Hi all, what are the bushes called that the top bolt on the rear shock goes through. Im hoping to buy some as the garage said they need changing. Is there a specific name for them and where can i buy them. Link? Thanks

Afaik there's no place to buy them off the shelf, best to just replace the dampers with good quality ones like Bilstein b4's.

stfc87 said:

Hi all, what are the bushes called - Is there a specific name for them and where can i buy them. Link? Thanks

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Hi, and welcome to FF,

look for the ePER link on the FF banner, it's the fiat parts microfiche,

Charlie - Oxford , STFC fan..,

I read recently in a popular Italian car magazine that Superflex are doing replacement bushes for the rear shock upper mount


See


http://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF486-0369KSS

not a great cost, and perhaps worth a go if the shocks otherwise are in good condition

Thanks, shocks are fine so would be looking for a solution for the bush rather than replace so i'll have a look at the links etc that people have suggested.

Thanks for the welcome, i'm a shrewsbury fan yeah haha.

306maxi said:

Afaik there's no place to buy them off the shelf, best to just replace the dampers with good quality ones like Bilstein b4's.

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I done this swapped them in at sametime as the eibachs went on and the bushes after 1 year on the B4's are goosed! just as the aftermarket ones went and OEM ones the previous year. I don't have the budget to go to the B14 coil overs? so stronger bushes would possibly be an option. Seems to me the 500 rides on the bushes and doesn't push the shock to do its job.

Did you do the bolts up when the suspension was at its resting ride height.

I can't state how the B4's were done as they were done at my local independent garage,
but the pair prior to this I changed and were tensioned before the spring had weight on it.

which is the incorrect way to do it.

Good to know, So the correct way is to tension the shockers nut whilst the spring has a load on it e.g. putting a block under spring/mount then lowering with the jack or tensioning with wheel on with a dogleg extension?
Id imagine that the garage that fitted the B4's would know how to put them on correctly, but you can never rule this out.
I will say this though that the ones I incorrectly put on rattled from the get go practically, where as the B4's have taken a year to start rattling.
Well it looks like I'm going to have to do this again (so assuming the garage put it in wrong) Id rather ensure its done correctly to rule out operator error,
could you point in the right direction, e.g. the correct sequence to put them on.

Nope, the right way to do it is to do it up (so it doesn't fall to bits and everything is retained) then lower the car, drive it back and forward a little bit so the suspension settles, then torque it up.

Ahh Ok, what I done when I fitted, was torque up the top mount first then tightened up on bottom (you need to lower the jack slightly in order to get the eye's of the shock to line up) then fitted wheels back on. My thinking was I didn't want to leave anything loose when the full cars weight was put on.
Forgive me for a daft question Maxi, but how did you torque up with the weight on the spring, did you take the wheels off and use a block under spring mount or rear hub and then lower it, or did you get a socket into wheel well with wheel still on. I just thought the later would be difficult to get proper purchase especially with 16's.
Thanks

I didn't do it myself, just saying how it should be done.

OK, I guess back to square one then, as I didn't fit the B4's either,
But I did notice a difference as I said in an earlier post, it's taken a year to go to same nick and same rattle of a worn bush as the ones I previously fitted which rattled after a week, so I can only imagine they were installed correctly by the garage. Think ill try the polybushes this time.
cheers anyway.

306maxi said:

Nope, the right way to do it is to do it up (so it doesn't fall to bits and everything is retained) then lower the car, drive it back and forward a little bit so the suspension settles, then torque it up.

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:yeahthat:

One of those jobs that's best done on a 4 post lift, so that you can easily tighten everything up with the full weight of the car on all four wheels.

I've seen far too many 'professional mechanics' torquing up suspension on a two post.

derekandclive said:

I read recently in a popular Italian car magazine that Superflex are doing replacement bushes for the rear shock upper mount


See


http://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF486-0369KSS

not a great cost, and perhaps worth a go if the shocks otherwise are in good condition

Click to expand...

Changed them today on daughter's 500. Used the Superflex bushes mentioned in Auto Italia. Straightforward enough, pushed the old bushes out, plenty of the lube supplied in the kit and pressed in using a vice. Loaded the suspension before torquing the upper and lower bolts.

As fiat parts from one car to another do not change very much I wonder if these bushes would fit other models

Bushes have lasted well but now the dampers are shot. Replacements coming from Shop4Parts.I might see if the bushes can be recovered from the old dampers and if acceptable kept for future use.