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bad bushings, and rusted bolts; bushings are shot and bolts are stubborn
Topic Started: Jul 15 2016, 10:10 AM (715 Views)
Theduckslayer
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just replaced the struts, and cut the springs 1 coil around on all 4 sides. the result is going from a boat handling geo metro to a street legal go kart, but! as in any old car, once you fix one thing, everything else breaks. in my circumstance most of the rear bushings i found out were shot, and i had to cut through thspindle bolt that holds the strut in. so now i have to find out the best way to drill that bolt out so to put another in and secure the strutand replave all of the bushings. right now i am stuck with the bushing sleeve on the spindle, and getting the allignment bolts out of the body of the car....any of you guys have any suggestions. would like to know if anyone has gone to poly aswell since im opening this pandoras box of rust


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92blumetro
jack of all trades, master of two

t-dot performance has whiteline bushings, order parts for a Suzuki. I have aftermarket toe-bars, so I didn't need bushings or bolts for those. but I replaced all of the other bushings, what a difference it makes.
http://teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=60904#p446211
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92blumetro
jack of all trades, master of two

I found the old bags that the whiteline bushings came in! #'s as follows:

W61463- CONTROL ARM OUTER

W61461- CONTROL ARM INNER REAR

W61460- CONTROL ARM INNER FRONT

those are the numbers for all the rear bushings, minus the toe rod bushings, but they do have those as well.
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Theduckslayer
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The alignment bolt might have to be sacrificed by either saw blade, or constant blows with a hammer. It is in there good, I can get to the bushing less sleeve easier. Does the allignment bolt have a part number from Suzuki I can use to replace the rusted one?
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

on hardware that rusty i don't even try to get the eccentric adjuster bolts out. i go straight for my pneumatic die grinder with a 3" cut off disc and slice the bolts up to get them off.

the toe adjuster arms are trash. don't even bother trying to re-use them.

the steel crush sleeves rusted onto the m12 studs on the knuckles need to have a grinder run on the outer sides until you see a crack in the tubing. then hit it with a gas flame to burn out rust, and twist the sleeve off with a set of vise grip pliers. run a die over the threads, m12 x 1.25, to clean that up and use new nuts. i use stainless steel for this position. ;)
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Theduckslayer
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Got it! Going to try to tackle that Monday. I found the part number for the allignment bolts 4633060E01. For a Suzuki swift 1990/Suzuki aerio 2006. They are $10ea with a $10 handling fee. I might have to bite it and pay $30 for those 2 bolts. As far as the bolt in the knuckle, I am going to drill the cut bolt out, and tap a new thread in for the replacement bolt so i don't damage the strut!
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Theduckslayer
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http://www.worldoemparts.com/worldsuzukisubaruparts/oe-suzuki/4633060e01
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solerpower
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What ever you do don't hammer on the middle alignment bolt. The whole back metal surround will give before the bolts even budge. The outer ones are not to bad. I cut a flat spot on the top and bottom of the sleeve with a die grinder. I then hit it with acetylene torch. When the sleeve is red hot I turn it off with a pipe wrench. It works pretty well, and the threads are not damaged at all. The inside I cut off the tie rod and the bushing, and then I cut the sleeve in half (longitudinal direction) with the cutting torch. Be careful not to hit the brake line(s). If you find a west coast Metro everything will come off in about 1 minute without doing anything. I pulled my donors off without even jacking up the car both sides in less than a couple minutes. The car I was taking apart took a couple hours.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

honestly, by the time you are done buying the parts to get the toe control rods back to the factory set you will be around the same money it would cost to pay for a mod that would actually fix all the problems with the crappy factory set up. :whistle

the pressed, wimpy factory toe links flex so badly that they never really "control" anything. :P

here's what i do:
http://geometroforum.com/single/?p=1020718&t=4748047

tubular section toe links are much better. they are stronger, don't flex, and actually hold the rear toe settings while cornering. i do this to all my metros as part of my formulaic suspension modification. :thumb this mod does away with the problematic eccentric adjusters and makes alignments much easier and more precise.

look for dethbrd at teamswift.net . he sells toe links directly there and also on ebay. ;)
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Theduckslayer
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T3ragtop what diameter pipe, what size bolt and what size heim joints did you use for your setup. Do you have any links? Thank you guys for all the help by the way!
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solerpower
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Here is your Ebay link for the control arms:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-02-Geo-Metro-Swift-Sprint-Firefly-rear-toe-control-arm-lateral-link-bar-/201345576213?fits=Make%3ASuzuki%7CModel%3ASwift%7CSubmodel%3AGT&hash=item2ee121ad15:g:ViwAAOSwm8VUwusp&vxp=mtr

The heim joint on these ones are 3/4". You use the exact same diameter bolt that was there (I believe it is a 12mm by ?)

Here are the ones I used:

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The heim joint on these ones are 5/8". The fillers are bushings I bought from AC Hardware. I used the same measurement on the inside and outside to match the stock ones. I have cover sleeves that I bought separately. The Ebay ones have the cover sleeves witch is an added bonus.
T3Ragtop is right that these are an amazing upgrade for Geos and Swifts alike.

People have commented before in the past that it doesn't matter because the inside metal used is super thin and will bend before the endlinks do. This simply isn't true. Because of the way the metal thin as it may be is formed to create a box it will handle the forces on it beyond what the stock endlinks could ever provide. Which in turn allows the aftermarket rear tierods to improve the rear handling of the car.
Edited by solerpower, Jul 17 2016, 11:26 AM.
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geogonfa
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Good info...but just curious, please say your using jack stands and not just relying on that scissor jack :shake
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Theduckslayer
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I did a little research while at work today, and found a way to possibly make the end links my self out of that looks like the same anodized gold rod Dethbrd used for his setup. I still need to measure the eye to eye on the toe link itself then subtract 4" for the space of the end links, so I did not include the part# for the aluminum rod

Aluminum tube x2 22.99
1750507 x2 - 15.99
1750707 x2 - 15.99
1756047 x2 (lh) - 3.99
1756047 x2(rh) - 3.99

http://www.speedwaymotors.com

Geogonfa. With all of that rust under there, I would never have the scissor jack alone! Those things are the definition of unstable. Lol
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LesCrapp
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Legend

solerpower
Jul 17 2016, 11:12 AM
Here is your Ebay link for the control arms:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-02-Geo-Metro-Swift-Sprint-Firefly-rear-toe-control-arm-lateral-link-bar-/201345576213?fits=Make%3ASuzuki%7CModel%3ASwift%7CSubmodel%3AGT&hash=item2ee121ad15:g:ViwAAOSwm8VUwusp&vxp=mtr

The heim joint on these ones are 3/4". You use the exact same diameter bolt that was there (I believe it is a 12mm by ?)

Here are the ones I used:

Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
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The heim joint on these ones are 5/8". The fillers are bushings I bought from AC Hardware. I used the same measurement on the inside and outside to match the stock ones. I have cover sleeves that I bought separately. The Ebay ones have the cover sleeves witch is an added bonus.
T3Ragtop is right that these are an amazing upgrade for Geos and Swifts alike.

People have commented before in the past that it doesn't matter because the inside metal used is super thin and will bend before the endlinks do. This simply isn't true. Because of the way the metal thin as it may be is formed to create a box it will handle the forces on it beyond what the stock endlinks could ever provide. Which in turn allows the aftermarket rear tierods to improve the rear handling of the car.
Idea or question wonder if you flattened out tabs on the old toe adjust plates and ran a piece of stock in between them if it would stiffen up the rear end any Just a thought :hmm
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

i use 12mm replacement hardware and 12mm heim joints. the aluminum tubing is 5/8ths " heavy wall t6061 aircraft grade that i bore and tap to accept the left and right hand 12mm threads.

if you use standard sae heim joints you must use centering cones or the joints will have way too much slop to hold the rear end in alignment. ;)
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