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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Suspension refresh advice


DeanB

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I'm after some advice please, from those on MLOC that have more technical knowledge than me - which is probably most of you!

My car is going in to Gav's in January to 'refresh' the suspension.  The wishbones are coming off and need rustproofing - I'm thinking POR 15, is that best? And should I have them passivated first?

Also, what bushes should I use? I don't want it to be harsh as it is mostly used on the road.

And what about arb bushes? Are there any of those to avoid?

Any extra advice welcome!

 

Thanks folks

 

Dean

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Have to agree with OEM bushes. Not sure why you wouldn't zinc cost first though. Looks good, adds another layer of protection and POR goes on beautifully especially the second coat whilst tacky. 

When my clutch arm stuck and ripped the piston out of the master cylinder, brake fluid stripped the POR right off the wishbones below but the zinc coat was completely unaffected. 

 

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What dampers are you fitting or planning to use?

For bushes, I went with HPE's spherical bearing kit:
http://www.hpeauto.co.uk/products/wishbone-bearing-kit
Note I had no plans to do track days, and was concerned about harshness, but found these to be great on the road.

Don't forget to look at upgrading the toe links at the same time if you are planning to do any track days.
http://www.spitfireengineering.com/toe-link-kit-general#SPITFIRE-TOE-LINK-KIT-RANGE

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8 hours ago, DeanB said:

Thanks Jonathan. Any reason why not passivate (although I'm all for saving the money and hassle!)?

Down to personal taste and how deep your pockets are I guess. On the three occasions I’ve done a refresh the wishbones haven’t been in too bad a  state so I’ve never felt the need to repassivate them, plus the fact they’re going to be covered in Por 15.

I’d echo the comment above about Spitfire toelinks, that’s where I’d be spending any surplus cash.

 

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I realise this might bring me in line for "Pedant of the Month" but...

Passivation is not zinc plating. It is a process after the latter has been carried out, usually a chromate conversion. Most common colours for this are black, blue and yellow. Zinc plating is very cost-effective and provides effective sacrificial protection for the underlying material. Passivation improves the corrosion resistance of the zinc layer. 

If you're taking the wishbones off anyway to clean & re-bush, then it would seem logical to re-plate & passivate before applying POR15.

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Thanks chaps, keep the info coming please!

I already have spitfire toe links, so I shall be keeping those.  I shall also be keeping my springs and dampers otherwise this would be a four grand job!!  I have Nitron Street Series which I think are crap, but hey-ho, I'm not made of money.

Does anyone have experience of the Eliseparts drilled bushes?  Gav says he has fitted them before and found them to give good nvh levels.

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15 hours ago, MattyB said:

What dampers are you fitting or planning to use?

For bushes, I went with HPE's spherical bearing kit:
http://www.hpeauto.co.uk/products/wishbone-bearing-kit
Note I had no plans to do track days, and was concerned about harshness, but found these to be great on the road.

Don't forget to look at upgrading the toe links at the same time if you are planning to do any track days.
http://www.spitfireengineering.com/toe-link-kit-general#SPITFIRE-TOE-LINK-KIT-RANGE

Matty are the wishbone bearings really ok on the road?  Presumably they are a bit harsher than oem, even if it's at an acceptable level (for you)?

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Stick with OE bushes IMO. Re the plating it depends what you want to spend. Shot blast and a few coats of POR ( cheap option ) Shot balst, Re- passivate and clear POR so you can see whats going on in future ( dearer but what i would do when doing it again ). It soon adds up with new bushes, ball joints etc etc. If only doing the odd trackday just stick with OE ARB bushes.

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I'm doing this exact job this winter. Just finished stripping down the car. I hit a pothole and damaged a lower ball joint so rather than replace just the ball joint I'm refreshing the bushes and ball joints so I know exactly where I'm at with things. Sadly I've noticed a damaged track rod end and a leaking toe link joint. 

There is a company in Daventry that quoted me around £40 to re-plate the wish bones which I'd say is on a par with Powder coating.  I'll be POR15 over the top of that and then maybe a colour on top if I feel a bit tarty. 

I went for Nitron Bearings like you the car is a road car, but having taken the bushes out there really isn't much rubber in there, and as it is high days and holiday fun any compromise in NVH I'm willing to forfeit. 

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4 hours ago, DeanB said:

Matty are the wishbone bearings really ok on the road?  Presumably they are a bit harsher than oem, even if it's at an acceptable level (for you)?

I'd difficult for me to say how much difference they made in isolation - it was part of a complete overhaul which also included Nitron SS2's, but I had no issue with the road manners. Have a read here for people who have :

https://arc.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=399735&page=1#pid6802148

Dan may correct me, but I believe HPE's kit is the same as Nitron but better quality*

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I whittled it down to two choices for the bushes; oem or superpro.

I went for superpro for my suspension refresh last year. Easy to fit same nvh as oem, very happy.  You won't be dissapointed with either choice.

I used the  POR15 three stage process to good effect for my refresh. Mostly because I was doing it myself. Not saying it's better than other approaches but does seem to be lasting well.  It's also easy to touch up in the garage to prolong the protection if  take your wheels off every now and then

Good luck. Look forward to an update/road test when it's done.

MrWill

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