the bushes in I'm looking at around £200 So not bad going considering it will last...

Btw if I just whipped over the carrier and arms with a wire brush then zinc primer and hammerite smooth would that do , plus a clear coat of waxoyl to keep the orange tint aka rust at bay?

Post Sat Mar 28, 2015 5:34 am

Some pics and tips here http://cookracing.co.uk/index.php/e30-3 ... conversion and the previous few pages (click prev a few times).

Hope it's some use!

Post Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:04 am

slideout318i20 wrote:Yeah just saw that, Ive priced it up and will be staggering the cost, I'll strip it down first...

Including paint for the carrier and trailing arms and someone else to wind the bushes in I'm looking at around £200 So not bad going considering it will last...

Btw if I just whipped over the carrier and arms with a wire brush then zinc primer and hammerite smooth would that do , plus a clear coat of waxoyl to keep the orange tint aka rust at bay?

What grade of car is it ? Daily driver, drift car, long term project or show queen ?

If it's the first 2 just clean the arms and beam up, spray them satin black or whatever colour you like and then waxoyl over the top.

If it's a project and you're planning on keeping it as getting all this off the car is an arse of a job you don't want to be doing again in a hurry dig deep and get them blasted and powder coated and refresh the bushes, fittings, clips the lot. yes it's painful on the pocket when all the little bits mount up but once it's done you can forget about it.
I bought powder coated rear arms off danthe about 6 years ago now and they still look like new.