Dean Saff

Doing some resto work on the saff at the mo,
Changing the rear beam bushes and anti roll bar bushes,
But some peps have said dont bother with the trailing arm bushes..

Has anybody changed these before? Is it worth doing?
With the arms off they seem quite loose and worn so may decide to change them anyway.

Is it best to stick to ford jobbies or use poly's instead?

Cheers Dean.

velocity

if you have the time and access its well worth replaceing them with polybushes,it tightens up the rear end nicely and seeing as you are doing the beam it would be a shame not to do the trailing arms as well.
the poly bushes in the trailing arms are simple to install but to remove the standard ford ones can be an ordeal,for a start you will need to press the old ones out and they can be very tight so if you know someone with a hydraulic press all the better.

rsjohn

Get deflex poly bushes, complete car is Ł104 delivered and have lifetime garranty. Will add value to car when selling.



John.

lamb chops

I have done my arms whist they were off with pollys, will let you know what its like when its all back togther.

Dave Henshall

i used the deflex whole car kit - very impressd and makes a huge difference to the handling - much tighter and sharp.

moonstone mike

Im in the same boat as you dean

i have asked this question many times before and everybody has a different opinion????

Dave Henshall

IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT THOUGH, ANY OLD RUBBER BUSH ON THE CAR AT THAT AGE WILL REALLY WANT REPLACING AS THEY DO GO PERRISHED AND WEAR.

Dean Saff

Ive now been told that the trailing arm buses are a type of bearing....
And cost Ł50 each from Ford

Anybody know what the rear kit will cost me in poly.Best place to buy?

I dont want to use poly on the beam as I have been told this causes the car to
stear from the rear

Dave Henshall

they are a metelite bush type thing from ford, they are a metal sleeve that is pressed into the rubber and DO wear and go perrished with age.

the new polybushes do the same job and Dont perish with age. if u are gonna do the job - at least do it properly...

moonstone mike

Be nice to hear from people who have replaced ALL the bushes on the rear and see what they have to say about it???

anyone with a 3 door that can give me some helpfull advice would be great

swerv

do not replace the trailing arm bushes with poly as stated above , the trailing arm bushes are a Spherical bearing which are far superior to the poly bushes. By all means change the rest to poly as this a very good upgrade for old worn rubber bushes but get the genuine bushes for the trailing arms.

HTH

moonstone mike

Thanks mate i have heard this said a lot,

Dave Henshall

i have done them all, and i can honestly say it is much tigher at the back end now - like hoofing off a round about, you dont get the sharp snap as the rear beam comes over the new camber of the road and makes the car lurch the otherway, it made it much more 'grown up' and composed in this respect.

the PU bushes still do offer flex in the planes like the ford ones do - they are not like the old nylon ones which offered little or no flex other than in the plane they were rotating about.

rapidcossie

my saf is in the garage now getting a full rear set of powerflex bushes.
spoke to the guy whos is doing it tonight and he said it was totall nightmare gettin the old ones out...burning toches involved it think!

Dean Saff

mines been a nightmere so far beam had wealded itself to the car

Got it off in the end but need's a tad of wealding

Dave Henshall

when u drop the beam, the 'usual' first thing that happens is that the captive nuts in the chassis section that hold the big dohnuts snap and turn so you cant gent eh 2 long bolts out. u usually have to cut away the slot as its too thin to geta spanner into . when u refit them ,weld a bar across the flats of the new nuts and whack plenty of copper slip around them. you will have to weld the section back up that you cut out aswell to give it its full strength back - IIRC, you have to use bolts though from the otherway, ie, pointing down instead of up as from factory.

the trailing arm bushes (one the beam is off) can either be pressed out (again IIRC mine took about 30 tonnes of pressure on a hydrulic prss to shift them, the otherway is to get the end of the arm hot with the 'blue saw' and use a void bush puller, i don tlike this way as much as it may weaken the metal with the heat, but you can get away with not having to disconnect all the cables and half shafts.

Dean Saff

Cheers mate for your advice..

Mine is not that bad though ie all captive nut's still intact..touch wood
also I have the whole rear end striped, Doing a bit of resto work...
I'm not a bufty though..

moonstone mike

HOW DID YOU GET ON DEAN ????????????????

Dean Saff

Work in progress mate, Im in no hurry just hope to have it all done by the summer

I will put a post up with pics in the Resto section soon...

B11GNS

Only replace the rear arm bushes with new ford ones, dont use polies but do on the rest of the car

Azrael

Why?

B11GNS

Its to do with the fact that the ford ones are 'spherical' and the polies actually make it worse

Azrael

Mine seam to work great. Ford were so loose :-(

Dave Henshall

the ford ones are definately not spherical, thay do allow movement through 2 planes though, but this is just by virtue of the fact that they are made from rubber, the same applies with the PU ones just that they are stiffer and dont degrade.

B11GNS

Thats what i've always been told, maybe i've been misinformed but that always the way with stuff like this, one person will tell you one thing then you hear something else from a different person which totally contradicts it The only way is to try them both yourself and see which you prefer

Dave Henshall

have u actually seen the ford ones (new and old when removed) they are the same as teh PU ones but made out of rubber, the ones on my saph were totally knackers, you could wiggle the metal insert about in them like a turd up a shirt sleeve, if you spreyed teh PU ones black, they would look no differnetn than the ford ones other than the ford ones are encased in a metal sleeve, its this that has to be pressed out. the PU one sare a nice fit without the need for teh sleeve.

Dean Saff

Ive been listening to lots of views on these bushes and I had a look at mine and they too ""wiggle around like a turd in a shirt sleeve""

Someone recently told me that the ford one are a type of bearing??

After hearing all this I think that I will go for the poly ones, it just makes more sense to me..


Anyway what about the rear beam mounts are the poly's any good for these?

Azrael

From my experience on other non-Ford cars - go for full car kit, it's worth it.

Dave Henshall

i suppose 'strictly' they are a bearing, but by description, a bearing is a device whice supports and allows free movement within certain planes, this is what they do , so they are a bearing, but classed as a bush

the rear beam mounts hm,,, some people say that the rubber ones are better as they dont transmit as much nois eintot the cabin as PU ones, i had rubber ones on my saph and ive goe for pu ones on my esocs, and to be honest as far as i can tell, there is no differnece, maybe if it were a stripped out track car, but with sound cladding and carpets and seats etc, it is all well insulated in there anyway

Dean Saff

Now I just dont know what to do... I dont think there will ever be an end to this dibate..
Mybe I will stick to the ford jobbies at least I know they work as they are on the car now..
It's tempting to go for the poly's from the cost alone,,The ford one's are Ł50 each
and I can get powerflex for about Ł90 full set..

with regards to the beam mounts I was told that the big turbo ecos used Grp N mounts as standard and that these are alot better than the standard saff jobbies But when I checked at my local dealer he's saying there no different,
could these be because they have been supercided(spell)???

Azrael

ON my Microcat Escos ones heve different number. I got new ones but they aren't stiff enough for me - I'm going powerflex in few days. Can tell you what difference it makes if you are not in a hurry.

pugo

I fitted the full deflex kit on my saff and it transformed the car , i did keep killing the top mounts though......spoke to chris 'cossymad' and he sorted me out with a set of powerflex top mounts and have never looked back (sideways a few times, but never back )



Pugo

Dean Saff

cheers mate let me know how you get on..

rapidcossie

my cars is much more stable and controlable wi the polybushed back end.
only thing is they squeek like mad???

Azrael

They need lots of copper paste!!!!

Azrael

Will let yu know when I get the car back.

rapidcossie

put loads of copper slip grease on and still doin it!

Azrael

Not enough. I had the same problem. Took taking it apart twice to solve but now it's all right. Only harder then powerflex bushes I have at TCA/rollbar connection squick a little when really hot whether. But they are rally items form some rally company.

lamb chops

So how much are the top mounts and where do they mount?

CHeers

Azrael

You can see a bit of top mont when you po p the hood and look under the metal plate that holds front strut.