Rear Suspension Query.. another one...

[Tony W]

I've browsed thro' the many posts on the forum on this subject & while they are very informative on replacing the upper suspension arms...I've found nothing about problems with the various other suspension arms & bushes on the rear suspension...

I posted the couple of pictures below in another thread but unfortunately no replies/comments ...

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1113708&postcount

So asking the question that I can't seem to find an answer to....does the Hub Carrier have a bush that the Lower Suspension arm TORX bolt goes through as it certainly appears to in the above pictures ????

If so has anyone replaced it your comments would be appreciated...Cheers

[john1]

i had these lower bushes checked our recently on my vectra as they looked shot, but the garage said they were fine(no play on them). if they do need replacing they need to be pressed out of the hub carrier. vx gave me a quote of £200 to replace the pair but a local garage quoted £40 per side + parts.

[Tony W]

Thanks John 1...appreciated.....looks like your the only only who could be bothered to comment...

[James24]

Thanks John 1...appreciated.....looks like your the only only who could be bothered to comment...

Whether you get a response or not often depends on how many people are logged on at the time and how quickly your post disappears off of the 'new posts'. Evenings usually see the most number of people logged on.

If you don't get a response after a reasonable period of time, then give your post a bump to put it back on the 'new posts'. Repeat a few times and you should get some responses, although nothing's guaranteed.

[Tony W]

Whether you get a response or not often depends on how many people are logged on at the time and how quickly your post disappears off of the 'new posts'. Evenings usually see the most number of people logged on.

If you don't get a response after a reasonable period of time, then give your post a bump to put it back on the 'new posts'. Repeat a few times and you should get some responses, although nothing's guaranteed.

Thanks James....again your comments are appreciated...its just that there appears to have been 32 or so views...so far...

Such a lot posts have appeared on here about rear suspension issues..upper arms/bushes mainly with How 2's etc., with little or no mention of members experiences with the rear hub carrier bushes - one on each side - that the bolts at outer end of the lower suspension arms pivot on.

I posted the pictures for comments as I was shocked to see the 'apparent state of them' after only 4 years & 40K miles with the MOT due....if mine were like that, all other Vectra C's of a similar age and mileage must have shown or be showing similar signs to mine or worse....but no comments about them as far as I could tell when checking for posts/threads on the subject....

Perhaps it's just the rubber 'sheaths' that perish and the 'inwards' are good i.e no play etc...which everyone knows about and familiar with, bar the likes of me....

However if the rubber sheaths perish exposing the inwards then s****e/water/grit/salt gets in and inevitably problems surely begin with corrosion then wear etc.etc...surely the older cars...pre facelift from 2002 must be in a much worse state than mine & I can't believe no one has had issues with them yet.

Thought about spraying the ends of the bushes regularly with old brake fluid or white spray grease to slow it down....again any comments about doing this would again be appreciated as the chance of finding a local independant garage round here being prepared to press 'em out might be as rare finding rocking horse poop...and the cost of replacing the hub carrier assembly with replacement bush doesn't bear thinking about....

Thanks again for your comments...cheers for now.....

[John LE]

Mine is a 53 plate with 90k and they still look like new.

Its a rather unusual problem that i've never seen on the vec before, possible that something has been sprayed onto the rubber covers and it has perished the rubber (certain types of lubricant)

[James24]

Mine look fine at 90,000 miles as well, so you may be the first person to have this, although people may yet comment...

Make sure that anything that you spray on to rubber states that it is safe to use on rubber. If not, it could actually make things worse. The same goes for plastic too.

Keep us updated and I'm sure people will chip in as things progress, especially when it comes to the cost of any work that needs doing.

Your information will then come in useful for anyone who does have this problem in future - well if they use the search function anyway .

What goes around comes around .

[si_hoss]

Mine is a 53 plate with 90k and they still look like new.

Its a rather unusual problem that i've never seen on the vec before, possible that something has been sprayed onto the rubber covers and it has perished the rubber (certain types of lubricant)

Yup - 02 plate with 95k on the clock, changed my upper control arms in September and those particular bushes are fine on mine! Wouldn't attempt or have a clue how to press them out.

[John LE]

Yup - 02 plate with 95k on the clock, changed my upper control arms in September and those particular bushes are fine on mine! Wouldn't attempt or have a clue how to press them out.

Wouldn't be a 5 minute job anyway

[Tony W]

Mine is a 53 plate with 90k and they still look like new.

Its a rather unusual problem that i've never seen on the vec before, possible that something has been sprayed onto the rubber covers and it has perished the rubber (certain types of lubricant)

Thanks John..don't think so as we bought car in Aug 2006, 8 months old with less than 4K miles on the clock. It's been serviced annually -- firstly by a VAT registered well established garage near where we live, with the 2nd & 3rd year's annual services at a local Vxl dealership - Bristol Street Motors, but not this year..no way & another story.

I've always been aware - from the old days - that you must not 'lubricate' rubber bushes & the like with engine/gearbox oil or 'normal' lubricating grease for the very reasons you mention....only stuff I did use to lubricate such items to stop 'em sqeaking is hydraulic(Brake) fluid as I would use now...

I do lubricate the rear handbrake cable pivots on the rear calipers sparingly with WD40 and white spray grease annually to try and prevent them getting stiff and seizing up etc..

No sign of rubbers perishing last year when I checked round before last years MOT..seems to have happened since then...I have used brake cleaner spray on the rear calipers in the past to clean the dust and c**p from around the pads & pistons etc., but would have thought that rubber would not be affected by the stuff as the caliper piston seals are rubber...

Mind you my old PA Cresta has 18 grease nipples with rubber cups on 'em to contain the grease you pump in to lubricate 'em and they lasted for what seems like years....strange.....

Back to this problem, to me it looks like the rubber covers are fixed at each end & constant clockwise/anticlockwise rotating motion of the suspension arm has weakened the 'walls' of the covers, weakening them until they have finally shredded/split....

It is an 'early' facelift..perhaps GM cut back on the quality of the components they were fitting when they introduced it...I also had one of the rear shockers leaking at about 28K last year...


Cheers...