Drag strut bushes

[gbb483]

There are two cone shaped bushes that go between the drag strut and the chassis leg. Rimmer's schematic show the bushes being base-to-base (presumably with a cup either side and the chassis in between). The existing bushes on my car (about to be replaced) are mounted peak-to-peak. Does anyone have a reference for which is correct?

Ok 60 10 16 in the ROM

[mole42]

Flat sides go together (with the chassis rail in between). Many are fitted incorrectly.

[trunt]

https://socforum.com/forum/forum/stag-owners-club/technical-section/running-gear/832135-front-compression-strut-bushes

[gbb483]

Thanks

[richardthestag]

back in the day I recall some failures of the metal diaphragm inside the chassis that was possibly / likely caused by use of polybush that was too hard a compound. Failure here will allow the chassis end of the drag strut to float about, not great

[Alacrity]

If you are changing the bushes these make an improvement to steering, they help reduce the 'vagueness' that Stags suffer with. \made quite a difference to mine. Remember to fit them with the bigger half on the front side of the chassis to push the strut forward slightly. See:-

https://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF372-0084CK

[Lingen]

Gbb. See Richard's warning about fitting poly bushes. I have seen the fracture he mentions, almost certainly caused by insufficiently flexible ones..
Mike.

[dasadrew]

If you are changing the bushes these make an improvement to steering, they help reduce the 'vagueness' that Stags suffer with. \made quite a difference to mine. Remember to fit them with the bigger half on the front side of the chassis to push the strut forward slightly. See:-

https://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF372-0084CK

I would think the "vagueness" which you refer to is the castor angle which - the Stag being a "luxury tourer" - is designed with somewhat more self-centering than maybe a car designed for the track, to be able to cruise with one finger on the steering wheel (not recommended!). Pushing the axle forwards will reduce the castor angle.

[DJT]

Gbb. See Richard's warning about fitting poly bushes. I have seen the fracture he mentions, almost certainly caused by insufficiently flexible ones..
Mike.

I think it might be down to the type of poly bushes. I have driven almost 60,000 miles in my current Stag which came to me with poly bushes already fitted all around (except the large rear subframe bushes). I drove almost the same mileage in my first Stag after fitting poly bushes all around (again, except the rear subframe). Neither car suffered any damage in this area.

[Philip Wardle]

I woud go with Chris Witor's SuperFlex poly bushes, this web page gives info and from there you can navigate to the product pages covering quite a few cars https://www.superflex.co.uk/history.php

[DJT]

I woud go with Chris Witor's SuperFlex poly bushes, this web page gives info and from there you can navigate to the product pages covering quite a few cars https://www.superflex.co.uk/history.php

Those are the ones. Somewhat shocked to see the price now but they are 'fit-and-forget'.

[jbuckl]

Those are the ones. Somewhat shocked to see the price now but they are 'fit-and-forget'.

Yes, I’d prefer oem rubber though. (Those days seem to be gone now)

[gbb483]

I'm fitting some rubber ones from EJ Ward. The old ones look OK, but I'm having to strip the coupling down as the cup has corroded away to nothing and the drag strut is rattling around. So everything is getting replaced where I can get the parts.

[richardthestag]

Those are the ones. Somewhat shocked to see the price now but they are 'fit-and-forget'.

except now, everyone who has them fitted and read this thread will be wondering about the fracture steel diaphragm and will remove them. Just need fit and forget struts, dampers, bottom link ball joint and ever lasting drag links that havent fractured where they bolt to the bottom link.

Not picking a fight but fit and forget..... until it breaks. Just saying

[DJT]

ever lasting drag links that havent fractured where they bolt to the bottom link.

Not picking a fight but fit and forget..... until it breaks. Just saying

Had one of those break just after I bought my first Stag in 1989, whilst it still had rubber bushes all around.

Not picking a fight, just relating my experiences over 120,000 miles of Stag driving.