Which bushings to replace when fitting springs?

[Kool PT]

Less expensive.... I can also recommend the TwosRUs bushing kits (or equivalent) to replace tired rubber mounts. Droplinks make a big difference too (Whiteline or TwosRUs are common makes) .... but hang fire on TwosRUs ones until they've had a chance to appraise Nic's faulty one.

Are these easy for a garage to replace when new springs are fitted? If not, how much longer would it take to fit them to the strut mounts?

 m http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=23_82 m

also, which ones am I supposed to be looking at?

My car has 86k on the clock and I'm looking at getting Tien S.Tech springs and also adding bracing. Which bushings will be worn out, the twosrus link that Spit gave me has about a million! As some of them are very expensive should this be done as a priority over strut/member bracing & anti roll bars?

[spit]

Sorry   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Because the back end of the car was in bits I went for the MR2 Spyder Rear Suspension Urethane Bushing Set [Spyder Rear].

We had great fun pressing some of the old bushes out, so if you can find someone to do that for a few quid its worth it.

Its a good idea to mark your rear toe cam positions to retain your alignment settings on reassembly.

As some of them are very expensive should this be done as a priority over strut/member bracing & anti roll bars?

Short answer, no. But I suggested them as a considered mod in your other thread as they do make more than 90 quid (shipped and taxed) difference to the handling of a higher-mileage '2   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  .

All of the changes you list, along with the bushes, will give you incremental benefits, but your other mod suggestions should come first if you're doing this on a paced budget.

If t'was me, I'd do - bracing closely followed by springs, then a-r bars & droplinks, and then worry about bushes   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

Nic (wabbitkilla) may embark on the addition of Tein topmounts to his stock damper and TeinSS setup ... so watch his space for narrative on that.

Hope this helps?

[Kool PT]

How much time would it save to have them done at the same time as the springs are fitted though?

[spit]

None. You don't need to take the bars off to remove the struts.

There's arguably a slight time benefit in the fact that the car will already be on ramps though   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  .

Save it for later if you feel the need to go down that route.

[Kool PT]

just noticed that camskill do front droplink PU bushings for 8 quid



anyone picked up a set?

[markiii]

just noticed that camskill do front droplink PU bushings for 8 quid



anyone picked up a set?

you fit 2rus links for more than just teh bushings that are on them

chances are when you come to get teh rear shocks off you will need to cut the drop links off anyway which means replacing the whole arm

[Kool PT]

cutting the drop links? why?
where do I get a new arm?

[markiii]

the rear drop links attach to teh strut and the ARB via a ball joint which has an allen key head

in principle you hold teh joint stationary with teh allen key whilst undoing teh nut

in practice teh allen key slot usually rusts and tehn rounds off leavingteh only option to cut teh links off and replace.

standard toyota drop links are a really crap design

the 2rus ones not only perform better, but they wear better and have a proper nirled section to allow a spanner to be use in place of the allen key

when we did Chris's last week we just angle grinded teh link and teh drilled teh ends out, replaced with 2rus links, jobs a good un

[Kool PT]

the rear drop links attach to the strut and the ARB via a ball joint which has an allen key head

in principle you hold the joint stationary with the allen key whilst undoing the nut

in practice the allen key slot usually rusts and tehn rounds off leavingteh only option to cut the links off and replace.

standard toyota drop links are a really crap design

the 2rus ones not only perform better, but they wear better and have a proper nirled section to allow a spanner to be use in place of the allen key

when we did Chris's last week we just angle grinded the link and the drilled the ends out, replaced with 2rus links, jobs a good un

there seems to be a real problem with UK to US english translation when it comes to suspension parts. Are drop links the same as end links? if so am i right in thinking i need:

1 pair of http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_50&products_id=105
and one pair of http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=449?

[DannyN]

cutting the drop links? why?

You use an angle grinder to cut them off,  and the reason is its the easiest way by a long shot

[Kool PT]

trust me i won't be doing this myself so any info/advice will be passed on to whomever i pay to do the work   s:( s:(

[markiii]

the rear drop links attach to the strut and the ARB via a ball joint which has an allen key head

in principle you hold the joint stationary with the allen key whilst undoing the nut

in practice the allen key slot usually rusts and tehn rounds off leavingteh only option to cut the links off and replace.

standard toyota drop links are a really crap design

the 2rus ones not only perform better, but they wear better and have a proper nirled section to allow a spanner to be use in place of the allen key

when we did Chris's last week we just angle grinded the link and the drilled the ends out, replaced with 2rus links, jobs a good un

there seems to be a real problem with UK to US english translation when it comes to suspension parts. Are drop links the same as end links? if so am i right in thinking i need:

1 pair of http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_50&products_id=105
and one pair of http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=449?

yep those are teh ones

[Kool PT]

i am slowly understanding the make up of an mr2's suspension. is the trailing arm just american for 'macpherson strut' ?

[Kool PT]

back to my original question, the top of this strut has a crappy looking bushing at the top - i sort of presumed that these ones would definitely be worth replacing when the whole thing was taken off to replace the springs

 m http://www.twosrus.com/catalog/product_ ... cts_id=259 m

'rear strut rod'...? there doesn't seem to be a front one.

[markiii]

thats not a picture of a mk3 strut amd no a trailing arm and a macpherson strut are not teh same thing

[Anonymous]

Here you go a picture of the rear arm set-up - OK they aren't standard but it shows the basic layout. As a alternative to replacing the bushes you can always renew the whole arm which incorporates pillow ball joints which are a lot better than the up-grade bushing - but yes they are more expensive but they do look the part.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

You can just make out the base of the strut at the top of the photo in green - Tein Superstreets.

 

[Kool PT]

for the benefit of myself and any other novices out there, can someone please advise which bits are which? I have labelled, possibly incorrectly, how i thought it was. I wouldn't know where to start looking this stuff up on the net, and it would greatly help my understanding of what needs replaced and where all these bushings are.



Cheers

[markiii]

for the benefit of myself and any other novices out there, can someone please advise which bits are which? I have labelled, possibly incorrectly, how i thought it was. I wouldn't know where to start looking this stuff up on the net, and it would greatly help my understanding of what needs replaced and where all these bushings are.



Cheers

I can't edit your diagram but her goes

1. thast not the anti roll bar or teh drop link, thats a one part arm used for adjusting Toe

2. the blue bar at teh rear of teh picture is arguably a trailing arm, but just holds teh hub in position front to back it sets Castor

3.teh otehr blue arm sets the toe in/out and as stock has an adjustable cam on teh end that connects to teh grey cross member which allows you to adjust it. The stock system is pants to adjust but teh megan arms Rob has shown are tehdogs danglies in that respect.

4. The drop links and anti roll bar (ARB) aren;t shown in that picture

[Anonymous]

for the benefit of myself and any other novices out there, can someone please advise which bits are which? I have labelled, possibly incorrectly, how i thought it was. I wouldn't know where to start looking this stuff up on the net, and it would greatly help my understanding of what needs replaced and where all these bushings are.



Cheers

OK Here goes.

The two blue bars are called Tie rods the one's with a question mark - the one at front is the caster arm and the one in the middle is the camber arm - both adjustable as shown but fixed on a standard car.

The one you have marked up as drop link is the rear toe adjuster tie bar, the drop link is not shown on this photo.

The strut is correct.

I'll post another photo of the strut and drop link

[Anonymous]

Here you go.

This photo shows the strut and to the left of the strut the drop link (silver colour) which connects to the anti roll bar. You can also see the stainless steel overbraided brake lines to the right of the strut - another worth while mod.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  



Hope this helps a bit more.

[Kool PT]

OK Here goes.

The two blue bars are called Tie rods the one's with a question mark - the one at front is the caster arm and the one in the middle is the camber arm - both adjustable as shown but fixed on a standard car.

The one you have marked up as drop link is the rear toe adjuster tie bar, the drop link is not shown on this photo.

The strut is correct.

I'll post another photo of the strut and drop link

1/5 aint bad   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Here you go.

This photo shows the strut and to the left of the strut the drop link (silver colour) which connects to the anti roll bar. You can also see the stainless steel overbraided brake lines to the right of the strut - another worth well mod.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  



Hope this helps a bit more.

Yeah it does, thanks!

So are the droplinks the main part which benefits from the twosrus upgrade? I might as well get as much of these bits as I can afford  while placing this order (which will probably be in November at this rate!) but unfortunately funds probably won't stretch to the entire 'MR2 Spyder Rear Suspension Urethane Bushing Set'.

One last question, will lowering on s.techs give me need to adjust camber?

[Anonymous]

Yeah it does, thanks!

So are the droplinks the main part which benefits from the twosrus upgrade? I might as well get as much of these bits as I can afford  while placing this order (which will probably be in November at this rate!) but unfortunately funds probably won't stretch to the entire 'MR2 Spyder Rear Suspension Urethane Bushing Set'.

One last question, will lowering on s.techs give me need to adjust camber?

Yep it will alter your camber angle, that's the main reason I went for the adjustable arms. Alternatively you can use crash bolts, but I'm not a fan of those things. They basically replace the bolts which fit the strut to the lower hub carrier, you can see the two of them in the second photo.

Rob

[markiii]

90% of springs I've fitted haven't required a camber reset (strictly speaking you should getan alignment, but in practice it hasn;t been needed)

if your after bushings that are easy to do and cheap get teh antiroll bar bushings

every other one will be an arse, worth it but an arse

[Kool PT]

Che does 'rear track arms' for camber adjustment so I may look into these.

He also sells 'rear lower trailing arms'...'rear lower control arms' ...what would we call these in the UK?

All are by legendary tuning company 'Top Speed Racing' and bear a striking resemblence to the megan ones   s:D s:D

With a garage doing proper alignment is there a big likelyhood that camber will give me probs? 100 quid (unless there is a much cheaper option, other than camber bolts) kind of eats into my budget quite a bit   s:? :? s:?

[northernalex]

darn.. now i want some anti roll bars now.. ...

I have just bought the tein lowering springs, thinking about ordering the two sets of drop links.. speedsource bushes.. and now I want anti roll bars..

Off to to the search to find info on ARBs lol  s:) s:)