At 10:08 AM 11/5/97 -0500, Cliff Hansen wrote:
>Despite the impending repairs to my part-fetching Mazda
>pickup, I'm going ahead with my winter project anyway:
>rebuilding the front suspension on the TR-4A. This is
>my first venture to this area of the car.
>
>As a start, I want to order a complete re-busing kit.
>I know I need to rebush both upper and lower A-arms.
>After dis-assembly, I'll see what other parts I
>need.
>
>I've seen a number of ads for polyurethane bush kits.
>I'm inclined to use these instead of stock rubber for
>their longer life.
>
>Which kit do listers think is the best deal/most complete?
>Moss sells three (upper A-arm, lower A-arm, and shock)
>TRF sells a single kit but its Nylatron (what's that)
>Haven't checked with British Parts NW on exactly
>what their kit contains.
>
>On a related issue, the inner tie rod ends have a lot
>of slop (0.10") Moss says they're out of stock and don't
>know when they'll have any more. Looking at the pubs,
>it appears that these items can be rebuilt by replacing
>shims and washers. Anyone done this? Should I try it or
>just start hunting for replacement?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>
>Cliff Hansen
>1966 TR-4A CTC64615L
>Red, rough, running
>
>
Cliff,
I re-built the front suspension on my late TR-3, which I believe is similar
to the TR-4. I bought the nylon (or was it Delrin?) bushing kit from Moss.
I was satisfied with the installation, although my car isn't street-legal yet
so I haven't driven it much. My only complaint was that there are these
large rubber-bands which are supposed to keep road-crud out of the ends of
the bushings and they all disintegrated within a few weeks. That wouldn't
be a big deal, except that you have to take off the a-frames to replace them!
Personally, I would live with sloppy tie-rod ends until I could find new ones.
They aren't such a major undertaking as the bushing set if you have to do them
later.
Jim Harroun
'62 TR-3B
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