XT / L series 'Strut bar to chassis' Bushes - Nolathane?

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:25 pm

Has anyone tried to put Nolathane 48003 bushes in their L series with 18mm 'strut bar'?

Checking the sizes before ordering I noticed that the ID of their bushes is 16mm, how the hell are they supposed to go on our 18mm castor rods?
Surely someone has come across this issue before? I contacted tech support and they confirm the ID as being 16mm.

I found their 48010 bushes are essentially the same, with a 19mm ID, I am wondering if they would be close enough with a little sleeve of some sort to take up the 1mm clearance?

Any input?

48003 : http://www.nolathane.com.au/product_det ... 03&sq=8606

48010 : http://www.nolathane.com.au/product_det ... mber=48010

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:40 pm

I'm not familiar with the L series rods, but (silly question) what part are you measuring at 18mm? I mean if the rod is still on the car you can only measure the exposed part, but I know on the MY rods the mounting diameter for the bushes is considerably smaller than the OD of the main part of the rod (which you can only see on removal)

Aside from that, a sleeve might be possible but that would be a tube with .5mm wall thickness which could be tricky to make. Otherwise the 16mm ID ones could be drilled to 18mm but that requires a really sharp 18mm drill (expensive) and proper equipment. Or you might find the "19mm" ones are that size in name only. The ones I had for my car were so tight they could have been 1mm under size.

I understand your frustration, I find the Nolathane range to be a bit hit and miss for our older subies sometimes.

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 9:18 pm

Silverbullet wrote:what part are you measuring at 18mm? I mean if the rod is still on the car you can only measure the exposed part, but I know on the MY rods the mounting diameter for the bushes is considerably smaller than the OD of the main part of the rod (which you can only see on removal)

...Exactly what I was wondering, but, yes I have some spare rods and they (series 2 vortex turbo 4wd) are 18mm all the way through.

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 10:45 pm

Well...I went with the Nolathane 48003 Bushes as they were nearly half the price of the SuperPro SPF2534K

First I took an old Castor Rod, tapered it and resized it to 17mm then gave her a bit of love with the gas torch:

And took a bit off the inside

Im actually impressed how well the Nolathane compound holds up to heat, I had to heat

the rod up blue, and push each bush on and off a few times, wiping off the removed sticky material with a rag, then

plunge the bush into ice water.

I brought them up to 17.3mm witch I figured would be a nice firm fit, they actually turned out really well and neat:

What the old ones looked like, and the wear marks on the castor rod where it was rubbing:

All in, nice fit and seem to work well:

Its a good thing I really enjoy irony because after all that effort a few days later while cleaning I found these in a box of

my stored parts...a set of XT6 20mm castor rods with SuperPro bushes already on them!! - seems my hording skills are

better than my remembering skills!

I'm still laughing about it 2 days later!! I wonder are the XT6 castor rods worth fitting...

(castor rods are also elsewhere referred to as Leading Rods or , Radius rods, Torque Arms or Strut Rods)

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:08 pm

I like the effort you put into resizing this bush. I freaked out after I pulled my radius rods out and the bush hole was too small.

After thinking about it I lubed it up with the grease provided and pushed it on without any issues. All's well from there

Cheers

Bennie

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:15 am

hmmm, so that is why you were asking ages ago ??

mine were bought for something Subaru, are red, figured they would fit the L and vort due to not worky for the MY 4WD

Now, cannot find them to confirm number ...sat next to PC a year or so, in the laundry another year or so, thought I put them in the boot. mate, close those things up a few years and smell is so bad

Probably shocking things to line up in a lathe chuck