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Thread: Are these bushings bad?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Antwerp
    Posts
    11
    My Cars
    E36 328i track car

    Are these bushings bad?

    Hey,

    I have a question, my car was acting weird on the last trackday, I think its either the diff or suspension.
    Could worn bushings cause bad heavy shocklike vibration?
    And are these bushings toast:
    bush3.jpg
    upper controll arm inner bushings
    bush1.jpg
    bush2.jpg

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,433
    My Cars
    1999 BMW M3 Coupe
    Can't really see the bushing very well, but given the condition of the subframe I'd probably say yes you should replace every bushing under the car if you haven't.

    What exactly was your car doing and under what conditions (on throttle, lifting, coasting, braking, etc...)?
    1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    43
    My Cars
    e90 with Cobb, H&R, more
    what he said ^^^^ +100

    I'd highly recommend not only inspecting but most likely replacing your bushings. I'm betting most if not all of them could use it, but to limit expense, you could just do it as you work on each part of the car for whatever reason, such as when replacing shocks. However, it scares/worries me that you're tracking a car with suspension/running gear in that condition. I'd definitely start wire brushing, then sanding, grinding, or by another other process getting off the rust until you get to metal that only has a very thin level of rust that isn't flaking off, then use rust converter, primer, and then paint to limit and hopefully stop the rusting process as much as possible. You could go down to bare metal, but that might not be the best idea since you could end up having to remove so much metal that it compromises the strength of the metal too much. Replacing each part would be best if you can afford it!
    Scott
    fast = good
    slow = bad
    See my old Porsche here...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    FL
    Posts
    4,754
    My Cars
    are slow.
    Those look like they are going to be fun removing... lol.

    Bushings are a replaceable item on any track car. If they haven't been replaced in the past few years, it's pretty much a given that they are cracked, or should be replaced.
    Last edited by Hova; 12-08-2018 at 10:30 PM.
    "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    1996 M3 Cosmos Coupe
    You are going to want to consider pulling the entire rear end right out and doing an overhaul. It makes a world of difference, ask me how I know.
    The hardest thing to check that is one of the worst, is the floor of the car where the subframe mounts up. You can't really check that with everything secured in there. (or you can jack the rear of the car up, have a friend turn the car on while you look underneath, and have him engage/ disengage the clutch 1st to see if the carrier moves under load. it worked for me- but mine was really bad)
    But before you do that, here are a few things you can check that you can do in an hour with a jack and stands, based on your vague explanation of symptoms:

    Pull away the insulation and carpet in the trunk and thoroughly inspect the rear shock mount, and the shock tower itself. Its a hassle to repair.
    Rear wheel bearings, and the ball joints in the trailing arm aren't usually the culprit, but worth checking.
    Axle/CV Joints! Check the boots first.
    Trailing arm bushings, stick a bar up in there and use leverage to check for deflection. Or, you can unbolt the bracket and visually inspect the bushing core.
    Subframe bushings (pretty hard to check on the ground, but you can remove 1 of the 4 bolts/nuts that secured the subframe carrier and take a look for visible cracks on the rubber core of the bushing behind the big washer on the bottom)
    Front differential mount bushing and bolt (if the bolt was broken, you would already know)
    Differential cover mount bushings, again use leverage and check for cracks if you can't see.
    Sway bar end links and sway bar mount bushings can also cause a clunk.

    Also, don't overlook the driveshaft. Check the guibo and the center support bearing for damage/ tearing on the rubber.

    There can be a million things to cause little vibrations and clunks, but hopefully this helps, let me know if you need any help!

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