Lower arm bushes

[john493]

Guys
I'm replacing the front lower arm bushes on my Mk 4 Golf.
These are OE voided bushes and only fit one way.
Can you point me in the right direction as to the correct fitted position of the bushes.
Thanks

John

PS old bushes are solid ones, so can't copy those.

[tornadored7]

John,

Refering to the LCA rear bush pictured below;





Bush Orientation

There are two smiles (voids) indented into the LCA rear bush, one noticeably larger than the other. The large smile must face towards the outside of the LCA i.e. towards balljoint side of the LCA.



Bush Alignment

Furthermore, to acheive correct angular alignment, the bush should be rotated, such that the bush's alignment marks (arrows or raised dots) match the (OEM) LCA alignment dot marked onto one of the sides on the LCA (while retaining the correct orientation).

The cracks generated in the solid bush may also provide a clue to bush alignment.


Part Numbers and Tightening Torques

The following parts must be replaced;

• LCA Front Bolt
• LCA Rear Bolt
• LCA Rear bolt's Nut
• 3 x Balljoint to LCA bolts
• 30mm 12 point hub nut (if this was removed)

See Lower Suspension arm bush for part numbers and tightening torques.

Suspension bolts should be torqued with the car resting normally on the ground.
However, the Front LCA bolt then becomes difficult to reach, but is achievable using several 12 inch 1/2" socket extensions connected together !


Notes:

Neither the LCA nor the LCA bushes are sided (i.e. they are both left/right side interchangeable), hence the orientation + alignment procedure is applicable to both LCAs.
However, to achieve the correct castor, the balljoints are sided.

If you are getting spurious ESP issues following LCA bush replacement, get your tracking checked.

TR7

(Hope this reply isn't too late to be useful).

[john493]

Thanks tornado - helpful ! I might change to the non-voided bush, wish I'd known before buying the voided ones......
John

[tornadored7]

... I might change to the non-voided bush, wish I'd known before buying the voided ones......

John,

Unless you have the R32 cast LCAs, I'd actually recommend sticking with the voided bushes for pressed LCAs.

When I had the solid bushes installed into the pressed LCAs, they behaved well initially, but then seemed to feel very vauge suprisingly quickly. I discovered deep cracks spreading where the voids should have been present in the original bush.

Despite the compromised design of the voided bush and pressed LCA, I think the original bush's design was well suited to the pressed LCA.

TR7