[DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises

[clay willmott]

There are zero Metal parts or sleeves in these all plastic bushings.All of the bushing is hard machined plastic (Delrin) and the bolt slides directly through the plastic.I cleaned them all and inspected carefully and even placed a magnet on them.I called a reputable vendor and he had never heard of any bushings like these, not sure where they came from.  Once was missing 30 percent of its material but was not on the side with the noises.
You are correct the pic I took I slightly withdrew each bushing to show the material better.  They are very loose and if you pick up the a arms and give it a good shake they all fall out onto the ground.
I just checked the back of the car and the same bushings are there.I recall the lower rear a arm can be fused and rusted and there is a kit to replace that, how do I tell if thats been done already?
All new bushings and sway bar accessories are ordered.
I was gonna just do the front but now I figure if these are not proper I might as well do it all since everything else is new.I should have done these bushings last time with the ball joints, bearings, brakes, rack etc but was told they looked "ok".  I guess you dont know unless you remove them and DIY.
ThanksClay


From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:42:19 -0400
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] steering rack....Again??!!Bump steer and noises
To: claywillmott at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com



In a message dated 6/28/11 7 41 38, claywillmott at hotmail.com writes:







Man I am confused on my Push Button A Arm Bushings.  Mine look nothing like the pantera site.

My a arms have zero metal in the bushings.  I can pull the extremely hard poly out of each side with one finger and there is no metal bushing inside the a arms.there is a round metal appearing washer on most of the a arms mounts on my frame though.These are hard machined poly like I use on my Buick Race car.

Are they the wrong ones or did the washers come off the ends and fuse with my frame?  Either way I thought bushings were hard to removed I could shake these out almost!A 2 year old could easily pull all these bushings out of my a arm.

Clay

Is this another weird Push Button thing?





Clay sent me photos of his bushings.   Initialy I thought they don't appear to fit the A-arms at all.



http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=32424



Then I figured out that he faked me out!   Both ends have been slightly withdrawn from the A-arm, which then shows a bunch of clearance.   Right Clay?



That photo seems to show bushings which aren't fully installed, but in all other respects appear perfectly normal.



You say your bushings have zero metal--yet there should be a steel sleeve in the center, through which the mounting bolt passes.   The washers you mention are normally welded to the mounting tabs on the chassis.



I see absolutely nothing unusual here.



Mike