Theres greasable ones that work with the front bar?
Any alignment guys in here?
- Thread starter Mustang Matt
- Start date
Theres greasable ones that work with the front bar?
shane02pro5
25ish_psi
- :
- New Caney TX
I had to put a jackstand under the bracket and lower the weight of the car down on it with a jack to compress the bushing enough to line up the bottom bolt hole.
Also stripped one out a few years ago and just re-tapped to the next size thread/bolt.
Also stripped one out a few years ago and just re-tapped to the next size thread/bolt.
9.5161? The brackets can be bolted down?
I haven't done it but, yes they should. I know people have used those bushings & brackets (The 20.5mm) on their rear sways. Not sure about front...
You can make almost anything fit with a drill & a grinder.
- :
- 2002 Honda S2000
fronts are a pain. the bracket is a tight fit over the bushing. if you notice the bracket flares out toward the ends and is narrower in the middle. the bracket is supposed to fit between the two little ridges around the top edges of the bushing but the flared part of the bracket actually overlaps the ridges. slightly trimming the ridges on the bushing so that the flared part of the bracket fits flush makes it go on much easier. also, thread the bolt through the round hole in the bracket first then the slotted hole second. hehe... hope that makes sense!
Good tip. I didn't think to mention that.
Mustang Matt
Member
- :
- 2001 Mazda Protege MP3
The good news first.
1. It's "finished", both bushings are changed out and everything is back together.
2. The front end clunk I was experiencing is completely gone.
The bad news.
1. I'm embarrassed to admit I spent 14 hours on swapping these bushings. I have swapped motors faster than that before.
2. My fingers are raw.
3. I made up new vocabulary that is beyond profanity.
4. The passenger side front tire is making a per revolution "thump" noise now.
The details...
First, I would never ever recommend that anyone attempt this at home. I don't know what the dealer charges but I can assure it's worth it to let them mess with it.
Second, dropping the cross member gains you nothing at all. No additional clearance and no additional access.
Third, what I ended up doing was pulling both brackets off again and sticking the groove (front) side into a vice and straightening it a bit so it was at more of an angle. The new bushings were large enough that all the hand strength in the world couldn't force the groove down to get the front bolt threaded in. In addition, I took a dremel to the groove and extended it 1/16" or so. Had I done those two things on day one this probably would have cut my time in half.
Fourth, I may have cross threaded the front passenger bolt. It seemed like it was threading properly but then it started taking a tremendous amount of torque, in addition, I couldn't get it tightened enough to pull the bracket completely to the frame. This may be the cause of my noise I'm hearing.
1. It's "finished", both bushings are changed out and everything is back together.
2. The front end clunk I was experiencing is completely gone.
The bad news.
1. I'm embarrassed to admit I spent 14 hours on swapping these bushings. I have swapped motors faster than that before.
2. My fingers are raw.
3. I made up new vocabulary that is beyond profanity.
4. The passenger side front tire is making a per revolution "thump" noise now.
The details...
First, I would never ever recommend that anyone attempt this at home. I don't know what the dealer charges but I can assure it's worth it to let them mess with it.
Second, dropping the cross member gains you nothing at all. No additional clearance and no additional access.
Third, what I ended up doing was pulling both brackets off again and sticking the groove (front) side into a vice and straightening it a bit so it was at more of an angle. The new bushings were large enough that all the hand strength in the world couldn't force the groove down to get the front bolt threaded in. In addition, I took a dremel to the groove and extended it 1/16" or so. Had I done those two things on day one this probably would have cut my time in half.
Fourth, I may have cross threaded the front passenger bolt. It seemed like it was threading properly but then it started taking a tremendous amount of torque, in addition, I couldn't get it tightened enough to pull the bracket completely to the frame. This may be the cause of my noise I'm hearing.
red95_240sx
Member
Ehh,,you just worked on your car. nothing new. Thats why i stopped aloong time ago. Working on a protege and still getting no where...
- :
- 2002 Honda S2000
hehe... it took me four tries with a variety of tools and techniques to swap out the front sway bushings. no idea how many hours.
I've heard that some places will purposely give your car a slight pull to the right for safety reasons (fall asleep on the road and drift into the shoulder instead of oncoming traffic). Anyone else heard of this? I'm probably just crazy.
Secondly... my bro in law told me that some alignment shops have a special tool/lift that floats the suspension and aligns the wheels so the mechanic just has to go around and tighten the bolts. And it leads to super accurate alignments. Anyone heard of this one?
Secondly... my bro in law told me that some alignment shops have a special tool/lift that floats the suspension and aligns the wheels so the mechanic just has to go around and tighten the bolts. And it leads to super accurate alignments. Anyone heard of this one?
red95_240sx
Member
that doesnt sound right, but a pull to the left to fight road crown would be justified.
Hadnt heard of the suspension floating.
Hadnt heard of the suspension floating.
Mustang Matt
Member
- :
- 2001 Mazda Protege MP3
So how bad are the plastic sleeve ones? I looked at the ones they got from Napa and they are plastic sleeved.
When I swapped mine out for CS bronze-oil bushings, they still seemed to be in pretty good shape... W/ over 120k miles on em.
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what, shifter bushings? talk was about camber bolts?
haha, wow I was on a completely different thread.... My b. I was even the one to make the original comment about the plastic sleeves being crap. (hand)
Ya those plastic sleeved camber bolts are garbage... they get torn up just trying to install them.
Mustang Matt
Member
- :
- 2001 Mazda Protege MP3
So here's the final results. They installed two camber bolts. Wheel is very slightly off center to the left now and car still pulls very slightly to the right. Both problems are much less significant than they were originally. Overall it's acceptable to drive. They gave me the two camber bolts for free as they didn't get to my car Tuesday or Wednesday but then they surprised me with an extra $135 labor bill in addition to the $80 I already paid.
Mixed feelings, I know they did extra work but I really felt like that should have been included in the original bill. I won't be going back that's for sure.
Mixed feelings, I know they did extra work but I really felt like that should have been included in the original bill. I won't be going back that's for sure.
red95_240sx
Member
at this point, its not ur alignment
If they align the car straight ahead, road crown should cause it to drift right anyway...
