My Front Suspension is Badly bent, What do you think?

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

Great diagram. Can I ask where you sourced your hardened washers from and what size (diameter) you got?

An owner in North Carolina took these pictures this afternoon. After nearly 10,000 miles of use his Uding bushings are still exactly where they started (not backed out at all):




I'm pretty sure he sourced his hardware from McMaster Carr. Backing washers: Part #92140A120, hardened steel, 1/2" ID, 2" OD, 1/8" thick. Face washers: Part #92217A549: 18-8 stainless steel, 1/2" ID, 1 3/4" OD, 3/32" thick. Pivot bolts: Part #91257A497: 9" long 1/2-20 Grade 8 (they originally had much more thread exposed -- he cut them off for appearance sake).

Note that if you put face washers on the shock bolt bushings those bolts will need to be longer too.

[opethmike]

Watching you type in third person about yourself is amusing, Mr. Robertson.

[Dangermouse]

Watching you type in third person about yourself is amusing, Mr. Robertson.

Made me laugh too.

"I'm pretty sure he sourced them at McMaster Carr". Priceless.



Useful info though......

[jerzybondov]

An owner in North Carolina took these pictures this afternoon. After nearly 10,000 miles of use his Uding bushings are still exactly where they started (not backed out at all):

I'm pretty sure he sourced his hardware from McMaster Carr. Backing washers: Part #92140A120, hardened steel, 1/2" ID, 2" OD, 1/8" thick. Face washers: Part #92217A549: 18-8 stainless steel, 1/2" ID, 1 3/4" OD, 3/32" thick. Pivot bolts: Part #91257A497: 9" long 1/2-20 Grade 8 (they originally had much more thread exposed -- he cut them off for appearance sake).

Note that if you put face washers on the shock bolt bushings those bolts will need to be longer too.

Great info. Thank you

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

Bushings walking out of the brackets is likely caused by the brackets moving independently of the bushings. Why this happens when the bushings are butted against the shock towers is intuitively obvious. What is surprising is it happens even when a thin washer is squeezed in on one side (bolts supplied with the kit are barely long enough to allow one thin washer on one side only). I have noticed that thin washers in this application bend back on themselves. It appears enough deformation of these washers creates resistance similar to being butted against the shock towers directly.

If you look closely at the North Carolinian owner's pictures you will notice that lips of his bushings are visibly compressed by the face washers. Don't know exactly how much more that helps the bushings move in conjunction with the brackets, but it must help to some degree. It certainly doesn't hurt.

[chenderson2k]

What year had these brackets? I've never seen them before.

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

What year had these brackets? I've never seen them before.

Brackets are an aftermarket upgrade from Ed Uding in Europe, also sold stateside by Dave Swingle at DMCMW. They are the closest thing to lower wishbones currently available.

This is what an original installation looks like (Luke Sandel's car):

[DMC5180]

I figured it would be worth sharing these photos of my own experience with the Stabilizer links.

Notice the Inboard link ends have migrated toward each other.

IMG_0754.jpg IMG_0756.jpg IMG_0757.jpg

I reset all the bushings using this method.

IMG_0763.jpg IMG_0764.jpg

Ready for reinstallation.

IMG_0766.jpg

reinstalled: Note the bushing Squeeze on the inboard (tower) side. The inside washer now limits inward movement. So far I have not seen any migration in this configuration.

IMG_0772.JPG IMG_0773.jpg

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

The bushings really don't fit all that tightly in the brackets. We used a ball joint press on Tyler Butler's car, and could practically turn the screw by hand.

At least 5 sets of bushings walked out without proper backing washers versus no bushings walked out with them (and face washers) is pretty conclusive.

[dmc6960]

The bushings really don't fit all that tightly in the brackets. We used a ball joint press on Tyler Butler's car, and could practically turn the screw by hand.

At least 5 sets of bushings walked out without proper backing washers versus no bushings walked out with them (and face washers) is pretty conclusive.

You can make that count 6. Mine have done the same. I'll be doing this procedure to mine as well when I take them apart this winter to replace the lower ball joints.