1981 rear trailing arms and panhard

Suspension related stuff goes in here.
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micbrody
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 443
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 4:50 pm
Your car is a: 1981 fiat 2000
Location: Munster, IN (Northwest Indiana near Chicago)

1981 rear trailing arms and panhard

Post by micbrody »

I am thinking of replacing the bushings on rear suspension. I see that AR has a kit for 1978 and earlier; but my car is a 1981. They sell bushings for my training arms: but I don't see panhard bushings. Also, someone on board posted that my year trailing arm bushings are not replaceable (I don't remember whom). So question to wise board members:
1) assuming they are replaceable, is the job of replacing bushings harder or easier than a-arm bushings? (I did the a-arm bushings myself)
2) what do I use for panhard bushing? Or is this not replaceable ?
3) I saw that Vicks sells polyurethane bushings for all points. My purpose is for comfortable, less noisy ride. Any thoughts on poly bushings ?
4) should I just abandon doing bushing change, and just buy new trailing arms with bushings ?
klweimer
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:45 am
Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000
Location: Arvada, Colorado

Re: 1981 rear trailing arms and panhard

Post by klweimer »

When I did my rear suspension, I just bought new arms and rod from AR, as the assemblies were cost effective and I wasn't sure what kind of shape the old parts were in. It looks like someone had tried to jack up the car on the panhard at some point.
Kirk
kmoses
Posts: 366
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:28 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Spider 2000

Re: 1981 rear trailing arms and panhard

Post by kmoses »

I have a '79 and also purchased the rear upper & lower trailing arms and panhard bar kit from AR. Everything went on great except the panhard bar. One end of the panhard bar is mounted with a bolt (passanger side) and the other end (drivers side) fits over a stud. I could not get the bushing on the stud. When I pulled it off to check the I.D. of the bushing, it was .002" smaller than the O.D. of the stud it needed to slide onto. The simple fix was to press out the metal sleeve from the new panhard bar and replace it with the one from the old bar. Check the fit of new parts before throwing away the old ones!
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Odoyle
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:06 pm
Your car is a: 1983 Pinafarina Spider
Location: CA

Re: 1981 rear trailing arms and panhard

Post by Odoyle »

My understanding is that the bushings on the back end last a very long time, and usually don't need to be replaced, though if you are replacing them, it is rather difficult to remove them so keep that in mind.
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