Hi,
I'm removing the rear beam and arms from my 3 door and I am going to change all the rubber bushings
Can anyone here recommend a supplier or bushings which are good quality and reasonably priced?
Also, I need a left hand sill and possibly a right hand rear arch, any recommended Supplier?

Thanks,

Dave

 

polybush the main mounts dave .you may dig deep and buy the proper sherical bushings for the rear arms though at about Ł360 for 4

 

Thanks for that James,
I need to get the finger out and get the car Right!
Would Matt Lewis be good for those Bits?
Does Brian only do welding in his own place or does he Travel?
Happy paddy's day BTW!

 

murraymotorsport arent bad on price for polybush and its either ggr or burton for the sphericals mate

i will ask him dave

 

What's the advantage of spherical over poly James?
Didn't know Murray did parts...
Thanks for that, there's only a small bit of tin worm on the drI'vers side lower arch but passenger side sill is a bit worse but still not too bad...☺

 

spoke to brian and he said shouldnt be a problem dave .polybush are a big no no dave ,unless you fancy putting it in the hedge lol.

yeah murray can get you most parts like that dave

 

THanks for that James,
I have lost all my numbers in my phone including yours and Brian's since changing my phone😨
Please text me your number and we'll catch up...,😊

 

Its only worth changing the arm bearings if the original are actually knackered

 

Ive heard off a few people who have poly bushed the rear arms that they couldnt tell the difference.

 

The car was very unstable at higher speeds but when I removed the beam, I think the arm bushes are solid but there is a serious amount of movement in the main ones.��

 

That's probably because they have replaced their worn out wobbly 30 year old ones for springy spongy plastic type things so it feels just as bad as before lol

 

I suppose they will be ok when they are brand new. However the hole through the middle will become an oval after a while so you basically end up with a bit of rear wheel steering.

They are an upgrade for a poverty spec sierra, all the cossies and v6 sierra had bearings as standard (i think??)

 

I couldn't believe the difference when i changed the main beam bushes on mine.

 

Only the Cosworths (Sierra, Escort and Granada/Scorpio 24v) have the bearings. All others just have rubber bushes.


In the past I have tried Floflex and the poly bushes from Rally Design for the rear trailing arms and both were worse than the rubber bushes on a standard Sierra. The Rally Design bushes were too small and had some play, the Floflex were just too soft.

 

How can you tell if they are knackered, as I am having a bit of noise from the rear end, but unsure where from, I just assumed it was these. I did replace the fuel tank and forgot to put the rubber pads back in so im thinking it might be the tank that is making the noise on the bottom of the car.

 

You don't get any noise, just a wandering feeling from the rear. You can check for play with a big screwdriver in between the arm and the subframe and try to push the arm sideways in the subframe.

 

Cheers for that, I definitely have some clunking noises from the drivers side, so I am assuming it is the petrol tank then bottoming out on the bottom of the car, must put some kind of packing in there.

 

I have just fitted some solid beam mounts. The rear wheel steering I had is finally solved. I would advised them to anyone.

 

Wim, what made you go for the solid mounts instead of the poly mounts? Did you still have the original rubbers bushes? Is there no excessive vibration or road noise now you have solid mounts?

 

You can't tell the difference going in a straight line or pootling around. You most certainly can tell the difference when cornering or making fast changes of direction at speed, it'll scare the shite out of you. It did me, broadside down the M6 at 100 certainly left a lasting impression, believe me.

 

With poly bushes you still got some movement and therefor play on the rear. Sure they are better than the original rubbers, but I choose to do it the right way.
You can't tell the difference in road noise of vibration between the rubber bushes and solid ones. Ford should have fitted these as standard from factory especially to the cosworth range IMO.

 

I have been thinking about using the solid mounts too. But I'm not sure if it really is much better than the poly mounts. Mike Rainbird also used the poly mounts on his track Escort and never noticed a bad thing about them. Though I agree that for the handling it can only be an improvement.


One thing I would be a bit worried about is that the bolt might work loose from vibrations. With the poly bush you compress the bush, putting some pressure on the bolt that will prevent it from coming loose. But with a solid mount the bolt only needs a little movement to release the tension.

 

It's pretty scary when the back of the car starts steering at 100mph😨.

I'm just wondering though, is the escos back end the same as the sierra One?
There is a price difference between the bushes for the sierra and the escos...

 

Escort and Sierra 4x4 rear ends are identical apart from the roll bar thickness

 

I defo noticed a difference in my saff when i changed the beam mounts for poly bushes. Also the resr diff mount is a great mod too.

 

I'll second that. Another reason is that the alloy mounts are so easy to fit. I can imagine trying to fit single piece poly mounts without taking the beam off would be a challenge

 

So, would the advice be to fit alloy bushes instead of the poly Bushes?

I have zero movement in the arm bushes so might leave them alone🙂.

Thanks again for all comments,

Dave

 

Poly bushes are not better than the standard items just better than the worn out snagged ones

 

Correct as i have said many times Ford are a multi billion pound company who spent millions on R and D for some guy in a shed to say fit alloy ones.

You will get more noise with a solid alloy bush over a poly bush and even less with the correct ford item.
Even the polly diff mounts transmit more noise into the car.

 

I'm even more confused now!

Can the original ford ones still be Got?

 

Ford do not stock the rear beam bushes anymore, as for trailing arms I don't think so either.
Go for poly black Powerflex beam bushes (track spec) or the yellow ones(fast road) which are a softer poly bush both better than genuine items.As Costina states above you will still get a bit of noise transmitted into the cabin off any polybushes fitted really. Lots of companies stock Powerflex bushes...Burton Power, Matt Lewis, e bay sellers etc.
The trailing arm bushes go for Graham goode replacement items, not poly, proper rose jointed like the originals, these are not cheap to replace, your talking about Ł80 each and you will need 4 (2 inner and 2 outer).Failing this if you wanted to go further fit a 6 degree beam from somebody like SCS or MT Motorsport and be done with it.(Ł1200 ish or there abouts)
Depends what you are using the car for and your budget of course.
I hope this helps a little.

CheeRS.Lee.

 

I think mine are fecked, when I hit a bump in the road the rear end twitches all over the place lol, must have a look at some point , bearing in mind this is at 30-40 mph

 

That's cleared it up i think.
All your input is much appreciated....

☺

Dave

 

Do not fit any poly bush kit in the beam mate ggr sell the original equipment that's Graham goode racing in Leicester

 

I have the feeling there is a lot of confusion here between the beam bushes and the bushes on the arms. For the arms the best option is to fit the original type bearings from GGR.


But for the beam (the big mushroom type bushes) it is quite unclear what would be best. At least I wouldn't expect that the original rubber bushes are the best option here. Personally I don't see anything wrong with a poly bush for the beam.

 

Re bush 2 beams one poly and one standard including the the cup bushes then get a lever bar on the beam and see the difference in flex between the 2 it's a he'll of a difference . Standard bushes all round is the best always round

 

That's a good idea. I'll try to stick a lever bar somewhere to see the flex of the poly bushes in the beam. I'm really curious how much flex will be in there.

 

So to clarify , solid metal bushes for rear beam to Body ( two big mo fo ones ) and standard bushes for rear arms to rear beam? Also is it possible to change the main rear beam bushes in situ using old socket and weight of car trick?

 

I changed my big beam bushes without dropping the axle out.

 

And yeh i just put a big socket between the bush and the chassis leg then i dropped the car down onto its wheels and the bush popped out.