Skajme Posted October 9, 2017 Report Share Posted October 9, 2017 At my last service the car got an advisory that the rear bushes were on the way out, looking at the wishbone's aswell they are pretty horrendous so I decided I'd just replace the whole thing and do the ball joints at the same time and try stiffen up the ARB. (already changed track rods about 6 months ago) I managed to pick a set of wishbones up that already have powerflex bushes fitted, and I have ordered all new bolts for fitting. Was just after a bit of advice for when I set about removing the old one's and fitting the new one's. Any helpful tips, things to be careful of or like an ideal order to remove everything? Second part is polybushing the ARB. I know the GTI bar is 22mm but I can't for the life of me find powerflex drop link bushes that are 22mm? Are the end's narrower or do they just not do them?? And I assume its best to just get new drop links and fit the bushes to them? The steering is pretty vague and the wheel can be wobbled a bit with barely any steering action going on which is why I decided to give everything a freshen up. After 16 years it all looks pretty grim. Think that covers everything. Apologies if it is slightly rambling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 9, 2017 Report Share Posted October 9, 2017 I'm in need of a front end refresh as well. rear beam bushes on these seem pretty durable, get a second opinion. as for the 22mm, you'd be surprised how much will have worn off that roll bar in 16 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skajme Posted October 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Oh sorry yeah I meant the rear bushes on the wishbone, Not the rear beam! Hmm, so it's probably best to try and measure the bar end then to see what I'm looking at more accurately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 (edited) yeah. rear wishbone bushes are shoddy, problem is when you change them once it becomes annual. not a fan of the polys, once you understand how they work and what they absorb you see the importance. that's the most complicated relevant time consuming piece of 80s awesomeness I can find Edited October 10, 2017 by Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skajme Posted October 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 That video was actually awesome, I'll give you that! See what you mean about the bushes now, hmm. So is there anything to be careful of while doing this or is it all fairly straight forward? Learnt how to do a lot of stuff since owning the car, changed suspension/brake disks, pads and that kind of thing, so I'd like to think I'm reasonably handy now. Just don't want to massively bodge something up and I can't find any sort of guide really on doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 take wishbone off. decide where to disconnect ball joint... bash bush out, cut metal collar out using saw. bash bush in. refit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirk1978 Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 Not sure whether to jump on this thread or make a new one. I've got knocks from the front and mad inside tyre wear. But the bushes all look OK to me. I've bought some front wishbone rear bushes, got the lemforders but my local garage said they don't last long and to get the powerflex so swapped them. Anyway I've taken loads of photos. Can anyone see anything wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 top mounts. is the rear wishbone in the slots properly? wobble it and feel for the play. wheel size affects ball joints which is where the old left/right swap adage comes from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirk1978 Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 35 minutes ago, Rich said: wheel size affects ball joints which is where the old left/right swap adage comes from Sorry what does this mean? Not heard of this. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sausage Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, dirk1978 said: Can anyone see anything wrong? Yes, there's a snail on your wishbone. You need to be in there prying for excess movement with a bar tbh, unless it is really shagged we cant tell much from pics. Edit: is that rubber dust all over your cv gaitor and suspension? Is that from tyre or inner arch or something else? Edited October 21, 2017 by Sausage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirk1978 Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 3 minutes ago, Sausage said: Yes, there's a snail on your wishbone. You need to be in there prying for excess movement with a bar tbh, unless it is really shagged we cant tell much from pics. So there is! :-) I'll get the garage to give it a good going over. I'm getting them to put a new cam belt on anyway as I don't fancy it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 ball joints affect the centre placement of the wheel, 14" and above requires the right to go on the left and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skajme Posted October 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Doing this now and for the life of me I can't get the polybushed wishbones to fit back in the gaps. Any one got any tips?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj1 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 7 minutes ago, Skajme said: Doing this now and for the life of me I can't get the polybushed wishbones to fit back in the gaps. Any one got any tips?? Bigger hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 clean out where they go and open it a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skajme Posted October 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Thought about maybe trying to open the gap slightly, probably a mm or 2 would do it. Gonna try and take the drop link off the ARB aswell to make it easier to slot it in level without it in the way. Ran out of daylight today so I'll have a go in the morning ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj1 Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Other solution would be to use a soft disc on the grinder and take 1mm or so off the bush, just enough to allow it to squeeze in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Badbrains Posted November 3, 2017 Report Share Posted November 3, 2017 Grease, lots of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skajme Posted November 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2017 Cheers guys, did manage to get them done. undoing the ARB and shifting it out of the way seemed to be the key to making it a lot easier! Still, not the most fun thing I have ever done, but happily the car feels more solid now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoddlewaddle Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 On 21/10/2017 at 9:37 PM, Rich said: ball joints affect the centre placement of the wheel, 14" and above requires the right to go on the left and vice versa. Soon to start a major suspension refresh, including fitting 15s. As I'm fitting Sport or GTI hubs - will this still apply? Will be getting new wishbones that are listed for the Sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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