[whincup]

How tight should spring bushes be? Ive just fitted new front springs and it seems a little loose on the shackle end. Bushes went in really easy and I can pull them out easy too. I took it for a drive and it seems a lot softer in the front end, and seems like theres more body roll but one of the old spring was bent so it could just be that this ones actually working...

I did try searching but nothing came up, could have just been because im on my phone...

[Scrawny]

Did you use rubber or urethane bushes?

[JrZook]

Scrawn wrote:

Did you use rubber or urethane bushes?

X2 and pics! What do you mean their loose? Loose to slide into the spring, loose on teh shackle pin or loose as in there is space between the shackle plates and the bushes when you tighten them up?

[whincup]

i used urethane bushes, and they're loose where they fit into the spring on the shackle end. fully tightened up (or, as tight as my service manual says) with the axle not attached to the spring, the bottom of the shackle can move left and right about 5mm, possibly more... seems alright once the axles attached, but i've only done one side so far...

[Fatzook]

Bushes are undersized.

[whincup]

yeah they're so loose that if you put them in place in the spring then turn it upside down it falls straight back out...

[zooky08]

The bushes should slide nicely into the shackle eye end on the spring
I say they are the wrong bushes or either your shackle pins are warn

[Fatzook]

zooky08 wrote:

The bushes should slide nicely into the shackle eye end on the spring
I say they are the wrong bushes or either your shackle pins are warn

I say they are the right bushes, just poorly made.

When moulds are made for that material, the manufacturer should allow for shrinkage. My guess is that they used another manufacturers poly bush ( perhaps already undersized) to make the mould for their bush, and did not allow for or consider the shrinkage factor.

[whincup]

zooky08 wrote:

The bushes should slide nicely into the shackle eye end on the spring
I say they are the wrong bushes or either your shackle pins are warn

Nope. new shackles. and they slide on there firm enough to not wiggle but loose enough to swivel when greased, its the outside diameter thats slightly too small...

also, both new sets of springs fitted (old bushes used for now, dodgy i know but they're only 18 months and >10,000km old) the passenger side still sits about 50mm higher than the left... so measured bottom of rear spring hangers to ground and passenger side is 20mm higher. think i have a bent chassis

[alien]

that just sounds like the suzuki lean... (if oyu measured it with wheels on and on the ground).

[whincup]

alien wrote:

that just sounds like the suzuki lean... (if oyu measured it with wheels on and on the ground).

i thought brand new springs were meant to fix that... by brand new i mean as in they've done about 5k driving. i measured (with tyres on the ground) bottom of rim to bottom of the flare. double checked then after fixing the odd tyre pressures and its only an inch...

[alien]

1" is about right for suzuki lean, and 5000km is about how long is takes to set in.

measure the difference between the bumpstops and the diff each side front and back...

[whincup]

yeah, 15mm difference in front, 10mm in the back...

[steak_knife]

Fatzook wrote:

zooky08 wrote:

The bushes should slide nicely into the shackle eye end on the spring
I say they are the wrong bushes or either your shackle pins are warn

I say they are the right bushes, just poorly made.

When moulds are made for that material, the manufacturer should allow for shrinkage. My guess is that they used another manufacturers poly bush ( perhaps already undersized) to make the mould for their bush, and did not allow for or consider the shrinkage factor.

"should!!"