Replacing the suspension bushes

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
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Not getting a lot of love by the look of it.

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Thanks, Robbie, I have a few suggestions and questions for that thread.

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sorry completely wrong thread
now fixed

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OK, thanks for the heads up. Appreciated.

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Great write up Steve, thanks for taking the time. I also have an 06 2.0l in Bristol area, and was looking at the bushes this week whilst replacing a leaking steering rack. Also a pig of a job. I have some poly rack bushes to go in with the new one. Never tried those before, anyone have any experience of poly rack bushes?

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Thanks, Phil. I have no experience on the steering rack.

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Thanks for sharing this info I am looking at doing similar and a few other jobs on my '02 NBFL, I will save my self some work because I have bought all new arms so will not worry about retreaving the old bushes and trying to save the wishbones. I can see I will have to get some power tools to get the job done. For me one deal breaker, as in am I going to go for it or pay someone else, question I do have is, did you have your car on a ramp or axles stands. TIA

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Hi, it was axle stands, and it was quite hard work.

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TY Steve, axle stands I have, hard work was always to be expected, time to get some power tools :sunglasses: :+1:

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Hi Steve - impressive write up, can you tell me how much you spent? I’ve a 2009 NC2, I recently replaced the front springs and shocks and noticed the bush ends were showing signs of perishing. I suspect the whole car would benefit from re- bushing.

Dave

2 Likes
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Thanks, Dave, I went for actual Polybush brand and all the bushes came to c £500. Probably another £50 for consumables like paint, grease, WD40, etc. Then the accidental £20 for a refurbished front upper wishbone, after I broke one.

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Hi Steve - thanks very much for that, £500/600 doesn’t sound unreasonable to replace all the suspension bushes.
Looks like a possible job over the next winter, can’t say I’m looking forward to it but I suspect my 14 year old NC2 would be grateful.
Dave

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well. I’ve just taken the plunge thanks to MX5Parts 10% sale. A set of Pro-polybushes ordered for my 2006 2.0 sport (62k). many have recommended them and I’m hoping they’re as good as suggested. Not brave enough to fit them myself though so will be getting my ‘guy’ to do the hard work.
I thought this would be sensible before progressing the BBR200 kit (?)

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Good on you :+1: I’ve just two moments ago took the minor advantage of MX5 parts bank holiday discount as well and completed an order for a full set of SuperPro bushes for my NC1.

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@stevegilkes Great write up and good job too, thank you very much for sharing this.

I’ve only just seen this thread AFTER taking the plunge and ordering a full set of polybushes for both front and rear for my 2009 NC 2 litre. I have to be honest, had I read your post earlier, I might have not pulled the trigger!

It looks like a difficult job and, judging by your technical descriptions of the suspension components and the way you went about it, you are a more experienced mechanic than me.

Still, I’m committed now and will be tackling this job myself either over the winter or in early spring. I’ll definitely be using your write up for reference in conjunction with my Haynes manual and whatever instructions that might be included with the polybush kit.

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to document and share what you’ve done.

PS I’m in Bristol and Lee does my alignment too, I get his fast road set up and have been very pleased with the results.

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I hope it all runs smoothly.