[sedgewood]

The ride in my T/S Spider is a bit harsh, I have been in a couple of others and mine jolts much more over the lovely pot holed and bumpy roads we have. So I though I would do a bit of preventative maintenance clean up the pans as they are in reasonable condition and replace with some softer bushes. They already have purple poly bushes, I contacted strong flex and they only do a 'sport' version as

'the OE bushes are very hard so making them softer would be a downgrade'. Any views/ideas?

 

[Rich_wookey]

Hi Sedgwood, could it be your shocks are shot?

Just a suggestion!

Rich

 

[sedgewood]

Both front and rear springs and shocks were replaced by Meridien Milano 5 years and 15K miles ago - I have the bill for over £1000! I would have expected them to last a bit longer. Front shocks were £117.74 + VAT EACH!

 

[CGTVs]

These are 'sports' cars & have relatively hard suspension from the factory. Maybe the others that you have ridden in have older, & therefore softer, springs? I don't always renew the suspension on V6 Spiders, as often as GTVs, due to the older suspension giving a softer ride. I know yours is a TS but the rears are the same, also 16" wheels help a lot.

Clive

 

[spankdanny]

Higher aspect ratio tyres can help alot. I have 215/50/17 and with original springs but new shocks its not too bad at all. They just rub the slightest bit on full lock sometimes.

 

[Flanners1]

I say leave well alone, the GTV as Clive has said has a firm ride, given the state of British roads through lack of maintenance and investment this means a crashy ride, 17" wheels don't help this.....however I would leave well alone, my rear is polybushed and it is staying that way so that the rear suspension does not try and eat itself and the GTV continues to handle in the way she should.

 

[spankdanny]

The original and lemforder type lower rear bushes are like a ball joint to allow some rear wheel steer effect. Obviously no one has done any meaningful testing of poly bushes but I doubt they do the same.However, I replaced my originals with powerflex and can't feel any difference what so ever.

 

[CGTVs]

The original and lemforder type lower rear bushes are like a ball joint to allow some rear wheel steer effect. Obviously no one has done any meaningful testing of poly bushes but I doubt they do the same.However, I replaced my originals with powerflex and can't feel any difference what so ever.

It's the different length suspension arms that create rear wheel steering not which type of bushes are fitted.

Clive

 

[spankdanny]

That's correct but the original bushes allow the arms to do it more easily. Without the ball joint in the bush it would put a lot of strain on it. Poly bushes I doubt allow the same movement. The manufacturers make so many that there is no way they could test them on every vehicle.

 

[xrayman]

Which shocks and springs did you have fitted? The Koni/Eibach seems popular on this forum, but on my opinion they made the ride so hard as to make the car unusable on public roads. I never found polybushing to harden the ride appreciably.

 

[CGTVs]

That's correct but the original bushes allow the arms to do it more easily. Without the ball joint in the bush it would put a lot of strain on it. Poly bushes I doubt allow the same movement. The manufacturers make so many that there is no way they could test them on every vehicle.

The weight of the car is more than enough to move the arms through the arcs that create the rear wheel steering. It's not a huge amount anyway.

Clive

 

[sedgewood]

I try to keep the car as original as possible and the shocks/springs are OE from a main stealer. I changed the tyres to 205-55/16 to help the ride which made a small improvement, it is only used as a summer car going to shows & meets. I will leave things as they are, de-rust & POR15 the pan, re-fit with new nuts & bolts. Save my money ready for a new hood as the old one is looking a bit tired.

 

[alfapash]

Have you ever had a 4 wheel alignment done. My spider is lowered on 18's with poly bushes, eibachs and KYB rear shocks, the ride was really bad on rough roads, then I found a broken spring, so I re-furbished the whole of the rear, this did improve the ride to a degree. I then had a 4 wheel alignment carried out, this really made a difference, the ride is now much improved even on our rubbish roads, although several roads near to me have got lovely new tarmac. On those my spider is in heaven. I need a new hood as well.

 

[sraouf]

Even Purple Poly bushes will be firmer than OE rubber ones, with black even more so. However the fact they will last the life of the car makes up for it. Sounds like you have sports shocks as well. Nothing beats the OEM setup in my books- Much cheaper too.
Sam

 

[CGTVs]

I fit & recommend KYB rear shocks.

Clive

 

[MASB]

Even Purple Poly bushes will be firmer than OE rubber ones, with black even more so. However the fact they will last the life of the car makes up for it. Sounds like you have sports shocks as well. Nothing beats the OEM setup in my books- Much cheaper too.
Sam

I hear this a lot (plastic bushes being immortal) and yet I have had 2 split.

 

[CGTVs]

I hear this a lot (plastic bushes being immortal) and yet I have had 2 split.

As they're so cheap to replace it's hardly worth worrying about.

Clive

 

[sraouf]

I hear this a lot (plastic bushes being immortal) and yet I have had 2 split.

Even so as they are constructed in two halves which can be pushed in by hand they very easy to replace as opposed to OEM bushes which require a 10m ton press (or a minigrinder and swear box) to fit or remove.

 

[MASB]

Even so as they are constructed in two halves which can be pushed in by hand they very easy to replace as opposed to OEM bushes which require a 10m ton press (or a minigrinder and swear box) to fit or remove.

If you can do the disassembly and reassembly of the suspension yourself (respect), this is true, but for those that can't (like me) the labour for a mechanic to do this is the biggest expense, so powerflexes being cheap to replace and easy to push in the hole is not much help! I think if powerflex bushes split (and they do) owners on here should know so they can work out what best to do for their car. Hunting out cheap(er) replacement OE arms is where I've ended up - then when I pay Jamie and co at Alfa workshop to fit them I know what their likely life will be.

 

[spankdanny]

They probably split from being distorted by the rear wheel steering effect. The original bushes allow some movement, poly bushes don't.