Rear beam bushes

[VR6Rich 3]

Anybody have any experience of uprated rear beam bushes?

My bushes are on there way out so need to decide wether to use VAG ones or go uprated.

Ive heard uprated ones being just inserts ?! What does this mean?

Any opinions?

[acf8181 0]

yep, i have powerflex on mine.

if you're gonna fit them yourself, the powerflex ones are the only ones you can do yourself. o.e. ones (which cost the same as powerflex by the way) need special clamps to put the new ones in. you can fit the powerflex ones i yourself. its not that hard, unless you have the problem i had...the brake bias valve had to be moved, to remove the nearside pivot bolt, and it was jammed on...had to cut through it and buy a new one in the end. but i believe that later cars don't have bias valves, so it may not effect you.

in terms of performance, they do make the car alittle stiffer, and do allow a tad bit more road noise in the cabin...but not too much.

i've now added powerflex front wishbone bushes, and it has altered the handling of the car...its a bit twitcy, you have tp be very careful lifting mid bend at even relatively moddest speed. but i'm quite enjoying it now, as its really sensitive...but worth thinkin about if you like a forgiving car. its simple to change to new o.e. wishbone bushes...just buy new wishbones from vw, they have the bushes already in them (they cost £50 each, and come to think of it i have a spare one in my garage )

[VR6Rich 3]

So I guess the powerflex can be fitted by me because they are just inserts then?

More than likely get somebody else to fit the rear bushes anyway as I dont have the room to do it myself.

Just trying to find the cheapest way of doing it without doing it myself. :-)

[VR6Rich 3]

By the way, are polysport any good?

[acf8181 0]

polysport don't do them for the mkIII...whatever they or their site says. i originally got some from them, after even clarifying on the phone that they were the correct ones, and they wouldn't fit. they only fit mkII's and 4 stud mkIII rear beams.

the reason you can fit powerflex yourself, or rather the reason you can't fit o.e. ones is that the o.e. ones are a metal innner sleeve surrounded by rubber and then another metal outer sleeve. this is then pressed into the beam. the powerflex ones are a metal centre sleeve then polyurethane around the outside, no outer sleeve. so they can bit pushed in quite easily with a large helping of copper grease.

its quite easy really, if you don't have a problem with the bias valve as i did. best to undo all the bolts and stuff before you start removing the old bush, which is done by drilling through the (rather worn out by now probably) rubber, then hammering out the centre sleeve. then you need to use a hacksaw with a deatchable blade, detach the blade and put it through the hole, then attach the saw and saw up into the outer sleeve. you don't have to go all the way through, just about 3/4 then you can remove the hacksaw, and hammer a screwdriver in between the sleeve and the beam. this will kink the sleeve, which you then hammer out.

if you decide you really wanna stick with o.e. bushes, you're best to remove the beam completely and take it down to vw...this will minimise labour costs. but you'll have to re-bleed the brakes on refitting (which i believe you're supposed to use vag-com for on obd2 cars, when a lot of fluid has been lost), and you'll have to undo the brake hoses, which i've heard can be problematic.

you don't actually need to remove the beam completely (or undo the brake lines) to do the bushes, you can just about get the pivot bolts past the brake hoses (with a bit of careful persuasion), undo the shock to beam bolts and then lower the beam with a trolley jack on each side.

worth noting that you're supposed to use new bolts on refitting ( afew quid from vw), and that the beam may only go back in squarly (so both sides have to be raised carefully. although mine wouldn't go back in, so i undid the bracket to cat bolts and moved the brackets a touch...which isn't advisable unless absolutly essential, as it could conceivably screw up the allignment...though mines fine.

[VR6Rich 3]

Cheers acf, I think powerflex will be the best way to go then.

Where did you get yours from and for how much? Do you have the part numbers?

Cheers

[acf8181 0]

front wishbone - 1x PFF85-201, and 1x PFF85-204

rear beam - 1x PFF85-206

i got my rear beam from demon tweeks, about £70 i think (wishbones total similar cost), but got the wishbone ones from power engineering, who happen to be right next door to powerflex! their no. is 01895 255699

[speedo 0]

Mate..... Leave powerflex alone on the rear axle, go Genuine standard, ...not G & Swedish.

Powerflex makes it too harsh, and makes the car skip around corners, messin with suspension set up`s.

I was gunna do it to mine, but was warned off by severall people.

The front is cool, but not rear.

If you dont take this advice, stick to powerflex, dont go bug pack etc, as powerflex dont harden or crack with age.

If you do attemp to do it, then soak the compensator valve overnight with wd40 (if you have an early car), and have a blow torch at hand to heat up the allen bolts, to remove the valve.

They are a b1tch :@

[acf8181 0]

nah, rear don't make it skip...its the fronts that make it do that.

i like it...car feels positive.

but if you want it to stay the way it is, speedo's prob right.

[vdubgirl 3]

My opinion go for the geniune VAG ones I've had Powerflex ones on my old 8v gti and that made the handling not very nice and just to stiff. Depends on what you want really from the handling on your car

[acf8181 0]

i knew you were gona say that claire!

and she's right, you gotta know what you're trying to achieve with your car. if you want it comfort orientated the o.e. is prob best. but i find the powerflex not that bad, and i didn't notice any weird handling with just the rears done...was certainly more stable than my completely worn out o.e. ones.

[VR6Rich 3]

Just want the bushes done at the minimum cost really, but want to keep some kind of comfort in the handling of my car.

[VRmonster 1]

then go for e.o. ive been in a mk2 with powerflex on and the ride was ridiculous. just felt as though the car was driving me, not the other way round. and o.e. wont realy be that expensive to do surely.

[speedo 0]

Stick to oe mate, trust me

I fit a fair few at work (cough....dealer 342....cough)

I have found oe rear, and powerflex or( if you can stretch that far,) vibratech on the front, will make the car feel very positive, and easy to handle.

If this doesn`t convince you, speak to `C & R`, they will tell you the same.

If you do decide to have a garage replace them, then i`d also concider main dealer.

They may charge a little more, but they are gunna take half as much time to do it, and damage nowt as they have the correct tools.

If you go independant, they may charge half as much, but will take 3x as long to do it and probably damage the bushes when inserting with big hammers .... :?

[ Edited Tue Jun 22 2004, 10:36PM ]

[ Edited Tue Jun 22 2004, 10:37PM ]

[VR6Pete 1,455]

how much are OE ones?

[acf8181 0]

the actual bushes cost £40 each. i'd say at least two hours labour, probably £100 an hour knowing vw!

a mate has polysport on his mkII and its o.e. levels of comfort! shame they don't do them for mkIII.

[beng 0]

just got mine done £135 plus vat, just stuck to oe ones

[ChrisP 0]

pah, powerflex all round for me

[vdubgirl 3]

i knew you were gona say that claire!

and she's right' date=' you gotta know what you're trying to achieve with your car. if you want it comfort orientated the o.e. is prob best. but i find the powerflex not that bad, and i didn't notice any weird handling with just the rears done...was certainly more stable than my completely worn out o.e. ones.[/quote']

You know me to well

pah' date=' powerflex all round for me [/quote']

lol you must like it hard and rough then

[ChrisP 0]

lol you must like it hard and rough then

Oooo er missus

Have to admit that I havent driven mine yet, the motor is still being finished x)

[stuey 0]

Hi guys, my first post. I have just returned from a trip up to C&R from NW London for a service, and a long 'to do' list was given to me including the rear axle bushes. I spoke to Steve Cresswell, he said always go for the oe bushes, don't use anything else. Apparently they burn the old bushes out, then use a £1000 tool to push in and align the new ones. He said trying to hammer them in messes stuff up and was bad news. The quote for the work was about £220 all in. Speedo, how much do you reckon a main dealer might charge for the job? Might be cheaper than another trip up north!

[acf8181 0]

if they are o.e. ones they have to be put in with the special tools...£220 seems a good price to me.

the aftermarket ones push in by hand, and don't require alligning. but to be honest, i'd recommend getting o.e. ones. my powerflex were fine with standard shocks, but now i have a kit it all seems a bit harsh.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

vince did mine, put OE ones in, at abot 158 + VAT later VR, so dont av to worry botu the bias valve..

[speedo 0]

The £220 figure is average for main dealer. Depends where you are though.

Labour rates up north are nearly half of london!!

[speedo 0]

by the way Stuey......

welcome