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Date:         Fri, 10 Mar 2000 12:07:26 -0800
Reply-To:     harald_nancy <harald_nancy@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         harald_nancy <harald_nancy@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: upper control arm
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Well, the bushing I have in front of me ( "elastmetall" 202346 LME Germany 251407077) is very tight inside. The rubber inside is actually somewhat under pressure, really pressed in. Silicone paste would be the ideal lubricant, but I don't think there is a way to get any more in there. If you drill a hole and install a grease nipple on the outside, you would damage the bushing too much. Just my opinion. Harald '90 westy ---------- From: BRENT CHRISTENSEN <bchristensen@infogenesis.com> To: 'harald_nancy' <harald_nancy@earthlink.net>; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: RE: upper control arm Date: Friday, March 10, 2000 10:04 AM

Anyone know what kind of grease this is and if there is a way to force more of it in there?

I'm getting ready to install new ones this weekend, and I sure would love to be able to put in some "extra" lubricant...

Brent Christensen '89 GL Syncro Westy Santa Barbara, CA

-----Original Message----- From: harald_nancy [mailto:harald_nancy@EARTHLINK.NET] Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 7:42 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: upper control arm

Cross section of upper control arm bushing: I was asking before if anyone ever cut one in half. I guess not. Took the right ctrl arm to the shop today and had 2 new bushings pressed in and spot welded. Cost me a hundred bucks. Took the old ones (2 yrs, 25,000 miles) home and sliced one with a hack saw in half. It looks like this: The inner shaft has about 1/8" thick rubber bonded to it. The outer housing has a nylon liner (about 1/16"). The liner has grooves that fit into the outside housing grooves, so the liner itself does not turn. The rubber on the inner shaft is NOT bonded to the outside housing. There is a thin layer of grease between the rubber and the outside nylon liner. The inside shaft can rotate freely. Bushing looks like it's in perfect shape. But I'm pretty sure it was squeaking anyway. At this point, I assume that one of them was defective, perhaps not enough rubber grease. And that's possibly why it was squeaking. Tomorrow I'll install the upper swing arm with the new bushings. I agree new springs might help, but I'm not ready for that yet. I also suspect the upper rubber spring seat. Anyone try that?

The local vw mechanic was wrong when he told me the rubber is bonded to the inside and outside part of the bushing. I was suspicious, because it doesn't mention in the Bentley anywhere that the van has to rest on its wheels when tightening the upper ctrl arm nut. Harald Rust '90 westy


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