Hi all,
I fitted new front lower wishbones to my Marea 2.4TD about 12 to 15 months ago and the bushes are worn out already . Has any one tried fitting powerflex bushes to the wishbones and if so how easy was it. Powerflex are selling the full set for £99.80 + vat, which seems reasonable compared to the cost of regular replacements of wishbones.

Any advice appreciated,

Stuart

yes, they are now sat on my bedroom floor

they probably would fit but you'd be best taking it to a garage so they can faff about with it as you'll have to get them pressed on with a hydrolic press anyway and then when you discover its a few mm out you have to take it back :bang:

then one of the sleves wont fit for no reason and you'll just give up like i did

i'd take it to the garage and let them mess about trying to get them on, should be possilbe they just arnt fantastically designed.

i was pretty disapointed as just trying them cost me about £300 i ended up with new standard replacment arms

WIDELOAD said:

Hi all,
I fitted new front lower wishbones to my Marea 2.4TD about 12 to 15 months ago and the bushes are worn out already . Has any one tried fitting powerflex bushes to the wishbones and if so how easy was it. Powerflex are selling the full set for £99.80 + vat, which seems reasonable compared to the cost of regular replacements of wishbones.

Any advice appreciated,

Stuart

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What's the outboard ball joint like? They usually wear out just as quick as the inboard rubber bushes.

Bulldog,
Thanks for response, not quite what I'd expected though. I thought it would be a fairly straightforward job. Sounds like a rethink is in order.

Hellcat,
Outer balljoints are OK. I've just noticed that the track rod ends have gone again though:bang: Hmmmmmmm there's a trend here

I know the engine is a heavy old lump but I would have expected the wishbones and rod ends to last longer than this though. Are these faults common or is it because we pay through the nose for the pleasure of driving on crap roads

On the bigger Marea/Bravo i.e. 2.0 20v and 2.4 diesels I think you can expect to need to replace standard wishbones nearly every year. I've a set waiting at home for me. Not sure if I'll get that powerflex kit you mentioned.

i just wish the powerflex bushes were on the car and not my bedroom floor

bulldog5046 said:

i just wish the powerflex bushes were on the car and not my bedroom floor

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just a thought, were you trying to fit them to non-fiat wishbones? that could explain the problem. powerflex will make their bushes to fit the original manufacturer's equipment, aftermarket wishbones may be slightly different spec (bush size).

Hellcat said:

On the bigger Marea/Bravo i.e. 2.0 20v and 2.4 diesels I think you can expect to need to replace standard wishbones nearly every year. I've a set waiting at home for me. Not sure if I'll get that powerflex kit you mentioned.

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New wishbones every year holy moly!! Until last year I had an Evo 6 as a second car and oh boy do I miss it, that would eat a set of 4 tyres in 5000 miles :devil: , so you can imagine the sort of stresses the suspension would have been subjected to but I never had to replace any of the suspension components.

Are after market wishbones a lower spec than FIAT OE parts? If they are, I may be better off buying the FIAT wishbones instead. Fitting Toyo Proxes T1-R tyres has helped alot but I want to sharpen up the handling a bit more.

I fitted OMP drilled/grooved discs and OMP pads to the front about 6 months ago and they are a huge improvement over the standard brakes. Harder pedal, no fade, instant bite and much better retardation.

Maybe the combination of grippier tyres and better brakes is too much for the standard wishbones. Perhaps powerflex bushes is the solution

jug said:

just a thought, were you trying to fit them to non-fiat wishbones? that could explain the problem. powerflex will make their bushes to fit the original manufacturer's equipment, aftermarket wishbones may be slightly different spec (bush size).

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nope, when i took them to have the poly's stamped on i asked if one didnt fit because it was non standard and he pointed out the genuine stamp on it

i have aftermarket arms on now so at some point (probably next year) i will ask a garage to have a wack at it, i've heard good things about them just seems i had a bad experience

Just spotted this thread, there are powerflexes for MGs, they are pigs to fit and either you make or borrow a special tool, or go to an engineering firm with a hydraulic press. There are different grades and for road use even the softest colour (blue?) sometimes comes out again as the road noise is unbearable. For racing they are ace and everyone uses them. I stick with standard at the back and V8 bushes at the front (even those need a homemade press to get them in)

yeah i took my to a local garage and they pressed them for £10 but the point is they wouldnt line up when trying to get back on the subframe so was no use

Re: Replacement lower wishbone bushes Marea W/ender

Hi Guys

I'm new to this forum and now the owner of a Marea TD100 SX Weekender and need to replace the lower wishbone bushes. This seems the best thread to ask for advice or tips on how I could do it.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I've just given my local garage £280 to replace the cambelt and the brakes are up next.

Cheers

Re: Replacement lower wishbone bushes Marea W/ender

If just the bushes are replaced how is the ball joint replaced (and where do you buy it?)Just replaced the front ones on my 1.9 JTD with aftermarket ones and had a lot of trouble getting them to line up so I could get the bolts in....
Just noticed dates should have been a new thread really

feeling crap
my marea w 1.6 16v sx weekend just failed the MOT had a new exhaust fitted by national tyres for 30 and i supplied the exhaust new from eternalcar over on ebay plus 11 for p&p bargain compared to all the other quotes i had for one
the MOT failures?

n/s front suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint
n/s and o/s front anti roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint
oh and the new exhaust that had fitted? has a major leak of gases at a new joint
so it failed on four small items the joint is a 5 min job the ball ends is a saturday morning job if i do it my self or a couple of hours for a spanner monkey to do and for the privilige of giving me a retest and a green pass slip they want 256.97 and folks is nearly as much as the car is worth .

but a quick look around the net has found a pair of arms with the ball joints fitted can be mine for 34 plus p&p just shows how much of a rip of these places charge .
I am now thinking of selling the car and getting a mobility car which would be a damn sight cheaper in the long run so what is a 105 k mile marea weekend worth with no MOT and 2 weeks tax ? not a damn lot is the answer yes i could do the work and get the retest then carry on driving it but to be honest as much as i have enjoyed driving this car it hasnt clicked with me and given me the feeling of it being a keeper