Worn Bushes ATT: Suspension Gurus : )

[JemmyBubbles]

Ok tried to get pink slip the other day, paid ~ $150 for auto electrical work and the doofus fails me on the pink slip for worn bushes in my rear trailing arms (isn't there an unwritten law you immediately pass if you do business with an establishment...). Funny thing is, All my trailing arms are 3rd's productions w/ 1 1/2 yr old genuine nissan bushes. To the best of my knowledge these don't flog out THAT quickly and are fairly resilient (sp?). Will weekend wheeling have stuffed them that much.??

On acceleration the car does lurch a bit to one side and on deceleration will also move. I always figured this was my worn engine mounts but having travelled in my old mans shorty with worn bushes it did something similar to this but MUCH MUCH worse and was only really prominent when changing through gears.

I have tough dog adjustable panhard rods w/ urethane bushes. By the looks of things the rear bushes could do with an upgrade to genuine rubber. Could this be causing the crabbing/lurching effect ?

On closer inspection the rear bushes seem to be permanently flexed in one position. As if their is triangulation but the mounts don't align. Could this be a symptom of a poorly aligned panhard rod ??

Have a look a the photos..







First one is Drivers side diff-end, and Second one is a much larger passengers side diff end..

Why in the heck aren't these things sitting centred ??

[mav]

you could always pull the arms out give them abit of a clean and put something like armour all on the bushes to make them look like new and take it back for inspection, if thats all they picked they will probably look underneath and see the new looking bushes and pass it .

[Bartso]

are the bushes leaning to the same side if they are then the panhard could be not correct

[GQ Bear]

you could always pull the arms out give them abit of a clean and put something like armour all on the bushes to make them look like new and take it back for inspection, if thats all they picked they will probably look underneath and see the new looking bushes and pass it .

I'm no expert but i tend to agree with mav


I think the guy's just a knob and if it wasn't the bushes it'd be something else

[JemmyBubbles]

Not quite bartso but that was what I was thinking...

They are sort of like this / D \ (with D bein the diff : ) ) - If you get me. I would have thought if the panhard was off they would look like this.. /D/

or \D\...

I am thinking about taking them out and cleaning them : ).....

Any more thoughts ?? The diff is rotated up for a double cardinal driveshaft - I don't see how this could effect it..

Jeremy..

[viperguy]

if u pull out ur rear lower trailing arms u will notice they are not straight and have a minor offset like u are describing and have shown in ur pics. even when u buy cheezy, 3rds or who evers arms u will notice this and have to put them in the way they go. there is some triangulation in the arm set up from factory..

also.. u would definatel;y know if ur bushes were worn,,not something u look at and say yep there worn.. the car handles like a bucket of poo if they are shot.

[JemmyBubbles]

I AM AN IDIOT !!!

That established.. how do I know the right way : )...

[ozy1]

i agree with Viperguy, the arms have an off set as there is minor triagulation from factory, so if you had trouble putting them in, that is why,

[JemmyBubbles]

You see I didn't have trouble putting them in, it makes so much sense now- the stickers should be facing outways... ANYWAYZ I have the fricking things on the correct way everything is sitting very very nicely. Bushes are straight and nice and shiny Also they weren't worn, they immediately returned to centre after I pulled the arms out...

Onto the problem the rego guys were describing. Say if I am accelerating and then abbruptly take my foot of the accelerater the car sort of dives (if you follow what I mean). What do your lifted GQ shortie diesels do if you do this ?? I figured as it is lifted, has a fairly hefty diesel chug and most probably wornish engine mounts this was standard...

It doesn't lurch sidesways anymore given everything in the rear is perfectly alligned. So what do I do, go back and tell them they misdiagnosed the problem ?? That when these were being installed it wasn't taken into account that there is a little bit of triangulation in the standard five link..

I also belted myself in the head with my breaker bar trying to crack nuts on the diff end. Have a very very meaty lump..

Thanks viper as you were posting ozy I would have been hiting myself in the head but thanks..

Jeremy..

[ozy1]

mate, at least you only hit your self with the breaker bar,

one stage, was having a shit of a day, removing heavy as aftermarket amrs, i undid the chassis bolt, not thinkin pulled it out, then undid the diff bolt, well gravity came along and bought the arm, straight down into my head at full force, smashed my cheek and nose, blood evrywhere,

as for the lurching, maybe you panhard bushes are a little shot,

go back and tell them to drive it like its designed, slow and steady,

[JemmyBubbles]

That would have hurt...

Yay all pink slipped up. Gave the bushes a coat of armour-all looked brand new, and for all intents and purposes were as they sprung back to centre when removed. Glad they picked up on something not looking right as if they were left this way they would have shagged themselves.

I turned my shocks up a bit harder in the front and no more diving/lurching effect., I was enjoying a pimp-limo ride..

Lesson learned: Rear Lower trailing arms have a RIGHT way to be installed, if you're doing it yourself ask a few questions when you buy them.

[bru21]

make sure you tighten the bushes after installing a lift as the bushes are preloaded with rotational stress otherwise and they can die early

cheers bru

[JemmyBubbles]

Funny thing the pink slip guy, who actually turned out to be fairly knowledgable about fourbies, said the same thing. Why am I hearing all of this now after the fact ???