front anti roll bar maintenance

[italianjob]

Hello, please could i have the benefit of your experience on all matters front anti roll bar please? i have a September '85 C reg 1.9 DG standard steering and suspension (VIN coding indicates year of build as 1st Aug 85 > 31st Jul 86). straight anti roll bar links.

MOT advisory commented that the front anti roll bar bushes were starting to perish, so i'm going to have them replaced. a couple of questions that you may be able to answer please:-

what size bushes do i need (oo eerrr missus ) the custom and commercial website says 19 mm and the JK website says 23 mm - do i buy both?
what else should i get done to the anti roll bars / suspension whilst the bushes are being replaced?

thanks in advance for any tips/info that you are able to offer.

cheers

[silverbullet]

Measure the diameter of the bar fitted. Nothing is certain and it could well have been changed.
The 23mm is a desireable bit of kit, originally specced for ambulances iirc

[italianjob]

Also - how come the bushes on Custom & commercial / JK are priced below £10 but the Brickwerks equivalent item is priced at £25 and is bright yellow?? different material and quality??

thanks in advance (until i think of another question )

[CovKid]

Having done this job, I'd advise fit the Brickwerk ones or similar material elsewhere. It really helps make handling precise and they last, well, forever. However, droplinks on each end I prefer with stock rubber as I prefer them over the slightly harsher poly bushes but thats a personal preference. As always, it pays to do bushes bit by bit otherwise if you fit loads at once (and people do) and you're not quite happy with it, you won't know which bit made it (in your own opinion) intolerable to drive.

In theory, stock rubber should last years but quality isn't always good in the market, even if the originals lasted 25+ years. Poly bushes are an excellent upgrade and well worth it on those two you need to replace. Just don't assume they are superior everywhere. Track racers will tell you the same. Suspension is as much a part of tuning as the engine.

[italianjob]

hello
i managed to get hold of a vernier caliper to measure the actual diameter of the front anti roll bars - they're 21 mm OD. Good job i checked as the offside drop link had sheered just above the lower fixing bolt. just goes to show you've really got to get underneath and a have root around every so often.

ta for now

[CovKid]

The subject of droplinks has come up in the past with at least more than one person convinced they make no difference - but they do, big time. With a broken, damaged or missing droplink, the vehicle will pitch down if you enter a corner fast, making the whole experience positively unsettling. It feels like an old armchair where the springs have sagged. What tends to happen, is the damage is gradual and the driver compensates by tapping the brakes, without realising. With everything in good order it should handle corners like a hatchback.

The other bushes to be inspected (and few do) is the control arm bushes where the suspension bars are bolted to the middle of the vehicle. Never removed/dropped one myself, but they will get replaced with poly bushes on mine this year as I can see evidence of wear. Basically anything that is awkward to get at or replace (trailing arms bushes are another) are better upgraded with modern materials (and usually easier to fit) but collectively these bushes are not cheap so it comes down to affordability balanced against ride comfort. Like most things v-dub, simply throwing money at a problem isn't always the best or even wise way to go.

Its worth de-rusting anti-rollbar and giving it a protective coat of paint if you have time.