"A" arm bushing question. W/Picture

The rear outers are a close-fitting, lubricated pivot -- the only reason to replace a component is if the wear is excessive (but do clean/relube while you've got it apart).

 

replace everything. 308s are now getting to be 25+ years old!

 

outer control arm bushings. I replaced mine and found that the previous mechanic had left a few pieces out of the insides, most of those parts if not worn can be reused but I replaced all. I really love the little bits!!!

 

I respectfully disagree that they "all" need to bre replaced because they are 25+years old. The rear outter bushings are metal and it looked like they were luibricated with lubriplate. I saw no scoring or other signs of wear other than crusty old lube, which came off with brake clean.

My bushings are from a 77 gtb and had 24k miles. I used some of the cv joint grease that was in McCann's axel boot kit.

New everything is always nice, but I have a lot of other things that really need to be replaced. While the budget is somewhat "flexible", if it isn't worn out re use it.

chris

 

I agree with Steve and Chris.
Unless you see excessive wear or scoring upon disassembly,
just clean, lube, and re-assemble.

 

The bushings are NOT the same front to rear, check my 79 308 restoration thread for pics of the differences. These are genuine ferrari parts.

 

Search the archives for 'outer' & 'bushings', one of the threads adds up the prices. A few hundred $/arm BEFORE the exchange went from $1.60/GBL to the current $1.90/GBP!!!

Strong argument for clean & relube as long as they're in reasonable shape!

Use a molybdnum grease. BTW, a couple of the pieces are teflon coated, be careful to not abrade it. If the teflon coating is damaged, that piece s/b replaced.

 

Having just disassembled mine I'll chime in and say that a clean and re-lube is all that is necessary here. There is no point changing just for the sake of it.

 

Peak performance means everything is in spec.. There are two ways to do things the right way and the consumer acceptable way. So you guys are using what to determine the clearances? The word bushing by definition means these are replaceable wear items. Some people change brake without turning rotors...it works yes but the performance is not as the factory intended. You guys are rattling the a-arm clearance in your hand with about 10lb of force and saying things are O.K.? Well you can have a maxium of 1G of total weight tranfer in a turn to that joint which is many hundreds of pounds. Those clearance are opening up more with the extra weight. On the old Chevy Monza some people replaced on 7 of 8 spark plugs because you had to tilt the engine to get to #8. It worked but...is that a good idea? For you guys doing it yourself...we need to practice our hobby to a higher standard.

YMMV

 

fatbillybob,
I own and know how to use my digital caliper set, and my Grandfather's micrometer set that he used as a machinist when he designed for General Dynamics,
Ryan, and the like, which had much higher tolerances than any Ferrari from the 70's.

To what standard would you have me practice my hobby?

Newman, I don't know what Ferrari sold you, as I have seen the pics you posted of the bushings, but they don't look right...
Are you sure that they sent you the correct parts?

How do I know the front and rear are the same?
Because I mic'd the old bushings.
As well as my own 308, I have helped & supervised the suspension rebuild of 4 other 308s and they were all the same.
The front inner bushings use spacers on the bushings,
where the rear inner bushings do not.

 

The ferrari part numbers are different front to rear as in front arm to rear arm bushing. The bushings look different and measure out smaller in diameter than the front. They came from ferrari for a 308. Are they wrong? I doubt it. Can you ram a larger front into the rear? Yes, do you want to? I dont. Im satisfied that they are correct, wont make much difference as far as et on a track goes but I hear of people having issues fitting the rear arms back into the car after putting front bushings in the rear arms.

 

Paul, did you check the sizes of your old bushings,
and compare them to the new ones you ordered?

"They came from ferrari for a 308. Are they wrong? I doubt it"

Well I ordered a rear bonnet strut for a 77 308 from Ferrari,
and questioned the person up and down concerning that they were sure that they still had a single center strut for a 77.
Oh yes, we know our stuff, this is correct!

I received a single gas strut from a dual strut QV.

 

I have to side with Dave on this one. Last weekend I tore down my 308 suspension. 1977 GTB that is TOTALLY ORIGINAL. I measured all the bushings and bores and found them to be identical front and rear. Furhtermore none of my factory bushings had the flattened off sides as seen in Paul's picture.

 

Yours may not be original Rob, your speedo didnt work and your carpet had a hole worn in it under the clutch pedal.

 

I am pretty sure front and rear inner control arm bushings are the same size but different rubber material. Brain Keegan at TR told me this years ago when i bought mine 2 different part# but looked Identical but were different color one was yellow zinc other silver

 

Actually a few points. The mileage on my car is very well documented from new so I am certain of its mileage. The previous owner (the car only had 2) documented that car like crazy and was a very honest person so I trust the mileage. Furthermore the speedo stopped working once the car was in my possesion. The wear on the carpet was actually in the region of the dead pedal and is consistent with a driver that wore shoes with a very aggressive sole.

Now onto the forensics of the suspension arms. The paint is original with the original 'AB' and 'USA' stamps on them. The welds that hold the bushings are singular with not the slightest trace of a bushing swap. Paul, on my car at least, those bushings are the original ones that came from Ferrari.

P.S. forensic research is a hobby of mine

 

I guess the guy just sat in the car making vroom vroom noises and pushed the clutch pedal alot, good for you. lol.

 

Perhaps not the most scientific of tests but I just did the following. The bushings were fairly good on my car (almost to the point that I should have left them alone) so I grabbed the ones I removed and took a tire durometer to all of them. Mind you I have since mixed up the front and rear bushings but I was looking for differences. After testing all of the bushings, I found them all to be effectivly the same hardness. Giving doubt a little benefit I once again inspected my arms and the bushings re-measuring everything and looking for signs of replacement. Unless every one of the suspension arms were changed, those bushings are original. New years eve and I'm measuring bushings...boy do I ever have to get a life

 

Read 308 WSM page F7 it is right there why guess?

 

original # from a 78 WSM is 104398 front and 103170 rear. Why? Must be something different, more weight in the rear, harder bushings to handle it? Makes sense. My numbers are different again, possible change up. 111617 and 111616.