Welded suspension bushings

Rain, sleet, snow and cold here in Maryland. If I can't drive it I might as well work on it. Decided to replace worn control arm bushings and some other things while it is nasty. I am working on the front. The old bushings were tack welded in two spots. Should I tack the new ones as well? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

They should be pressed in, sounds like someone got carried away or maybe they were a poor fit for some reason.
Regards Bell

 

Yes press in then tack weld in two locations.

 

Must be tacked in place. Insert into wishbone, mount and torque, set the car down, then tack.

 

Tack before its on the car

 

Why would you do that? Press them in then tack them then install the arms. We're not working on the space shuttle here.

 

I think he mean to let the bushing to rotate to it's normal seating position to avoid pre-torsion on the bushing.
I like to leave the bolt loose in a bushing until the car sit on its wheels and then tight the bolts. That give the rubber in the bushing no torsion when the car is normaly sitting. When you tight a bushing with the arm leaning in the down position when the car is jacked up when you put it down the bushing is then torsioned. All the time when sitting. I like to think it leave the rubber a better life expectancy when tightened in the sitting position.

 

Thinking about that it would be cool to test it. The torsionned bushings act like a spring. I wonder with all 16 new bushings installed at the same time with the car up and tightened how much higher the car would sit compared to sitting on loose bolts with no torsion.

 

Would be fun

Claude,
I agree. Pressing in the bushings, tack weld them and install the A-arms on the car letting the bolt loose. But moreover, I drive around a few hundred meters, to get the car sitting completley, because I noticed, that after just setting the car down the ride height is around 10-20mm higher, than after driving.
Then I get back on a four post lift (all wheels on the ramps) and torque the bolts and nuts.

Your proposal of testing the stiffness after tightening with the car up is interesting, but I would worry about damaging all bushings immediately.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Is there any other car that tack welds a bushing in like this? Seems odd, and any welding of a bushing is going to transmit heat to the rubber, sounds like a bad design idea to me.

 

Thanks to every one for the advice. I tacked them back in. I did so because I think the intention was not to keep them from falling out but to keep them from spinning in the bore. Excellent point to make sure suspension is loaded before tightening bolts. That way it is neutral when at rest. I will post some before and afters when It is complete. Thanks again to everyone.

 

What about these bushings Nick Forza makes:
Ferrari 308/ 328/ mondial A arm bushings - NICKS FORZA FERRARI

From the page"
"These are specially designed to reuse the factory Ferrari outer bushing housing that is welded to the A arm for a much faster and easier installation time."

Alden

 

Many bushings on older cars were an inner tube and rubber vulcanised on it.
It was inserted into a long tube welded on the wishbone. The rubber would slide inside that tube when the wishbone moved up and down.

The Ferrari bushing is an inner and outer tube with rubber volcanized between the two.
If you hold the inner tube with the bolt, the outer tube with turn inside the wishbone's narrow support area while it moves up and down, due to the rubber's resistance.
This will wear out the contact area and lead to play, causing alignement issues and noise, increased by corrosion.

 

Mine are just pressed in, no welding or tacking and procedures as Claude described here. My Lotus and Lamborghini also just pressed in. If Ferrari tack them then fine but it's unnecessary I think. If you really want to lock your bushings in there are many modern joining compounds for doing it. Regards Bell

 

It's just a measure of precaution. It's all a tolerances thing. If the press fit is near the lower tolerance range limit it will probably work without welding. But if near the upper range limit it may slip and destroy the A-arm.
When I did my bushings job I actually noticed, that all were slightly different regarding the required force to press in the bushings.


Best Regards
Martin

 

Before and after. Let car sit on new bushings and then tightened. RH is now 1.5 inches higher than left. Not the effect I was hoping for. At least it is prettier now.
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This is the reason why I even drive around a little bit with loose bolts before tightening all.
Just putting the car onto its wheels is not enough for settling the suspension completely.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Good advice. If it ever clears up here I'll try it.