rear suspension bushes shagged?

[zskinner]

hey guys. i originally thought that my rear upper and rear lower trailing arm bushes were all screwed because they all look like they have chunks missing out of them. but after having a better look ive noticed that all the chunks seem to line up with each other. what i mean is that all the lower trailing arm rear bushes that sit in diff all have the chunk missing out of the same spot. i know im really confusing lol but i dont know how else to explain it. by looking at the following pictures are you's able to tell me if the bushes are shagged or if they're normal? its kinda wishful thinking cos i dont really have the money to replace them but i know i really need to if the bushes are shot. the first 3 pictures are of the rear lower trailing arm rear bushes where it meets the diff, the next 2 pictures are of the bushes at the front of the rear lower trailing arm, and the last picture is a bush at the front of the upper trailing arm i found that looked a bit split.

 

[zskinner]

just realised how small these pictures came out so ill add some better ones a bit more close up. damn photobucket shrinking my pictures! lol

 

[Brett_jjj]

The easiest way to see how worn out the bushes are is to jack up the vehicle and support it on chassis stands so the suspension hangs with no load on it.Then get a large long screwdriver in there between the bush and the control arm,and lever the bush back and forth and up and down and see how much movement is in it.There should be hardly any movement in them at all. If there is a fair bit of movement,they are probably worn out enough to be replaced.I always use the nolothane type bushes instead of the rubber type,they tighten up the ride of the car and last for ages.A lot of people say they give too harsh a ride,but I have them fitted all round on my VS with genuine holden FE2 springs and the ride is excellent.Not harsh at all.Cheers

 

[Cheap6]

Wrt the pictures, the lowers look OK but that upper is stuffed.

When levering the bushes with the screwdriver (or tyre lever) you are looking for the rubber (not) to be separated from the steel inner and outer sleeves and for splits and tears. You are also looking at how concentric the inner and outer sleeves are. There will be some distortion if the bushes have any load on them but there shouldn't be very much unless the bushes are past their best and have taken a set.

 

[Calaber]

As Cheap6 has said, the upper bushes are totally knackered and should be replaced pronto. They are mongrels to remove, but you can buy arms with new bushes already installed on an exchange basis from some businesses. (Don't know which ones, though). I would replace them first and see what the car behaves like before undertaking the replacement of the lower bushes.

How many k's has your car travelled? If it's 200k or more, chances are the lowers are ready for replacement, as well as all those in the front suspension.

I overhauled the entire front and rear end of my VR a few years back, replacing every rubber bush with new standard parts, using home-made removal and replacing tools. The car had travelled nearly 300,000km and the upper bushes were as sorry looking as yours. I just thought that, as they had travelled so far, all the bushes needed replacing. The transformation in the car was amazing. It's not that difficult, but the upper arm bushes are probably the hardest ones to get out. Putting in the new ones is simpler.

 

[zskinner]

thanks heaps for everyones replies. ill try and get her up on stands tomorrow and have a look with a screwdriver. i just found some upper trailing arms off ebay for $60 with new bushes already in them so ill grab them asap. yer the car has done almost 300,000 kms now so i expected some problems to start arising soon, ill replace the lowers aswell as soon as money permits. thanks again

 

[Brett_jjj]

I wouldnt just replace the top control arm bushes,I had trouble when replacing just the top arm bushes,I found they chopped straight out again because of the movement still in the old bushes on the bottom arms,(Which were original rubber bushes that still looked ok).I ended up going through 2 lots in about 6 months (1 genuine rubber lot and 1 nolothane lot)until I ended up talking to a mechanic about it who suggested replacing them all at the same time(all top arm and bottom arm bushes)including the panhard rod bushes.I replaced all of them with nolothane type as I mentioned before, Its been over 12 months now,and I have had no trouble with any rear bushes since.I also did the front end bushes with nolothane.

 

[Cheap6]

There is a difference between urethane bushes and the factory style rubber ones. That is that the urethane type is intended to rotate in the the mount, around the centre pin. This is why they are installed with lubrication between the rubbing surfaces - including the ends of the bushes.

With the factory style bushes, the bushes twist inside the steel cylinders . If these bushes are clamped into position with the suspension hanging, half the available distortion has already occurred when the suspension is loaded back to ride height.

The bushes have to be changed with the suspension unloaded but leave them loose with the bolts and nuts no more than finger tight and swap the chassis stands to under the diff. before tightening the bolts up. That's not quite fully loaded but it is pretty close. Pedants might throw a sibling/mate/partner/spouse in the boot for some extra load for the task.

 

[wortus]

The lower arm bushes look fine to me and I wouldn't bother changing them. The upper ones are stuffed. It's easier to get new upper arms you can buy them new from Holden cheap.
When I bought my VN it was 8 years old and had 170,000km on it and some of the upper bushes were stuffed. I just replaced both of the arms with new genuine ones and it cost about $90 from memory. It's easier than replacing the bushes yourself and that way you get genuine bushes, the right hardness etc.
I kept the car for about 9 years and 140,000 km and the new top bushes were still OK when I sold the car, not replacing the lower bushes did not lead to any upper bush failures in my car. When you fit these you need to jack up the car and support the body on stands and fit the new arms loose, you may need to jack the diff to move it slightly to get the holes to line up. The bolts holding the bushes need to be tightened wit the the car sitting on it's road wheels so the bushes are not "twisted" with the car at normal ride height. If you don't do this they will fail early. Personally I wouldn't spend the money on Nolothane here. I'd use it on the front sway bar links as part of the Nolothane kit with the bent links and thats about it. When I sold the car all that had been done to the front was new bearing plates, shocks, dust boots and bump stops, sway bar link (genuine) and one rack end and it was just as good as the day I got it, no rubbers were loose or worn other than the sway bar links which is normal.

 

[VrWagz1]

You will find the arms are more then likely twisted, they tend to do this. Those lower arms are very common(like you can see they are on ebay new). I got some new ones from pedders with HD bushes fitted, not sure what i paid but it wasnt to bad, like less than $200 for the pair. Ring them as most stores stock them i beleive.