Check out these bushings

[Guest]

Excited to have my new rear tire and Progressive 412's on. Hoping to have a test ride soon, once I solve this other problem of starting over here: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=158163

But in the meantime, wanted to post some pics of the bushing on the MDI shocks I took off and get some opinions. Check out the one where you can see light through the bushing. What do you think?

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Those "bushings" bundled with the MDI shocks are junk. Mine looked like this after only 1000 miles.



Plastic sleeves and soft foam rubber make for lousy bushings. I went to AutoZone and found some better bushings. I also found them at Napa, but in a little different packaging.











I had to drill out the center a little and then trim off the extra rubber. But they work just fine.

I hope you can see my pictures Josh.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[gs road racer]

Cliff I think that deserves an ATTA BOY nice fix!wonder if those are available in Canada should I ever have the need.....now you should sell them on ebay along with your side stand coasters ahh fame and fortune await!

[Roostabunny]

Agreed - pretty resourceful!

And since the solution is out there and I don't have to worry that they're going to go all wobbly for sure, I'm now feeling OK about selling these things and getting back a smidge of what I spent on the upgrade.

Actually, that's the wrong way to think. I'll revise to ... getting a smidge of what I'm going to spend upgrading my brake lines.

Cheers,
Josh

Cliff I think that deserves an ATTA BOY nice fix!wonder if those are available in Canada should I ever have the need.....now you should sell them on ebay along with your side stand coasters ahh fame and fortune await!

[Roostabunny]

OK, Cliff, now I see the pics. And I'll bet my bushings looked like that after 1000 miles, too. After which (since I never looked at them until a few weeks ago), I probably proceeded to ride another two thousand miles.

[tas850g]

so the bushings (Dorman) in the pics basscliff posted are the ones to get right?

[BassCliff]

so the bushings (Dorman) in the pics basscliff posted are the ones to get right?

Hi,

They will work. Ideally, the next time I replace the bushings I'm going to have a friend fabricate some polyurethane or steel sleeves to go in the inside diameter of the rubber bushings. This will be more like the stock setup and last longer.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[tas850g]

Cliff, So the ones in the picture that look ratty are the ones that came out of the package? Do you think it is a good idea to replace the bushings that came with the shocks with those? Sounds like the ones you replace didn't seem to last very long.

You pretty much have to buy new shocks to get good bushings?

The progressive bushings are not in too bad of shape so i don't want to replace them with the ones that will not last long.

[salty_monk]

I think the ratty ones are the original MDI ones....

I would not replace "ok" progressive ones with the NAPA/Autozone ones. The progressives will still outlast them even if they are 50% or more worn as the NAPA ones do not have an inner sleeve.

The inner sleeve is also required for smooth shock action as it stops the outer/inner washers squeezing the rubber...

Dan

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Those ratty bushings I took out were the ones that came with the MDI shocks. They are junk. The harder rubber bushings I found in the auto store are better but will be even "more better" once I get some sleeves to go on the inside next to the shock mounts. I'm hoping to get some fabricated soon.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[SqDancerLynn1]

Cliff has the right idea. Going one step further, Save the metal bushing from your old shocks!!! Get the bushings in polyurethane ??, you may have to file/sand them to fit and enlarge the hole for the metal sleeve to fit. I have some leftover bushings from my Dodge so I may try it next few weeks.
Anyone have a lathe ??

[tas850g]

thanks for the clarification and advice. Very much appreciated.

[TheCafeKid]

Rose and I scavenged the metal eye bushings out of a worn out pair of stockers. One: they fit PERFECTLY, Two: the old shocks dont need em anymore They do the job, no fabricating necessary. Though, getting them out is a bit of fun. I would suggest, if you can get one, a spiral saw bit to chew out the old rubber around them. I used a drill and drilled multiple holes and they still required some serious digging to get em out. But, totally worth it

[fivetoedsloth]

Hi,

Those "bushings" bundled with the MDI shocks are junk. Mine looked like this after only 1000 miles.

The bushings on my MDI shocks looked almost that bad at about 200 miles. While the generally poor quality of the bushings aren't in question, I think a big part of the problem is that the washers that were on my bike, and the washers that came with the shocks, are just small enough to slip inside the eye at each end. In other words, there's nothing preventing the shock from walking off the bushing to one side or the other. This causes the part that gets squeezed out the other end to become mangled.

My long term solution is to use the metal sleeves from the old shocks on bushings like the ones BassCliff got at NAPA. In the meantime, I re-centered the existing bushings in the shock eyes and put some new, slightly larger washers on either side. This should prevent the shock eye from moving to the side and, hopefully, preserve the MDI bushings until I get around to replacing them. I can take some pictures if anyone would like to see this.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Taking this a step further! I have a set of MIDI shocks I am in the process of trying to install the Old stock bushings in them. I took a jigsaw to the old shocks and removed the complete bushing with the inner and outer metal sleeve intact. Will try and press them in with my vise