R50/R53 :: Hatch Talk (2002-2006) Cooper (R50) and Cooper S (R53) hatchback discussion.

R50/53 Anyone re-bushed rear control arms with Super pro?

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Old 04-17-2015, 08:33 AM
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Madgepetto
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Anyone re-bushed rear control arms with Super pro?

Just looking for experiences with replacing the upper and lower rear control arm bushings ..I have the Super Pro bushings and also a set of Power Flex trailing arm replacement bushings...seems like quite a can of worms to do the trailing arm..

Any thoughts or advice welcome before I dive into this task.My R53 is a bit skittish on rough pavement and having replaced shocks and all that I am pretty sure there are wear issues in the rest of the suspension bushings.

Thanks for any and all input,

Mad Gepetto
 
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Old 04-19-2015, 05:18 AM
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I did mine last year with powerflex bushings. You'll need a shop press to remove and replace them. Find a flat plate of steel that just barely fits in the gap on the end of the control arms and jam it in there when pressing the bushings so you don't collapse them.

I bought the powerflex trailing arm bushings too but decided not to install them for two reasons. (1) The design actually looked less robust than the factory bushings and (2) stiffer trailing arm bushings do more to roughen the ride than they do to better the handling.

Also, I would recommend looking at front control arm bushing if your handling is skittish. They wear out faster than the rear and upgrading them to urethane bushings helps the handling more than the rear bushings.
 
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Old 04-19-2015, 07:13 AM
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Madgepetto
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Thanks!

Spent about half an hour under the back of the car yesterday and came to much the same conclusion about the trailing arm bushings..

The full Powerflex set looks way more stout than the insert set they make, but I can't see it doing much more than increasing harshness...I think I will get the OEM brackets with the bushings installed and sell these to someone wanting to track their car.

I did the front LCA bushings with Powerflex last year when replacing the shocks , a definite improvement...my issue is with the rear wheels feeling like they side step a bit on bumps...the Koni FSD shocks are not at all what I expected them to be either.
 
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