Club 80-90 Forums

Hello everyone. This is my first post having owned our 1989 2.1MV Auto since June. 
I had a creaky front suspension and I read that it more than likely needed front upper wishbone renewal. So I bought 4 from Brickwerks and took it to my local mechanic to do the work. 
Having had the van back and done around 400 miles the creaking is worse than ever and going by his surprise that there was welding involved I decided to inspect his spot welds with a little scope camera.  I'm no welder but they don't look great to me. so I've attached images for you to asses and advise me please.  They are all visible from looking in over the wheels so I'm wondering if they've been done after the wishbones were fitted back on as an after thought.  Any advice most welcome please.

Cheers

Tim

looks like the second one has not penetrated the bush as it has been rotating, 4th one also looks a little suspect
I understand his reluctance to put too much heat into the bush but it's all about preparation, you need to ensure that you have clean bare metal to get a good weld, I would have lightly ground the area that was to be welded on both parts and turned the feed speed down on the welder so it didn't build up too heavily before it penetrated both surfaces

Whie l dont have Aidan's technical knowledge and experience regarding welding, it could simply be the mechanic did not torque wishbone bolts with vehicle resting on ground and therefore under its own weight. Also did he maintain correct camber during exchange of bushes?
Lastly, has squeaking been there since collecting vehicle? Perhaps it is another suspension component making noises and not wishbones. A robust rocking of van side to side normally indicates wishbone bush failure.
Regards
Stuart

easy enough to just put reference paint marks on the bushes and arm and drive it to see if they move relative to each other, if they don't then welds are good and as Stu says it is something else

fyi I am no mechanic, or welder

Aidan wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 08:33 easy enough to just put reference paint marks on the bushes and arm and drive it to see if they move relative to each other, if they don't then welds are good and as Stu says it is something else

fyi I am no mechanic, or welder

Not what l meant and sorry if it offended you l purely meant you have far far more technical experience associated with these van than l will ever gather.

no offence taken, I don't want anyone to think I am qualified just because I post on here, I do it because it gives me something to do 
'tis the internet, believe nothing you read, or at least take it with a very large pinch of sodium chloride

In my limited experience MIG welding, you want to use as high a power setting as you can get away with without blowing a hole. The penetration of the welds in the pics, does not look great TBH, to my eye.

Aidan wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 18:30 no offence taken, I don't want anyone to think I am qualified just because I post on here, I do it because it gives me something to do 
'tis the internet, believe nothing you read, or at least take it with a very large pinch of sodium chloride

syncroandy wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 18:42 In my limited experience MIG welding, you want to use as high a power setting as you can get away with without blowing a hole. The penetration of the welds in the pics, does not look great TBH, to my eye.

True. And if l can put an acceptable weld to hold bush to wishbone then anyone can!
My stylee is metal farmgate welding. Not pretty but does the job....as long as its over 3mm thick.

So what do you think, Tim? Food for thought. Was it really sqeaky bushes? Or perhaps lower control arm bushes instead. Try wetting the wishbone bushes with Plus gas or WD40. Then take camper for drive.

No reply. No happy ending. And no thanks..
Sadly this is getting very commonplace recently. What has happened to the usual high spirited camaraderie on this forum?
I have noticed many of the regular names' have disappeared recently too.What is going on? Do l need to up my application of mouthwash

He hasn't logged in since posting, most probably hasn't ticked the box for notification of replies.

I might have been overly harsh on the lad then, OBG. He's not showing much enthusiasm, though. Surely he will be wondering what life changing answers await him on this glorious forum.

Regards
Stuart

Just be careful welding those, I have no idea what they are coated with but it's nasty!
The fumes from spot welding wishbone bushes has taken my breath away on more than one occasion, made my eyes stream and given me some weird sensation in my nose.
Lemfoerer seem the worst for it, maybe it's the grease warming up, maybe it's the plating on the metal, who knows?!
Whatever it is, it's evil!