Subframe bushes - done

[Sundayjumper]

Did my subframe bushes today It's got rid of the awful clunking and I think it might have made the ride a touch smoother generally. This would make sense, if the subframe is now held in place properly the suspension can do what it's supposed to do more effectively.

I rented the puller from Phoenix Motorsport and it worked a treat. The guy wanted to sell me the Powerflex bushes but I'd already decided to go with the pattern parts by Febi Bilstein. They look, feel and fit just the same as the OEM ones. Maybe they'll only last 30k miles instead of 60k miles but that's still waaaay longer than I plan to keep the car.

I followed a couple of write-ups I found and the job wasn't too hard. The only thing I'd add is that if you're using a torch to heat the exhaust bracket and bend it out of the way make sure you've got a decent torch and a fresh can of gas. I used a propane/butane torch that I normally only use for soldering copper plumbing and a can of gas that was about a quarter full and wasted a lot of time failing to get the bracket hot enough. A new can of gas made a big difference but it still could have done with being hotter. An oxy-acetylene torch would be a lot better. It took me about three hours to do the first side and an hour to do the second ! The guy at Phoenix reckoned he can do the whole job in an hour. I'll take that with a pinch of salt but <2 hours is quite feasible.

The old bushes were completely shot, all four had come apart, and they looked like they'd been like this a long time:



I'm quite surprised how bad they were. The previous owner spent over £2k on a major service and some bits & pieces last October, the garage really should have spotted this.

Anyway, I'm feeling quite pleased with myself today. Doing something yourself, that makes a noticeable difference to how the car drives is always good