Just spent a big chunk of my weekend fitting the Super Pro rear trailing arm and spring plate bushes I bought from Nick recently and thought I'd share my experiences with you.
My car previously had a terrible ride, really harsh, noisy and every imperfection in the road was transmitted into the car. As I live in probably the worst place for poor road surfaces in the UK (I kid you not), this didn't make for a particularly enjoyable driving experience; sometimes the 'crash' over really bad surfaces sounded like someone was hitting the car with a large lump hammer.
When I pulled the old bushes out, it was hardly surprising that my car was so bad - they'd obviously been in situ since the car was new and were clearly in need of urgent replacement.
Here's a picture of the old alongside the new rear trailing arm bushes:
I was really dreading fitting them as I've read so many stories of ill-fitting bushings that can be real bastards to install. Nick's not paid me to say this, but Super Pro bushes are honestly an absolute doddle - they fitted with minimal effort (I pushed them home by hand) and the metal flange that you insert down the middle afterwards (shown at the top of the picture above) was equally simple to push home.
Removing the old bushes from the trailing arm was also straightforward. Forget peeling back the old units with a knife and vice grips - just give the torsion bar cover a generous application of heat first (when removed from the car obviously) and they come off quite painlessly.
The final fears I had was that the ride would be too hard and the new bushes would squeak - something I believe many have experienced with a poly setup; nothing could be further from the truth and I have found myself actually going out of my way to drive over imperfections to marvel at how good the ride is. And no squeaks either - I liberally applied the lubricant supplied in accordance with the instructions and everything seems quiet. Let's hope it continues.
FWIW I would advise anyone with even the remotest suspicion that their suspension bushes have seen better days to invest in these with confidence that they will improve the ride quality and if Sunday's run is anything to go by, handling.
Even if you don't fit them yourself, they shouldn't cost a fortune and you'll be glad you did.
Here's a few more pictures of work in progress (apologies for not taking more, but once up to my eyes in muck I didn't really want to touch my camera again).
Saturday morning, engine out from Friday evening activities - very much the calm before the storm. Not my garage (sadly), nor my toys - very original 914/6, second owner 3.2 cab, my 2.4T and an externally very nice 2.0E. The 356 is having a new hood fitted (so is away at the moment) and a knackered 2.2T (well, perfect material for Barry perhaps) resides in a lockup elsewhere:
This ramp is a bit of a pain to setup under a low slung car, but is worth its weight in gold once in action. Here's the near side:
and here's the offside:
Yes I've got an oil leak or two to sort, but that's my winter project when the engine comes out for major surgery... and besides, it keeps everything rust free and easy to remove
.What else?
Well here is a freshly installed replacement bearing just pressed home having been in a freezer at minus 27c for the past two days (more oil on the trailing arm from the same oil leak):
And here's the proof from the Sunday run to Chatsworth with PCGB that it was back on the road:
All in all, not a bad weekend's work.
Just one point, don't forget to disconnect the speedo cable before dropping the engine or you'll be needing a new one like I now do
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