New Urethane Bushings Loose Over New Spindle Pins

[Miles]

Urethane bushing fit over spindle pin for a 1972 240Z:

I just picked up new spindle pins and checked out how the new urethane bushings that I bought from VB would slide on. They slide on very losely, There is some lateral play when holding the bushing and moving the pin from side to side. One bushing set out of the the four sets that go on the spindle is snug. Is this normal or should I return the bushings VB? I have read that some brands of bushings are too tight and require sanding/polishing the spindle pin until they slide on.

My concern is that the lose bushings will cause the spindle pins to rattle going over bumps.

Thanks

Miles

[Zs-ondabrain]

did all of the 4 sets (L+R) 2 per side) come with the metal sleeve? I have the Energy Suspension kit and you'll probably find that alot of us here have the same kit.

This may sound dumb but there are two halves and a metal sleeve for each of the holes on the outer control arm. If you have all 8 bushing halves and all four sleeves, and they allow the spindle pin to move around in any direction other than in and out or twisting, SEND THEM BACK!!!!

Don't even attempt to put them in if they are even a little loose. Just remember that the outer part of the control arm takes the fullgrunt of torque from the wheels. And if it's even a little loose, Your asking for trouble.

JMO

Dave.

P.S. put a nice light coating of anti-sieze on the spindle pin, if you ever decide to remove it yourself in the future with minimal force (to your wallet)

[kenz240z]

I have the Energy Suspension urethane bushings on my Z. The spindle pin bushings that mount in the transverse link have a metal sleeve that is inserted into the urethane bushing halves. The spindle pin then slides into the metal sleeve. Not sure what VB sells or how it compares to the ES bushings. You can see the sleeves I'm referring to in these photos.

[xray]

Ken and ZOnDaB have it right.

2 questions....

1) did you find it difficult to reposition the strut assembly into the rear control arm after installing the bushings? I had to trim the inner portion of the bushings to get it to fit, since the way it fit originally had no intervening bushing between the arm and the strut...

2) Ken: Those look like new fuel/brake lines in pic #2....If they are, where'd you get 'em?

Thanks, Steve

[kenz240z]

Hi Steve,

I had a devil of a time getting the strut assembly to fit between the new bushings in the control arm :mad: . But, with a bit of persuasion, I was able to finally wedge them in without having to trim anything off the inner portion of the bushings :rambo: . Once I got the strut assembly wedged between the bushings I sat on the garage floor and used a foot to push the strut assembly into place. Took several tries!

The fuel/brake lines are the original ones. I cleaned them up throroughly and painted them with Eastwood's Cadmium paint. Here's a link to a thread on the subject: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19775&highlight=eastwood+cadmium+paint

[kinfish]

Tight fit on assembly of strut to control arm is common. Not sure if stack-up tolerances are that bad or whether Energy suspension has design hack. My set was way too tight to attempt assembly. The Tech at Energy suspension told me to simply sand the face of the bushing to reduce the thickness of the bushing flange area. I did so to achieve line-on-line fit which made assembly much easier.