especially if your car is under warranty still or just about to run out. If it' sout of warranty you might be a bit scared of what they find. It seems like these bushes are the weak link of the suspension and aren't a long lasting part.

Best thing to do with any car about to come of the warranty period is to get NRMA/RAVC/RACQ to do a full vehicle inspection. Take this to the dealer and get them to fix it before the warranty expires.

A lot of things may be put down to normal ware and tear and you will have to cover these but big ticket items like steering or engine leaks can be picked up before they become a problem and you can get them fixed bfore you have to pay for them

Got an RACV check on my 03 just before it was up for warranty. It had a rough idle at the time. I felt the dealer might fob it off but RACV report confirmed it should be taken up under warranty. Forced the dealer to look a bit harder and they found a faulty iginition lead causing the plug to fail as well. They replaced all leads and plugs and running like a dream ever since.

New bushes in and the difference it makes is unreal. Steering a little stiffer and firmer and for me peace of mind.
Don't have to watch for scrubbed tyres or anything now for a while, just happy PT motoring.

Have not done the PT bushes yet, I did the brake disc's and it was better but a little noise is still there. Will get em done in the new year.

In the US, a few have reported bushes (we call them bushings) gone bad, but you folks and the Brits seem to have an epidemic:
ukcruisers.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10122

Are they giving you crummier rubber?

I made up some stats on information from members in our European Cruiser Forum(mainly german speaking), where the bushings topic has more than 800 posts up to date.

"Our" bushings do last an average of about 40.000 km, which is half of the 80.000 km (50.000 miles) they are supposed to last. The figures are a result of 223 reported bushing changes (some 3% out of 6400 forum members reported); 2/3 rds of the "german speaking PTs" have bushings lasting less than the 40.000 km mark, some as little as under 10.000, the highest milage reported with a single set was 208.000 km.

I tried to calculate the same average value for Aussie Cruisers.. much less data unfortunately (only 7 milage values) - Result: The Australian way of life (drive?) increases the bushing lifetime by over 50%: 62.000km!

But all this is just stats. Have fun with your cruisers - there are certainly many things more important then bushings.

hmm .. our roads are pretty good compared to the cobblestone streets very interesting as Plums &Roses now has 40,000kms on her I had best get her checked !!!.
VERY interesting the stats ... SYDNEY streets are pretty shocking the other cities the rds are a LOT newer than in EU !! .. and possibly most PT live in the outer suburbs where the roads are new and a lot wider so the turns not as tight .. also the COLD winters may make them more brittle??? interesting ...

I had the wheels off to lube the poly bushings last week and they are looking fine and dandy after 60,000k. The original ones were well and truly shot by then. I do jack the car up, take the wheels off and give them a wipe over and spray lube every 20,000k or so but that's more for the squeaking than anything else. Well worth the investment.

had my front bushes replaced at 48,000 mechanics said they were badly worn but heard no noises or creaks $600 but was covered under waranty

Hi again everybody,

I did not aim to make anybody nervous (but did I?)... in the german speaking community there are of course many PTs running with no troubles... and as usual the one's who have bushings without problem do not necessarily post anything (remember out of 6400 members "only" 223 posts reported bushing replacements). Some (of us) even say that due to the discussions in the European Cruiser Forum some members replace bushings that would not necessarily need replacement. Quite some do also have the Polyurethane bushings and seem to be satisfied with them... but I have no figures to prove the longer lifecycles people do claim.

M

no worries I am not paniced just something to be attentive to .. I know PT1 (inferno 2lt) had to have them replaced before I was allowed to sell her ... she had 60,000 on the clock .. and the poly urethane one are also being used ..

I just spoke to The Noathane people and found out where to get them in port Macquarie mine has done 120th and I had a look yesterday they still look ok but i think it would be best to replace them before any problems. they gave me a price of 135.00 a kit that was 45463 part number and said i would need two of them, is there two kits per wheel or would that be for the two front ones. also i noticed they have others on the list for pts
inner front bush, sway bar bush kit link and sway bar mount kit would it be worth the trouble to do all of them at the one time or just leave well enough alone i have no problems with any now.

Ted

Has anyone had or is about too get there bush's replaced. I am after an old set mainly the front horizontal ones which have a metal sleeve manufactured in side the rubber. These are the large flatish ones. (Theres that technical speak again.) Just makes it easier than removing them from the ones on my car now. happy to pay for costs and postage. They can be the most serverly worn ones it does not matter as I just need the inner metal sleeve.
Thanks

i2s2bme wrote:
Has anyone had or is about too get there bush's replaced. I am after an old set mainly the front horizontal ones which have a metal sleeve manufactured in side the rubber. These are the large flatish ones. (Theres that technical speak again.) Just makes it easier than removing them from the ones on my car now. happy to pay for costs and postage. They can be the most serverly worn ones it does not matter as I just need the inner metal sleeve.
Thanks

Mine are due to be replaced at my next service, not sure if they are the same ones you're after but I'll get Sam at Mopar Motors to keep them for me & I'll get back to you

I actually forgot all about this
I now have 2 sets of old bushes which I can use.
I needed the metal sleeves from the 2 lower ones
as aftermarket bushes I purchased do not come with the sleeves.
Thanks for the offer Most appreciated