Technical Rear shock absorber bushes and spring rubbers

[Myusername]

So, my little car bounces merrily along. Well sort of - clutch judder from cold is still an issue, but I'll have to live with it just now. And the abs has favoured me by not showing me it's light for the last 3 days!

So to the rear - loud knocking which has got worse in the time I've had it. Since there is nothing loose in the cars trim it must be the issue I've read about where the bushes fail in the rear shock absorbers. But I have questions:

On my last car you could buy new replacement bushes, and fit them instead of replacing the whole damper. Aren't there any bushes available for the Pandas dampers?

Also, I've read that 500 spring rubbers improve the (appalling) ride - will those same rubbers fit the Panda springs?

Grateful to the collective as ever.

 

[koalar]

if they have gone, just replace them @ £15 each, the difference between worn and new is vast

reach round the tyre and push and pull on the shock top mount. Its always the top one that goes first, I can just reach.

if it wobbles its both lost some of its damping and has a worn out bush

if it doesn't wobble take a photo of the top Bush, should be fairly obvious if its gone

there are other sources of rear noise, exhaust, loose bolts and so on

 

[koalar]

500 springs are softer, they are designed to work with a car with a lower centre of gravity, lighter, different width, special bump stops and so on.

put two large people in the back, or load the boot and you will end up with a dangerous car in my opinion. not to mention increased body roll

Messing with settings, should be left on the race track, anyhow you should inform you insurance company if you alter the suspension, they will more than likely charge extra

The Panda, when new handled fine, New Post around 2009 have stiffer not softer suspension, I haven't tested but it certainly feels much stiffer having driven both

 

[DaveMcT]

If you try to get all specific about springs and insurance there would be (almost) no legal car on the road. Fiat rear road springs Retail Price = £143.19 plus VAT. Shop 4 Parts sell direct replacement Suplex (made in Germany) for £21.32 plus VAT. They are visibly identical to Fiat but there is no way they are the same.

Shock absorbers bushes will be wrecked when the fitter tightens the bolts with the arms on full droop. They should be jacked to normal standing position before tightening. You can probably get new bushes, but replacement shocks are cheap. They have a hard job so well worth changing.

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Rear hatch struts can cause another annoying rattle that takes a while to find. When they loose pressure the ball-jointed ends will rattle.

There is one more bush to consider swing arm rubbers. I have never changed these but S4P stock them so they must be used fairly often.

 

[mjc506]

The swing arm bushes do make a horrible noise when worn Mine had no obvious movement with a pry bar, but 'thwacking' (technical term ) each rear wheel (rubber mallet) resulted in a dull thud one side, and a loud clang on other - the inner bush on the right hand side had worn just enough to allow metal-metal contact between the arm and subframe. A set of poly bushes fixed it, I'm sure standard rubber would do the same. But shock absorber bushes or drop links probably more likely.

 

[Myusername]

Hmm, shock absorber bushes. But as has been said, by the time the damper is removed you may as well just replace it, they are likely to be worn since the ride is appalling. Mind you my last car was a Jaguar, so ...

Rear hatch struts? Interesting, I shall examine them. However if they loose pressure, wouldn't that mean that the hatch wouldn't stay up? Mine is fine.

Ah the joys of an old car...

 

[koalar]

Hmm, shock absorber bushes. But as has been said, by the time the damper is removed you may as well just replace it, they are likely to be worn since the ride is appalling. Mind you my last car was a Jaguar, so ...

Rear hatch struts? Interesting, I shall examine them. However if they loose pressure, wouldn't that mean that the hatch wouldn't stay up? Mine is fine.

Ah the joys of an old car...

makes a difference which car you are working on

I sometimes replace bushes instead of a whole part. I do own a press. Mainly suspension arms.

bushes normally run between £3-£5 each so worse case its going to be £20 for all 4x bushes, For £30 for a pair of rear shocks I felt it not worth the effort.

But you do need to diagnose the problems First. Just changing parts because they are likely approach can get expensive if you guess wrong a couple of times.

 

[DaveMcT]

Hmm, shock absorber bushes. But as has been said, by the time the damper is removed you may as well just replace it, they are likely to be worn since the ride is appalling. Mind you my last car was a Jaguar, so ...

Rear hatch struts? Interesting, I shall examine them. However if they loose pressure, wouldn't that mean that the hatch wouldn't stay up? Mine is fine.

Ah the joys of an old car...

The rear struts on my wife's car rattle and leak but still hold the door open.

 

[Myusername]

Hmmm, interesting, I will check them...

 

[DaveMcT]

The right front bottom arm bush on my 100HP was tram-lining. It made no nasty noises in use but when removed was clearly trashed. New arms fixed the handling issue but road noises remained the same.

 

[PandaP]

Hi All,

Convenient post. Just looking up some parts for my 1.1 Active Eco 2010. Same issue, top bushes on the rear shocks are cactus.

Could someone please help me with the description of rear shocks. All are stated to fit my car and images look the same, but descriptions vary.

Some are: "Absorber does not carry a spring"
Others: "Telescopic Shock Absorber" and "Suspension strut"

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/shock-absorber-10221/fiat/panda/panda-169/17627-1-1

Thanks

 

[koalar]

Hi All,

Convenient post. Just looking up some parts for my 1.1 Active Eco 2010. Same issue, top bushes on the rear shocks are cactus.

Could someone please help me with the description of rear shocks. All are stated to fit my car and images look the same, but descriptions vary.

Some are: "Absorber does not carry a spring"
Others: "Telescopic Shock Absorber" and "Suspension strut"

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/shock-absorber-10221/fiat/panda/panda-169/17627-1-1

Thanks

any with reference to 50703895 and include you make, model, year are fine

if you email some suppliers with your reg number some will confirm if it will fit. But I have never try with autodoc

 

[rmjbn1]

Could someone please help me with the description of rear shocks. All are stated to fit my car and images look the same, but descriptions vary.

Some are: "Absorber does not carry a spring"
Others: "Telescopic Shock Absorber" and "Suspension strut"

Hi, and welcome
I would be very surprised if they weren't all the same part.
I suspect they just add different descriptions to get as many matches on search engine results as possible.
If I'm in any doubt I'd ring them to check.
Shop4Parts offer a discount to donated Fiat Forum members and stock good quality parts: https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Product&ProdID=26916

 

[PandaP]

Thanks Koalar and RM for that. Cleared it up for me.

 

[DaveMcT]

I avoid buying from adverts which confuse front struts and rear shocks. If they cant write the advert how can they be trusted to supply the right parts.

 

[Myusername]

Well, removing the rear hatch driver's side tailgate strut has done nothing to improve the knocking sound, so I'm going to go with the rear dampers.

Looking under the rear shows that the rear springs have recently been replaced, but the rust riddled dampers might well be original!

The wallet takes a beating once more.

 

[DaveMcT]

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Same kit from S4P but you know it's the real deal.

Rear Shock Absorber - Panda (not 4x4) 51870990

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