Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: i260 on 26 June 2011, 10:47:00
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My front tyres have worn off on the inside edge completely within 5000 miles and the last pair had gone this way too but over a longer time period.
The tracking was checked when the tyres were fitted and the fitter said there was visible negative camber on the fronts and it measured at 1deg.
He pointed out that the lower n/s lower wishbone bush was showing signs of ware.
My dilemma is that I understand the pattern part replacement wishbone complete item is significantly cheaper than the vx item but have heard the bushes arent up to much. Any comments??
Get a wishbone and chop the bush out and stick a poly item in?
Also, are there other bushes that could lead to this excessive tyre ware and would changing these make the consideration of replacing shox / springs a sensible idea??
Just trying to make sure it dont do part of it and have to repart some of the labour later.
NB - all the suspension & bushes on the front are original & 95k
edit:
looking further into this from the maintenence guides etc this does sound the likely cause.
As a moderate novice (but I have installed coilovers on a golf single handed) is attempting changing the wishbones myself advisable?
I see several options on ebay but the link below does at least have the oil filled bush.
Do I really need to get new drop links as well?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WISHBONE-SUSPENSION-ARMS-SET-KIT-VAUXHALL-OMEGA-B-NEW-/330570852008?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cf78ee6a8
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poly bush your existing wishbones.
only do droplinks if they are knocking.
get the geometry set up properly, by someone who knows that they are doing and just just go by 'the computer'
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poly bush your existing wishbones.
only do droplinks if they are knocking.
get the geometry set up properly, by someone who knows that they are doing and just just go by 'the computer'
...and NOT just go by the computer?
Is it reasonable to take my existing wishbone off and put the poly one in and get it back on in a day / few hours?? Can it be done without taking the wishbone off??
I would love to do the poly bush route to firm things up a bit but are there any other bushes on a wishbone that would benefit from?
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I've heard of front polys being doe while leaving wishbone on the car.
So it is doable.
No other bushes on the wishbone are available off the shelf in poly.
Just the front ones.
Otherwise you'd have to get some made up for the back one.
Not really any benefit from that though.
As for the Geometry and NOT going by what the computer says.
Reason for that is that the "computer defined settings" are from a factory database which does not take into account the natural sagging of springs etc.
Anyone who knows what they are doing with this car will know better as to what settings will work for your car! The people at Wheels In Motion for instance.
They dont just "get it in the green" like a lot of places do.
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excessive shoulder wear is always camber. Its what causes the camber to be wrong.
It seems Omegas generally get more camber with age, even if you replace all the suspension components. Hence I tend to get mine realigned every 12 - 18 months.
So check all bushes, replace those that need doing, and then get it geometry checked by somebody who knows what they are doing.
Rebushing can be done in a day. Mine where done in about 3hrs last week (poly front bush, rubber rear), and they were a bit of a git to get out. You do need a press and some good drifts to do it though.
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no presses, no drifts.
Have seen the guide to cut the old front ones out - can the new ones be knocked in?
Do the rears wear as much as the fronts and can they also be done in situ?
I suppose the other option is to get a new pair of wishbones and change the fronts for poly before fitting them??
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Yes that is an option, an easier one.
Can be worth buying a set of cheapo wishbones (£50 a pair ish), and polybushing them first.
(another £50).
Not sure about presses and drifts,
I was under the impression they could be done on the car see, so i would think a press wouldnt be an option in that situation?
anyone else with better knowledge?
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Are the rear bushes failed?
Either way, easier to remove the wishbones...
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no idea about the rears - do they get an easier life than the front bush?
Would have thought that after 100k they would have seen better days and benefit from replacement.
So, my thoughts are to get a half decent pattern part that will have some reasonable rear bushes and then fit poly fronts either myself or get my local indep. to pop them in for me and then just swap the wishbones over.
Is it ALL the bushes on pattern wishbones that are a little suspect or just the front?
Or do I get the cheapest pattern wishbone and get a decent rear bush and the poly fronts pushed in?
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no idea about the rears - do they get an easier life than the front bush?
Would have thought that after 100k they would have seen better days and benefit from replacement.
So, my thoughts are to get a half decent pattern part that will have some reasonable rear bushes and then fit poly fronts either myself or get my local indep. to pop them in for me and then just swap the wishbones over.
Is it ALL the bushes on pattern wishbones that are a little suspect or just the front?
Or do I get the cheapest pattern wishbone and get a decent rear bush and the poly fronts pushed in?
examine your rearward wishbone bushes by jacking the car, remove the wheel for easier acess. If any signs of splits are evident, replace the whole arm for lemforders.(you may wish to fit Polly at this stage to new wb's as it's easiest)
If ok(they will be breaked btw) fit polly while the wishbone is fitted to the car.
Rearward bush lasts longest by all accounts, but I think it's safe to say any omega with unknown bush history will need most bushes replacing.
Rubber doesn't last long enough given production stopped in June 03. Certainly all the bushes are fooked/Been or being replaced on my 03 with 68k on it.
If you plan to keep the car and want the thing to drive straight see here
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283124735
IMO pattern wb's are a gamble. If they last, great. But nobody knows which pattern ones last and which don't. Some members have good results, some not, even from the same supplier.
If it was me, fit lemforder, torque with wheels loaded, set it up and go from there. If the fronts fail, then fit Polly. Up to you though.
Hth
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Thanks for that.
The history is known - my dad had the car from 6 months old and they have never been done! Entire new wishbones methinks!
(nearly there!!)
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Personally i'd go with Chris's advice above, pop some Lemforder's on then when the front bushes fail again in the future just fit some poly bushes in the fronts. :y
Oh and if your wishbones are originals someone on here might take them off your hands and get them rebushed. :y
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Eurocarparts for Lemforders then!
ooo hadnt though about the appeal of s/h oem wishbones!
mmmmmmmmm
T H A N K S E V E R Y B O D Y F O R A L L Y O U R H E L P A N D P A T I E N C E
:y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y :y
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I think my wishbones are on the way out too it has 100miles on it now it seems about right, i haven't checked/noticed tyrewear but it tramlines sometimes like a pig which is probably the rear bush more than the front, i've had poly bushes here for 4 months now waiting to go in but my to do list never seems to get smaller and these are always on the losing end of it!!
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Level sensor holes aside, I'd give all Germanparts a bell for a price at least. Euro car parts may be ok, but I have concerns about shelf life and matching pairs. They summon odd parts from where ever from with in the group, so could end up with one that's been on the shelf for months and another fairly new.
Where as Allgerman order direct from ZF I believe. Which I guess/hope would mean a more matching "newer" new set.
Maybe?
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I used to joke that anything past 50k you were living on borrowed time due the weight of a v6 and autobox slung up front.
My dad had an old 2.5 reflection back in the d a y and he got round to having the front bushes done about 50k ish and made it feel like new (well, ish).
Wish I had just got on and done this job 2 years ago when I first got the car ...
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I had thought that I haddecided Eurocarparts was the best place for getting the arms:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Omega_2.6_2003/p/car-parts/suspension-and-steering/suspension/suspension-arm-and-suspension-joints/?615720565&1&4f614ee26ba7ea88d5edf487b74699b9c92232ff&SUAR
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Omega_2.6_2003/p/car-parts/suspension-and-steering/suspension/suspension-arm-and-suspension-joints/?615720575&1&289c3f7848b828012d675156ac6c6bf2a9c49cc1&SUAR
but are these the same at Allgerman? Thye call them control arms and have different ref nos:
http://www.allgermanparts.co.uk/ourshop/prod_906178-Control-arm-lower-NS-Omega-B-Lemforder-27734-02-90-576-788.html
http://www.allgermanparts.co.uk/ourshop/prod_906267-Control-arm-lower-OS-Omega-B-Lemforder-27735-02-90-576-789.html
If so then that is another £15 saved even with Eurocarparts discount!
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You can re-bush them on the car, its not that hard to do.
Sod the Lemforders, there not worth the cash just poly them (or poly cheap ones)
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You can re-bush them on the car, its not that hard to do.
Sod the Lemforders, there not worth the cash just poly them (or poly cheap ones)
So this (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl) is possible insitu or do you suggest another method - I have no specialist tools for pushing out bushes.
Presume rear bush removed in similar fashion?
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The front bush can be done insitue, you simply drop it down, drill the rubber out and run a hack saw through the bush steel section and it drives out. The same process can be used off car as well. No special tools required for this approach.
The rear can not be done in situ easily.
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so to achieve what I want to with re-bushing would be to remove a wishbone, rebush as per the guide (presume big mallet to drive the new bush in?) using a gen rear bush and a poly front and then re-fit.
Cheaper as long as it all goes ok.
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so to achieve what I want to with re-bushing would be to remove a wishbone, rebush as per the guide (presume big mallet to drive the new bush in?) using a gen rear bush and a poly front and then re-fit.
Cheaper as long as it all goes ok.
You will need a substantial press to fit new bushes (unless they're poly bushes). I wouldn't fancy my chances with a hammer.
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As said previously, you need to examine the state of the rearward bush, and decide what to do from there. If it's ok, fit Polly in situ.
If it's buggered the wishbone needs to come off.
The rear bush is different construction. The centre spacer has a bulge in it meaning there is no line of site to drill through(on the one I cut in half anyway) it's possible to drill through but I broke about 5 drill bits doing so just to get room to pass a hack saw through. Although by the time I had drilled a 10 mill hole this had reached the edge of the bush anyway and it pushed out. It's a pointless exercise except it saved some time for the guy who pressed the new bushes in for me. You need a press anyway to fit the new one.
But that's all a pita. Fit lemforders IMO! Rear bush will last longer on those than pattern. Who knows what bushes they fit in those.