Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

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Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Toys2 » Sat 24.06.2017, 19:28

Hi, I need to replace at least 1 inner lower wishbone/TCA bush, I can't find them listed, are they still available?

I have seen listings for poly bushes- what are my choices?

Thanks
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Rambo » Sat 24.06.2017, 21:35

Did you check the SJS website ? Fairly sure I saw some listed a few weeks ago
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Toys2 » Sat 24.06.2017, 21:53

Rambo wrote:Did you check the SJS website ? Fairly sure I saw some listed a few weeks ago


I'm looking for E100C6002F, which isn't listed on SJS, unless I have the wrong number, they do have lower raft bushes but I need the ones in the actual suspension arm

I've just found they have the Poly bushes (SJ100C0008) but I can't find the originals
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby dapinky » Sat 24.06.2017, 22:37

Looking on the DeRoure.com website, they say that they are 'Factory Order' at £14.19 each....

...... when I did my suspension a few years ago I went for Poly bushes for most of the suspension pivots, but as my rear wishbones wern't very old, I left them alone.

So, I think they could be got from Lotus, but a whole set of Poly would be cheaper.
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Toys2 » Sun 25.06.2017, 00:02

dapinky wrote:Looking on the DeRoure.com website, they say that they are 'Factory Order' at £14.19 each....

...... when I did my suspension a few years ago I went for Poly bushes for most of the suspension pivots, but as my rear wishbones wern't very old, I left them alone.

So, I think they could be got from Lotus, but a whole set of Poly would be cheaper.



Are you happy with the Poly bushes? I'd heard that they can be harsh
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Sun 25.06.2017, 03:02

In the current (June 2017) Lotus Price Book E100C6002F has the notation "RING FGS 01243554422"

That doesn't mean FGS still has the rubber versions, but that is what Lotus advises.

Pretty much ALL of the rubber bushes are now obsolete.
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby dapinky » Sun 25.06.2017, 12:01

Toys2 wrote:Are you happy with the Poly bushes? I'd heard that they can be harsh


Hmmm, I suspect that this is a bit of a subjective issue - As much of my suspension was worn (not to the point of failure, but definitely past its best), I decided that a full overhall was the only way to go.

As such, I replaced all bushes, bolts, shocks, springs, balljoints, bearings, tyres etc and overhauled the metal bits (except for the rear wishbones as they were only 5K miles old).

I noticed an improvement over the 'old' stuff, but it is impossible for me to say what components made an individual improvement, which made no difference, or even if any were 'worse'.

At the time, I was able to get rubber bushes for the raft mountings (from Lotus - but some have now gone obsolete). I spent a lot of time researching the OE supplier for the rubber bushes, and came to the conclusion that they were made by a French company (but not necessarily in France) which was subsequently taken over by Michelin. There were other companies who could/would make some for me, but tooling costs made it unrealistic for a small order.

That really only left me with Poly as an alternative.

I have used them for many years in various competition cars and have learned to accept their inherrent 'issues', so it didn't faze me to use them.

At that time, very few were available for the Elan, but since that time most are now being made and supplied via either Phil at Southwest Lotus (The Lotus Centre . com) or Steve at SJ Sportscars.

The above 2 outlets are the only 'official' suppliers for the particular make of bushes I use, but I accept that many others could easily produce them if they had the inclination and you wanted to pay the price.

I know who makes these bushes (as I have done a lot with him over the years and was involved in the development of many of them), but he has an agreement with Phil & Steve to supply them to the end users, and won't deal direct. Whilst that may seem reasonable or unreasonable (dependent on your point of view), a lot of effort went into getting them done and that is what was decided at the time. Money for the work came from the maker, SJs & SWL, so they can basically do what they want.

If they were over-priced or unavailable, I could see the problem, but they are availlable and reasonably priced so everyone can put food on the table.

Depending on whether you want other things at the same time or not, it is sometimes a couple of quid cheaper or more expensive from one or other of them (with P&P charges etc) - but they are both the same product.

Just for the sake of total transparency, I have no involvement or interest in these items, and am not financially involved in their manufacture and/or supply..... but I was involved in the initial development, putting people together, and didn't pay retail prices for mine - but I won't try to circumvent the system to get any direct from the maker for other people (which was my initial intention - to get them made for LEC - but a deal was struck whereby they were made availlable without us having to invest in tooling and/or stock).

Bottom line is that the OE rubber were designed for the whole package, and if they could be got for a fair price, would be the 'best' option for a road car.... however, if the cost is too high, then you may wish to get whatever does the job and is availlable. It certainly doesn't detract from the ride in the car.
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Re: Front suspension TCA/Wishone bushes

Postby Toys2 » Sun 25.06.2017, 18:48

thanks to all and in particular to dapinky for your great answers

So it's poly bushes for me then!
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