Suspension work advice

[Wacky]

Hi Guys,

Pedders told me I have a few problems with my VZ Exec sedan - they can fix for $2600 !

Anyway, main points they raised was my suspension in general...springs have sagged all around (rear 30mm lower than standard and springs are standard) and the rear shocks were stuffed (one leaking badly, the other beyond dead) and front not much better.

The car has done 96,000km, and before we got it it seems it was a rental with Avis at Melbourne Airport ! e asked the dealer about history, and they failed to reveal this tidbit of info. Wasn't until we had a closer look at the books post purchase ....

Anyway, they told me the radius rod to chassis bushes were stuffed (the ones that point forward) and the rear crossmember outer mounts (they showed me the crack in the bush).

So, talking to Greg from GSL (I bought VS suspension stuff off him previously so naturally got in touch again) I can get Kings and KYB all round (plus new strut top mounts and bearings), and he can help with the bushes mentioned above.

What I am wondering is what other bushes/mounts should I attend to whilst I am at it? I was thinking of the sway bar link kit, and I think it is the lower control arm inner bush.

Anyone got advice on what other things I should do? I am only going standard height and it's a family car, but currently drives like a boat !

Cheers,
Ross.

[EDGE3]

mate get all the bushes done,get a camber kit for the struts, sounds like this car has been driven pretty hard

[Wacky]

Well, we've been good to it, but it's first 50,000km were probably driven like it was stolen, just like any good rental car !

[Adds_05]

no panhard rod in a vz, sounds like basically you have most of the bushes covered,off the top of my head the only other bushes in the front would be the bush where the radius rod goes into the lower control arm and in the back would be the diff mount bush
i wouldnt worry about a camber kit in the rear either for standard height,my vy is standard height it its never worn the insides of the tyres out,they've always worn even

[Burnout124]

Maybe a panhard rod,mate get all the bushes done,get a camber kit for the struts, sounds like this car has been driven pretty hard

vz does not have a panhard rod vt on all had irs. But rear caster camber kit is a good idea

[TI3VOM]

Personally go to another shop and get a quote, Pedders quoted me $2000+ for some things that were stuffed, yet when I took it to JAX I payed about $1390 to fix it!

The best thing about it was that, that price included adjustable swaybars F/R and a strut brace, that's where most of the money went lol - which was my decision as I wanted to upgrade the suspension somehow.

[Wacky]

Good idea, thanks for the suggestion re Jax.

In addition, anyone know the differnece between Control arm - lower inner "Steel shell design" and Control arm - lower inner "Urethane only design" ? It is obvious from the pics and the name, but what are the real implications? I'm thinking the steel shell design would suffice (not sure of price difference) as standard has metal shell IIRC.

[glenn l]

Good idea, thanks for the suggestion re Jax.

In addition, anyone know the differnece between Control arm - lower inner "Steel shell design" and Control arm - lower inner "Urethane only design" ? It is obvious from the pics and the name, but what are the real implications? I'm thinking the steel shell design would suffice (not sure of price difference) as standard has metal shell IIRC.

are you talking nolathane / whiteline bushes?, the metal shell design is a 1 peice bush that needs to be pressed in where the urethane only i a 2 peice that any one can just push in that is easyer. at the end of the day theres no difference between them performance wise, they both do the same job.

[bladerunner]

mate as others have said a camber kit is not needed in your case unless you do heavy ;ie-caravan,towing. from the vx-s2 onwards in the sedans there is an adjustable link arm in the rear which can adjust your camber to a certain degree. your rear control arm bushes will be stuffed more than likely and both inner and outer will need replacing. the diff cradle mount should be ok at those k's unless its spent alot of time axle tramping eg-burnouts. the front end radius bushes will definately be shot -brake shudder is normally a sign- as they were a piece of crap from the factory.they are a silicon oil filled bush designed to absorb forward movement and when they leak they can be hard to spot as water washes away any oil stains on them.front swaybar link bushes will be shot, not hard to replace. front control arm bushes i'd replace only if it needs them, be carefull what you replace them with as some bushes will squeek and drive you nuts. struts and shocks- kyb or boge are good along with kings springs. as for your choice of bushes i would steer clear of nolathane and wouldnt put pedders over priced gear on my lawnmower let alone a car. ive had them all in my cars over the years and found by far the best to be fulcrim superpro bushes for everything bush related. different makes of bushes have different densities and compounds for their own brands hence why some are too soft and some are too hard. others may disagree with my opinions and i dont mean to offend anyone or profess to being a know-all but im only going off experiance from years of playing with car suspensions and have learnt the hard and expensive way.