Tie rods very tight with new bushings

[gatsby989]

Hi all,
I've recently put new poly bushes in the front of my moggy. I had a very difficult time getting the tie rods back into place. The new rear bushing making it very hard to get the hole to line up where it attaches to the front wishbone arm. Is this normal? Or is there a technique to doing this that I'm missing?
Thanks.

[bmcecosse]

I advise to only use ONE poly bush, on the outside of the tierod front mount and a new rubber bush on the inside. This allows some flexibilty and still gives good firmness/control under braking when the poly bush takes the load. And, fit the rod to the lower arm before putting it through the front mount - but if necessary leave the securing nut on the back of the suspension arm loose until it's all assembled, and then tighten up ! make sure the little rectangular spacer is in place on the front face of the suspension arm - unless you are going for a negative camber and high castor angle set-up?

[mike.perry]

Apparently it is easier to fit one poly and one rubber bush to the front of the tie rod
Fit the tie bar brackets loosely and adjust the end of the lower suspension arm by jacking it up until you can slide the tie bar into the bracket maybe with the assistance of a hammer. Line the holes up with a tapered punch until you can drop the bolt through the holes

[MarkyB]

fit the rod to the lower arm before putting it through the front mount

I can't see how this can work, I use the same method as Mike.

[Declan_Burns]

See here-it's a known problem.
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... sh#p363295

Here's a photo of my DIY bushes.They are fine.
Regards
Declan[frame][/frame]

[aupickup]

i fitted superflex polys and no problems

[gatsby989]

Thanks all for the info. Great thread, Declan! Unfortunately I haven't the knowledge or equipment to make my own.

So are the rubber bushes being sold by ESM, etc., also too stiff? I was thinking of giving those a try. Or cutting down the poly bushes a little.

How about the rear bushes? Should I use poly for those?

[Alex'n'Ane]

I fitted them as per mike described. I fitted the esm ones a couple of months ago, I had to file/cut down the inner tie bar bush to fit, then tighten them up with the nut to squash them.

[bmcecosse]

Poly on the outside and rubber on the inside - it works... No 'cutting down' required.