Thinking about bushings..

[Him]

Well, discovered that more or less all the bushings was worned out in the rear suspension and I was thinking on replacing those plastic things with sintered bronze flanged bushings from SKF, especially those in the shocks and the W-arm.

Is that a bad thing to do?

 

[RX1-er-2005]

I.M.O. I think that if you zerted the the main suspension bushings,7 locations in all you would see a big improvement in durability of the original plastic/nylon bushings...

You should also check your front "A" arm bushings.they seem to wear out pretty quick,just jack the front end off the ground and grab the spindles and move it back & forth,I have 5000kms on mine and they move about 3/4" +/-...there is no grease to be found in those bushings.

I'm also going to zert them as I did with the rear suspension,it only takes a few minutes and you'll get much more life out of them,grease is cheap.

 

[LazyBastard]

There is one thing about putting in bronze bushings... remember that the shafts are made of ALUMINUM. Plastic is definitely softer than aluminum, but might the bronze chew up the shafts? An alternative is that you can get nylotron bushings from www.maxxperf.com

 

[redliner]

I made all new bushings out of oilite bearing bronze, and the shafts out of ground and polished stainless. Should never have to be lubed again.

 

[STORM-CHASER]

nylotron bushings from www.maxxperf.com

I also have heard great things about these bushings compared to the stock ones

 

[Convert]

Had my bushings replaced last Feb looked like the shaft had more wear than the bushings. Could putting in a metal bushing make that worse? Might be why they went with plastic in the first place! Just something to think about I know nothing so don't go by what i say

 

[LazyBastard]

Gramps; in my experience, the shaft wear is minimal until the plastic bushing is completely shot, then the shaft will wear VERY fast since it will be rubbing against the steel tube.

 

[Convert]

LB I'm talking about my 05 not the 03 (that one is just fine) the 05 (because of what i read here) i decided to have them checked at 2000 miles tore the skid out and took it all apart the plastic bushings were just fine very little wear however the shaft showed a lot more wear than one would expect! Nothing extreme but definitely showed wear it was rough and lightly pitted almost like there was grit between the shaft and the bushing. All my idler wheels are pretty much frozen and will be replaced before next season. Wish i could explain it but i leave that type of stuff up to guys like you

 

[Him]

The bushings that where greaseable looks like they are new.
I have put zerts in the 'skid-part' of the W-arm and in those relay-rods that is side-by-side on the mainshock. Those bushings was completly shot.

I'm not sure I want to drill holes in the end of the shocks to place some
zerts there.

I have checked the A-arm and it's a mighty slack-a-tronic there so I guess they are shot aswell. I might put some zerts there if it's possible.

Didn't think of the ALU-shafts, thanks for the reminder.

 

[RX-Dave]

Amco bronze that is lubricated should provide no wear on anything given maintenance.

If not, changing the shafts to stainless or even chromoly would make it bulletproof

 

[MrSled]

The 06 suspensions will have updated parts for those pivots points with better bushings...

 

[Tork]

Had my bushings replaced last Feb looked like the shaft had more wear than the bushings. Could putting in a metal bushing make that worse? Might be why they went with plastic in the first place! Just something to think about I know nothing so don't go by what i say

Hmmm, the plastic should wear and not the aluminum or steel.

Like LB says the bronze will cause the aluminum shafts to wear.

If I were to do it, I'd go Nylotron and longer where I could plus add zerks.
You can go to a bearing house, sizes I dont know, but odds are they have something close that you could spend time fitting (reaming etc)

Steve wait until they are worn again, then go in for the rumored cable and boot recall. That way you are more likely to get the (and more) 'updated' parts.

 

[alterhi]

OK, I'm an idiot. I went to maxxperf.com and all I found was OEM bushings.
Little help?

 

[STORM-CHASER]

They might not be on the web site , but they do have them. Give them a call 1-877-629-7373 Ask for greg he will be there monday. if you call any other day you will get the machine.

 

[LazyBastard]

You have to download the CATALOG from their website.