156 rear suspension bushes. Powerflex vs the rest

SeleMatt · August 19, 2019, 07:37:58 PM

I have a knock in the offside rear. Obviously by this thread title, I'm interested in opinions/experience.

Given the bushes are now 15 years old and at least one is cactus, I reckon I'll do them all.

bazzbazz · August 19, 2019, 08:44:09 PM

WHAT have you been doing to that poor car

SeleMatt · August 20, 2019, 11:19:00 AM

The NSW Northern Rivers. Inarguably, the worst roads in Australia.

Very happy with the rebuilt front-end plus 2 new Pirelli P7's and a wheel alignment. Perfect.

bazzbazz · August 20, 2019, 12:20:19 PM

The knock sound, does it sound like a pop pop as you go across uneven/rough sections of road?

johnl · August 20, 2019, 03:25:12 PM

The rear lateral control arm bushes on my 147 are adapted / modified hybrid arms originally from a Corolla and a Camry (half of each arm is Corolla and the other half Camry). Short story is that this has given me tubular and length adjustable (so camber adjustment) control arms with weather sealed spherical joints (Camry) at the outer ends (so zero compliance there), and, substantially stiffer inner bushes (Corolla, a lot stiffer than the Alfa bushes because there is a lot less 'depth' to the bush rubber, so much less of a 'cushion' effect).

The ride quality didn't become objectionable, and the handling improved quite a lot. So, if I were looking to upgrade the stock bushes to stiffer bushes (without going to the trouble that I did to adapt the Toyota arms), then I'd be looking at the stiffest polyurethane bushes I could find, such as the Powerflex 'Black' series bushes (though the Strongflex alternative may be just as good, and quite possibly cheaper).

Regards,
John.

johnl · August 20, 2019, 03:29:12 PM

Quote from: SeleMatt on August 20, 2019, 11:19:00 AM
The NSW Northern Rivers. Inarguably, the worst roads in Australia.

I'll argue that they can't possibly be worse than the roads around Taree...

Regards,
John.

SeleMatt · August 20, 2019, 10:26:11 PM

Taree Johnl? Well yes, there are certainly some pretty average bits of tar around those parts. I'll call a dead heat for last. And thanks for the rear suspension analysis. I'm certainly thinking of poly seriously.

Yes Bazz, that would be a fairly accurate description of the knock...a pop sound. It requires uneven surfaces to get it happening.

bazzbazz · August 20, 2019, 11:52:46 PM

Worn rear upper shock mounts, or drop links.

Jack rear of car up (Both sides) and use length of wood as lever and move suspension up & down and it will make which one obvious.

SeleMatt · August 21, 2019, 09:00:29 PM

Thanks Bazz. All will be revealed over the weekend.

SeleMatt · August 26, 2019, 08:54:10 PM

Is it an acceptable method to utilize a wood block on a trolley jack to jack up the rear of the car to get both wheels off the ground simultaneously? The wood block covers the width of the sub-frame and the length extends past the inner pivot points to spread the load.

Yay or nay?

SeleMatt · September 05, 2019, 09:39:15 PM

So the culprits were the drop links. They were rooted. The car has 90,000 on it so I'd recommend anyone with similar K's suffering from rear end knocks to start with them. All the other bushes were fine.

warsch · September 11, 2019, 10:53:17 AM

Apart from the obvious Powerflex option, there are other options too.

One is Strongflex - polyurethane bushes from Poland. I just got a full set from them, $602 delivered (in a week) which is twice cheaper than Powerflex.

I just got them so haven't installed yet, but quality wise they look fine. I got a set of "sport", the more rigid ones. They feel a bit softer than black Powerflex (I have that in my top engine mount) by hand.

Another option is a set of hard race arms. They are similar to what johnl have fabricated himself. Thick steel rod with either rubber bushes or rose joints at the ends. It's costly, about $800 for 4 arms, but helpfull to people like me who can't fabricate to save their lives.