4x4

The story of my Suzuki Grand Vitara

12 Aug 2017

Juliette Remfrey 6

Back with bushes!

Starting with the cheapest items first and hoping they fixed the issue worked this time. The thump the car had from purchase that got louder then sounded like metal-on-metal after flexing on the Cobaw trip turned out to be the swaybar D-bushes. I’m surprised it wasn’t noticed earlier, the rub marks along the swaybar looked pretty obvious to me. Thankfully I didn’t have the steering rack looked at which was the advice I received before taking it for a second opinion. It’s amazing how a $25 set of bushes can cause so much noise and knocking through the steering. Rubber may not last long but it’s a cheap and easy fix so next time I’ll look out for polyurethane. There’s a definite improvement in handling now that the swaybar is more secure.

The front lower control arm rear bushes are also done as I ended up receiving the two correct bushes I needed, finally! It turns out that they weren’t a big job to replace, which is probably just as well as they weren’t as urgent as I’d been led to believe. Time will tell how long the polyurethane bushes hold up at severe angles offroad versus rubber. The bushes did provide some castor correction on the passenger side, and the castor is now the correct way around for Australian roads. The wheel alignment is pretty much bang on now, so they were worthwhile for that alone.

With the worst noises gone a binding noise still remains when turning and the suspension creaks in the rear. I’ll have Ironman check over the car to make sure everything is installed as it should be. Both noises appeared post-lift.

And something magical has happened. From what I can gather the car sat around for roughly 6 months before I bought it and that would have done the battery no good. While I’ve had no issues starting it in the time I’ve owned it, I also let it sit for nearly a month with broken bushes, save for a few small trips. The battery went flat with the mechanic and they jump started the car. Suddenly I have an instrument cluster I can read! I’m not sure if something was loose (maybe an earth?) or an ECU reset has fixed it but it’s great to be able to read the instrument cluster again. So thanks for going flat, battery, it would have taken ages for me to get to the bottom of what was going on!

Now that the bushes are done and the car feels and drives so much better it is ready for tyres. I’m also thinking about a bullbar for improved approach angle, protection, recovery points and somewhere to mount accessories. More on that in a future update.