Rubber bushes help

physichull · 16 Jul 2010 at 17:20

Greetings OCUK'ers.

I have just got my Ford Focus back from the garage after having passed its MOT, but it came with a couple of advisories. The one I am a bit lost about is:

"Offside and nearside rear Trailing arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement".

What does that mean and would it be expensive to fix if it were to become an issue?

Help greatly appreciated please. Bear in mind I have no idea what a rubber bush is....

Defcon5 · 16 Jul 2010 at 17:21

They are cheap, but can be a pain to fit. Wont be expensive provided you dont take it to Ford

physichull · 16 Jul 2010 at 17:25

What are they? Something to do with the suspension?

Lopéz · 16 Jul 2010 at 17:39

The rubber bits in your suspension components, basically speaking.

Usual fix is to replace the whole trailing arm which comes with new bushes installed in it.

The bushes are those round bits at each end

Never really had a Focus in bits but looks like there are a couple of different trailing arm bushes so worth getting the garage to point out the knackered ones.

physichull · 16 Jul 2010 at 19:01

Cheers, thanks for your help. Doesn't look like anything too major.

Mucky_Pup · 16 Jul 2010 at 21:06

Some of my bushes have started to show signs of deteriation, but are still ok, when I have the time and money I'm getting them all upgraded with poly bushes.

realscot · 16 Jul 2010 at 22:46

I see these bushes all cracked and sorry looking on many a focus, and not once has it had an effect on the cars handling. With most bushes, if it's knocking it needs replacing, or if it's causing excessive movement where there shouldn't be. Advisories aren't just to let people know when things are going wrong, they are also a way of keeping testers out of trouble, saying we noticed something, but we didn't think it required replacing.
Trailing arm bushes will start knocking eventually, but i've never ever seen one fail all together in such a way that the car would be unsafe to drive.

physichull · 16 Jul 2010 at 22:57

Yeah, when I spoke to the mechanic, all he mentioned was that the front tyres and brake disks would need replacing in about 6 months and that a wiper relay had gone, he never even mentioned the bushes. I guess that is why, he just noted them on his tests.

LEK-89 · 17 Jul 2010 at 10:47

Suspension bushes on many Ford's, mostly MK1 Focus's & 95-02 Fiesta's are a really common problem because they simply do not last long at all, no where near compared to bushes that are on other cars i.e. VW & BMW etc. My old Fiesta failed it's MOT a few month's ago on rear bushes and cost £95 to get them both replaced. The actual bushes in a pair only cost around £20 but it's mainly the labour charge which cost's because of already mentioned, how much of a pain they are to change.

Liam