Sloppy Bush ! And Other Front End Weirdness !

["Captain Retard"]

So I've had my BA Typhoon for about 2 months and decided to drag my lazy arse under the car for a looksee !

When I bought the car I noticed it had a few front end issues ,it felt pretty good , but;

Steering wheel off centre by about 30 degrees.

Front wheels looked to have excessive Toe- out.

Left hub to guard 15mm lower than right.Left 340, right 355mm.

Left wheel obviously had more camber than right.

Slightly disturbing shudder under lite braking over 80kmph.

And she's started to groan and creak like an old barn door!

RESULTS !

Above is the left hand front and it still has 4mm of tread to the wear indicators.

The right whilst much better , was still not great.

So I've been having a play with the alignment ;

First I gave the left tie rod one full turn out to give more toe in;

Now the steering wheel was straight (coincidents?) the car drove Ok , the brake shudder wasn't as bad but there was a little tiny vibration thru the steering wheel. This felt like it was from the uneven tyre wear.

But now the right hand hub to guard was 15mm lower than the left, left 350mm ,right 335mm.

So secondly I turned the tie rod back in half a turn to give more toe out but not as much originally;

Now the steering wheel was about 15 degrees off centre.

Brake shudder about the same.

Felt good thru steering wheel.

And now both hub to guard measurements were within a couple of mil, right 345mm, left 342mm.

During all this the camber changed a little.

Using a big set square on a flat garage floor, the measurement difference from bottom of rim to top of rim was , left 16mm and right was 7mm.

So quiet a big difference in camber!

So here's what I found.

Pic of Shim stack for left below.

The camber is maxxed out, there is no more adjustment left on left hand side.

Pic of shim stack for the right below.

There's still about 5-10mm of thread left for adjustment .

Next I had a look at the bushes and there seems to be a fair bit of sloppiness in the uppers whilst the lowers had some play as well.

The rear lower bush seems to have fore and aft movement , see below.

That little screwdriver went straight in the gap and you can see where the bush is moving back and rubbing on the chassis.

All the bushes look like they are the standard rubber type.

I think they are squashing down and this maybe the reason for excess camber on left hand side.

So based on reading through a lot of the threads I will replace the bushes with Supapro , upper and lower.

Thoughts???

I have DBA 4000 rotors that are 31.7mm thick so hopefully they are not causing the shudder probs.

The springs are Pedders 2624 low and the shocks also appear to be Pedders as well ,3R23-18045-DB Gas 4.

I'm happy with the ride but wouldn't mind some more height. The lower arms are about level.

Can you get spacers for the springs to lift them by say 5-10mm ?

Thought I read it somewhere in here !

Don't really want to change springs just yet !

I'm a bit worried about the camber difference but will have to wait and see how it is once the bushes have been changed.

I will be doing them myself ( I have a 10 ton press)

I've given the car a pretty good look over and can't find any accident damage.

Any other thoughts or problems I may be missing ?

Thanks !

["Captain Retard"]

Front bushes have arrived

These are the part numbers;

SPF 0299K. Lower shock

SPF 1839K front lower control arm inner rear

SPF 1838K front lower control arm inner front

SPF 1887K front upper inner

SPF 1615 Sway bar

Before I pull the front end apart........

Do these Part numbers sound right ???

Cheers!

Oopps , forgot to mention it's for a 05 BA Typhoon.... Thanks!

[Ralph Wiggum]

That's a fine list of part numbers

EDIT: I'd strongly suggest you throw the lower shock bush in the "geez im glad I didn't fit that box" and fit new stock rubber bushes.

The lower bush is the one that tips a SP front end from nice and firm to harsh and annoying.

["Captain Retard"]

Thanks Ralph , that was quick!

OK will do with the lower shock bush, thanks again!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Make sure when you press out the old lower front control arm bushes you buff all the rust off the bush before pressing. The rust can cause the bush to seized and it quite easy to tweak the arm and bend in if you not careful

Also make sure when you fit the Sway Bar D bushes that there is minimal preload (ie the bar swings down under its own wieght) if you have excess preload on the bar it will increase the spring preload and cause a harsh ride. You may find you'll need to add a couple of washers under the bush caps if it's tight.

["Captain Retard"]

Yeah thanks Ralph, I'll keep all that in mind when I do the job on Monday .

I've read the thread by Philmeup and a few others including some of yours.

Hopefully I won't have to many issues.

Thanks for the tips!

Cheers!

[old_mate]

how much was all that bush goodness??

["Captain Retard"]

$265 delivered off fleabay.

Which I thought was pretty reasonable.

["Captain Retard"]

Great start to my front end rebuild......fuggin gorillas and their rattle guns!!!

Went to Ford but no joy there!

They said the place that made these lock nut keys went out of business or we can sell you a whole new set...... Didn't even bother asking for a price!

So out came the 7/8 socket and hammer.... Brute force fixed that problem......NEXT!!!!!!!!

["Captain Retard"]

Well with a solid 12hrs invested in the front end I'm almost finished, just the swaybar bushes left for tomorrow.

Can't say it was a pleasure, in fact I don't think I've spat the dummy that much in a long time!

Must be getting old......sigh!!!