10 replies to this topic

[leroy26]

hard to change?

[Dan]

Not remotely.

[Mini 360]

Not on the slightest. One of the easiest jobs you can do given their position.

[Wakey-Dan]

Just done this myself recently, actually a nice job to do, dead simple and well worth it.

[leroy26]

undo the bolt on the front valence, pop the old bush out smack the new one in?

[bmcecosse]

Bolt ?? The bar will need to be removed from the lower suspension arm to get the inner bush out. This should be retained as a rubber bush - but the outer one should be replaced with a polyurethane bush , refit the fork end to the susp arm - and then tighten the front nut (not bolt!) as far up the thread as you can. You will then need to track the front wheels...

[leroy26]

haha meant nut! them ones by the front number plate

[Cooperman]

They are 11/16" AF. I always use standard rubber bushes to reduce impact loads on the sub-frame 'ears'.

[tiger99]

I heard that when polyurethane bushes first appeared, there was an epidemic of fractured tie rods. They broke at the front end, which is unusual, as they normally go at the fork where they connect to the bottom arm. There seems to be good evidence that the combination of one rubber, one poly is safe (or 2 rubbers, obviously), but I still see people fitting all polys. Unfortunately these particular bushes, unlike almost all suspension bushes on all cars, do not operate in torsional shear but need to have the capability to compress too, which poly will not do.

[mini-luke]

I discussed this with someone who grass track races their car yesterday and he is of the opinion that two standard bushes and regular replacement is the best option.

[tiger99]

Well, the standard bushes seem to be good for about 60,000 miles of moderately hard road use (ok in my case it was 50% motorway driving, which hardly stresses them, but 50% was on twisty roads and/or towns, with lots of braking and steering input, and far too many bumps), and don't take long to change, or cost very much, so that is a good way to go. I don't think that engine power affects them very much, the heaviest load by far is braking.

First rule of engineering: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The standard bushes are not as broken as some people imagine, although I have said before that the design is rather poor. Will a poly bush in that position last 60,000 miles? I have my doubts.