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General Cheap wishbones

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General Cheap wishbones

cheap arms arnt that bad but you have to think the cheaper they are the quality of the rubber compound will differ slightly, i wouldnt go shy with the arms as if you think the arms fail then the wheel is free to just flop outwards, its abit daunting to think a little pinch bolt is what keeps that wheel in when ur giving it the bees
 
I have the later 14mm bush arms (09.2006) and the arms are definitely cast not pressed.
when I used eper numbers on ebay 51827737 and 51827736 mostly pressed steel arms came up is this later arm backwards compatable ? any advantage to using it if it is , what was Improved or just cheaper to make ?
thanks.
otherwise not seen anyone selling arms with 14mm bush in pairs ,like the 12mm bush arms.
 
ended up buying 2 cast 14mm bushed arms @£140 off ebay, arrived today so cracked on and fitted the n/s one the mot guy had pointed out last 2 years which had a lot of play of the arm about the bush but not bad enough to fail mot but has been an advisory and he showed me and there was loads more play than the o/s.
not too bad a job , bolts are very tight glad I had a long breaker bar and issue with ball joint pinch bolt seized in hub but a bit of tappy tappy bang spin got it out.
new one fitted and side by side the bush at the front no wear or play but the bush at the rear was much weaker than new one and could easily be twisted about with little resistance compared to the new one.
the ball joint appears to also have no or little play.
no id number visable on new arms or bushes just "pro steel" on the ball joint cap, letter R or L cast in arm and a date stamped into arm.
 
sussexa said:
ended up buying 2 cast 14mm bushed arms @£140 off ebay, arrived today so cracked on and fitted the n/s one the mot guy had pointed out last 2 years which had a lot of play of the arm about the bush but not bad enough to fail mot but has been an advisory and he showed me and there was loads more play than the o/s.
not too bad a job , bolts are very tight glad I had a long breaker bar and issue with ball joint pinch bolt seized in hub but a bit of tappy tappy bang spin got it out.
new one fitted and side by side the bush at the front no wear or play but the bush at the rear was much weaker than new one and could easily be twisted about with little resistance compared to the new one.
the ball joint appears to also have no or little play.
no id number visable on new arms or bushes just "pro steel" on the ball joint cap, letter R or L cast in arm and a date stamped into arm.
Click to expand...

Do you know what make they are? I'm looking into buying some myself soon but unlike the OP I actually want quality ones.
 
gadge said:
Do you know what make they are? I'm looking into buying some myself soon but unlike the OP I actually want quality ones.
Click to expand...

TBH mate, buy cheap, buy twice!!
I get the Lemforder ones now from euros, they are more expensive (about £110 if memory serves) but ive had no problems with them.I tried the ebay jobs and they were awful and removed them then put on the ocap (something like that) both caused me problems with the rear bush allowing too much play, infact it was that bad i was getting steering wheel shakes when braking on both of the makes. I initally thought it was my fitting and tried tighting it all up but it made no difference. Luckly euro car parts let me exchange the ocaps for the lemforders.
I think (please correct me if im wrong) the lemforder are the oems?.
roy
 
roy lovelock said:
TBH mate, buy cheap, buy twice!!
I get the Lemforder ones now from euros, they are more expensive (about £110 if memory serves) but ive had no problems with them.I tried the ebay jobs and they were awful and removed them then put on the ocap (something like that) both caused me problems with the rear bush allowing too much play, infact it was that bad i was getting steering wheel shakes when braking on both of the makes. I initally thought it was my fitting and tried tighting it all up but it made no difference. Luckly euro car parts let me exchange the ocaps for the lemforders.
I think (please correct me if im wrong) the lemforder are the oems?.
roy
Click to expand...

Nice one (y)

I've never heard of lemforder but I'll look out for them :) I used to think Delphi were a top make until I bought a pair of drop links that lasted a staggering 8 months :mad: so I've been on the hunt for quality makes for suspension components.
 
as said no markings of make or manufacturer
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-STILO-LOWER-WISHBONE-SUSPENSION-ARM-14-5MM-FRONT-BUSH-/330611420500?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cf9f9ed54#ht_1098wt_1216
the metal casting actually looks slightly thicker than original one, certainly doesnt look cheap but only time will tell on the rubber parts of bush.
if they last another 7 years and 50,000 mile i wont complain.
oh and i think ive found the thinking for the later pressed steel arms , it looks like the ball joints are replacable with bolts holding the joint in, unfortunately looks like the rubber bushes go before the ball joint from reading threads on here.
 
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Hi guys
Is anyone on here able to confirm the front bush size (12mm or 14mm) for my car from the reg. no./chassis no. - SC04YGN and ZFA19200000433079.
Trying to work this out for definite from parts listings is doing my nut in and I'd like to be sure to have the right bits without having to wait til the point of removing the old ones (don't want to be off the road for any longer than needs be).
Cheers.
 
tessiedog said:
Hi guys
Is anyone on here able to confirm the front bush size (12mm or 14mm) for my car from the reg. no./chassis no. - SC04YGN and ZFA19200000433079.
Trying to work this out for definite from parts listings is doing my nut in and I'd like to be sure to have the right bits without having to wait til the point of removing the old ones (don't want to be off the road for any longer than needs be).
Cheers.
Click to expand...

Going on your vin number, ePer lists the following part numbers for your car:

50700797 SWINGING ARM LH
50700779 SWINGING ARM RH
51827738 SWINGING ARM RH E230 (Gas Headlights)
 
Excellent thread, very informative, and I can sympathise with many of the comments made. For my part I am fully expecting to have to change mine at some time in the future, and in the past I have also had good and bad wishbones, but found that 'FEBI' were better than others.

Within these posts some good soul referenced an Italian supplier FRAP who on their site identifies the 'wear out components'. Hence you could keep your original arm and by using/borrowing a 'Press', you could change your own bushes and ball joint. Noting that it would be unlikely that either the cast or fabricated arm would have suffered any wear.

So, has anyone actually tried to do this ?, and if so what success did you have ?

.
 
My old beast has the cast arms. They're TRW if I recall. According to the car's MOT history, they must have been fitted somewhere just before 100,000 miles (certainly before 115k when I bought it).

I'm just starting to see some inner shoulder wear on the front tyres, so they're presumably starting to sag a bit.. but the car is on 202,000 miles now, so those TRW arms have done c. 100,000 miles. Good value, c/o the previous owner I think.


Ralf S.
 
100,000 wow, that's more than enough to endorse a brand.

Which means that 'quality' arms are the best way to go, especially as my access to a bench press and other equipment is now none existent :(, and if I have to go around and pay for places to do work, the overall cost would most likely be more.

It's just that to throw away a cast/forged metal arm because one or two rubber components had failed seems criminal. On that note, I understood that under EU ruling that assemblies were not to been disposed of simply because of a constituent part failing. Prime example being sealed beam headlights which at one time were stopped from being sold because they couldn't have their bulbs changed.

.
 
I collect all my metal parts in an old recycling box..usually it gets filled with old bearings, brake discs, pads and random clips and bolts that didn't survive being removed from the car.

When it's too heavy to lift, I take it to the local recycling centre. You usually see the scrap metal geezers hovering around with a little glint in their eye, especially if there's an old exhaust catalyst or alterntor poking out of the box.. :D

Anyway.. old arms get the recycle from me.. they probably come back as cheap arms.. :D


Ralf S.
 
Maxcaddy said:
100,000 wow, that's more than enough to endorse a brand.

Which means that 'quality' arms are the best way to go, especially as my access to a bench press and other equipment is now none existent :(, and if I have to go around and pay for places to do work, the overall cost would most likely be more.

It's just that to throw away a cast/forged metal arm because one or two rubber components had failed seems criminal. On that note, I understood that under EU ruling that assemblies were not to been disposed of simply because of a constituent part failing. Prime example being sealed beam headlights which at one time were stopped from being sold because they couldn't have their bulbs changed.

.
Click to expand...

On the other hand... I do drive like a grandad and mostly on the motorways.. they probably don't get a too-hard life.


Ralf S.
 
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