4200 front wishbone bush removal.

[Zep]

Beat me to it Zep...
I gleaned from McGrath also that Maserati "revised" the casting to include more material in attempt to stave off failure from the stresses of use..Not sure how accurate that is however...

I believe that the rear lower 3200 arms had a smaller bush mount than the later 4200, which is why you also need to replace the hangers when fitting a new arm to a 3200. Not sure about the others, with mine being a late car it might well have already had the newer version.

 

[TimR]

Preventative maintenance then would be to remove the fixing bolts, dress them and use something benign like ACF50 and re-assemble..?
My car is a facelift, (reg) late 2005 car...Not with me atm so Im going to have to wait to get another look...!

 

[2b1ask1]

To undertake an inspection of the crack site on all the wishbones (lower) in situ, you need to get the car on a four post lift on its wheels as wheels free obscures the site.

 

[atreyu1]

When I said that the bush l pressed out came out easily enough l meant that it felt as I expected it to feel. I use my press mainly for splitting and reassembling racing motor cycle cranks which sometimes require a force of about 10 tons to get the crankpin moving. Normally though it's about 5 tons but l wouldn't expect a metalastic type bush to be as tight as that in an aluminium housing. That is unless there's some corrosion present.

 

[Zep]

Preventative maintenance then would be to remove the fixing bolts, dress them and use something benign like ACF50 and re-assemble..?
My car is a facelift, (reg) late 2005 car...Not with me atm so Im going to have to wait to get another look...!

Yes and no. The inner part of the bush is clamped to the subframe by the bolt, the outer is an interference fit into the wishbone. So unlike a normal metalastic bush it doesn’t rotate around the bolt shank, the movement occurs between the inner and outers between the inner spindle and a metal sleeve inside the rubber part of the bush.

So, removing the bolt (if you can) and lubricating will make replacement easier, but won’t reduce the risk.

 

[TimR]

Yes and no. The inner part of the bush is clamped to the subframe by the bolt, the outer is an interference fit into the wishbone.

So, removing the bolt (if you can) and lubricating will make replacement easier, but won’t reduce the risk.

Only one thing left to do then....drive it like you stole it !

 

[davy83]

Personally I would not bother since the ball joints will fail before the bushes get too old anyway!

 

[Zep]

Personally I would not bother since the ball joints will fail before the bushes get too old anyway!

The ball joints on mine were fine, I removed the covers, re-greased them and then put it back together. No issues reported to date.

 

[atreyu1]

Another point to note if thinking about removing the bolts is that on my car as an example the front upper wishbone bolts had a built in problem. That was that the rear bolt head was up against the brake pipe. To remove the bolt it was necessary to remove the brake pipe and this was on both sides of the car. I was replacing the front brake pipes anyway so in my case it didn't really matter. good design thinking, or perhaps not.
I would say however that a complete strip down of the front suspension as I have done is not for the faint hearted. You've really got to want to do it as it's an awful lot of effort. Also you need a comprehensive set of tools and sundry equipment plus somewhere suitable to do it. But think of how much it would cost to pay someone to do it. Also they wouldn't make everything as nice and clean as you would either would they? Having said all that, there were times during this strip down when I wished I'd never started, and I've yet to put it all back together again.

 

[Zep]

Another point to note if thinking about removing the bolts is that on my car as an example the front upper wishbone bolts had a built in problem. That was that the rear bolt head was up against the brake pipe. To remove the bolt it was necessary to remove the brake pipe and this was on both sides of the car. I was replacing the front brake pipes anyway so in my case it didn't really matter. good design thinking, or perhaps not.
I would say however that a complete strip down of the front suspension as I have done is not for the faint hearted. You've really got to want to do it as it's an awful lot of effort. Also you need a comprehensive set of tools and sundry equipment plus somewhere suitable to do it. But think of how much it would cost to pay someone to do it. Also they wouldn't make everything as nice and clean as you would either would they? Having said all that, there were times during this strip down when I wished I'd never started, and I've yet to put it all back together again.

That brake pipe is a PITA isn’t it?

 

[TimR]

Another point to note if thinking about removing the bolts is that on my car as an example the front upper wishbone bolts had a built in problem. That was that the rear bolt head was up against the brake pipe. To remove the bolt it was necessary to remove the brake pipe and this was on both sides of the car. I was replacing the front brake pipes anyway so in my case it didn't really matter. good design thinking, or perhaps not.
I would say however that a complete strip down of the front suspension as I have done is not for the faint hearted. You've really got to want to do it as it's an awful lot of effort. Also you need a comprehensive set of tools and sundry equipment plus somewhere suitable to do it. But think of how much it would cost to pay someone to do it. Also they wouldn't make everything as nice and clean as you would either would they? Having said all that, there were times during this strip down when I wished I'd never started, and I've yet to put it all back together again.

Sure- access is a deal breaker really..! You cant beat the anally retentive attention to detail of DIY..any self respecting garage has to understand everything has a "time and price". Sad but true !

 

[atreyu1]

That brake pipe is a PITA isn’t it?

Those brake pipes were put there by someone with a very dark sense of humour. Or someone totaly lacking imagination and no consideration for the poor *** having to do the job.

 

[Jbridges522]

Serious thread revival but just adding my annoyance at the brake line as well, what a balls!

For the front bolt were you all able to get it out? On 1st try it seems to be hitting the top of tye shock. Cheers

 

[Jbridges522]

 

[Zep]

That’s the kiddy. Insert bolt, then install brake pipe. Nuts.

It could be worse though, have you done the rear upper ones yet?

 

[Jbridges522]

That’s the kiddy. Insert bolt, then install brake pipe. Nuts.

It could be worse though, have you done the rear upper ones yet?

No this is my 1st suspension job on her, replaced steering rack boots and ball joints, battery and few other things handily enough.

Seems such a poor design, to the extent ud think there is something we are missing haha

When u did ur’s did you get the other bolt out ok? Maybe just need a wack but seems to be hitting the shock.

 

[Jbridges522]

1st posts on here after lurking for a while so might as well stick a pic of mine up.

 

[Zep]

I don’t recall there being a problem, but I was doing them all so the shock was probably disconnected at the bottom by that point.

If you are enjoying this, you‘ll love how you have to drop the subframe to get the rear bolt out.

 

[Jbridges522]

I don’t recall there being a problem, but I was doing them all so the shock was probably disconnected at the bottom by that point.

If you are enjoying this, you‘ll love how you have to drop the subframe to get the rear bolt out.

it’s like they didn’t expect them to last long enough to need suspension work lol

 

[TimR]