ongteckweng said:
Chris (defcon) and I have decided to change all the bushes for the rear torsion bar in US9. Since it needs a lorry to transport the whole assembly to an engineering shop from the workshop in US9, we r trying to get more ppl who is interested to lower down the cost.
According to defcon, TC doesnt change the bushes but the whole assembly. in other words, they r trying to have easy job while making the most money. so if ur car has travelled around 200,000km++ or its 7 to 10 yrs old, its time to change! u will feel the different.
today i had change all the bushes for the front lower arm bars n it felt like new car...
...everything cost me RM500..
if possible, we will be gettin it done by this Saturday, 8th of July 2006. at the same time, we can have TT a well...
Unacceptable Solution
TC does not sell individual bushing parts for the rear carriage and multi-link torsion bar. What they prescribe is the replacement of the ENTIRE carriage...a really stupid solution and expensive as well. I have no idea what the price would be, but I think TC's solution would probably set us back about 2k+ a piece.
When the bushings in the rear bar go...and this happens usually about 6 years into the lifespan of the car, the rear carriage acquires some sideways movement making control of the rear a little "squishy". Most people do not notice this as the wear and tear happens gradually over time. This actually accounts for about half of the body roll we encounter in cornering. You can actually test this.
On Gentings last weekend, I had the opportunity to test 0123's ride...a 1 year old A33. The A33 sports the exact same rear carriage design as our A32's, but his bushings are new. The body roll was there, yet, in a turn, all I could feel was the softness of the absorbers and the lack of tyre spacing. None of the "squishiness" that I could feel in my car, and NO thumping whenever the rear wheel went over a bump or into a hole.
Bushing wear is related to both distance travelled and time. If your ride has travelled the distance, you get wear and tear. If the car is more than about 6 years old, even if it hasn't travelled the distance, the bushing material would have hardened and a good bump will crack them.
Now, the solution :
According to Ah Lee (and this is why I go to this workshop, the guy seems to know a few things more than I do...
), bushing sets for our rear carriage do exist and whilst TC does not stock them, spare parts shops do.
So, the work consists of dismantling the rear carriages off the chasis, transporting them by truck to a machine shop, and having the machine shop press out all the bushings and replacing them with new ones. I'll be able to find out how much this costs on Monday, and I reckon that the work will take most of a day. The actual work is only a couple of hours, but it's waiting for the carriages to come back from the machine shop that takes time.
Possibly, an early morning start is prescribed as then, Lee can arrange the feilos neatly by the side of the shop so that they don't block the shop entrances and his business can proceed smoothly. Also, he and his team can then quickly dismantle the rear carriages and arrange transport to the machine shop early so as to "beat the jam" so to say as I would imagine that even machine shops would be hard pressed on Saturdays.
There are 2 mamak shops, a chinese coffee shop, and Taipan commercial district within walking distance. My house is also within walking distance, and you are all welcome.
One small problem is that I will be in Jakarta on Saturday morning, so I will need someone, either Lee or Ong to help drive my car to Lee's place. I could get Lee to do it but I don't want it to slow down the work on the other feilos. Not a biggie...I'll work it out.
