Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Raeturbo]

Right the wishbones  I bought from eBay have knackered in about 3000 miles so I want to bite the bullet and buy some better ones, but I don’t want to go over the top on price, anybody had good results with aftermarket ones and if so what make please

[Diamond Black Geezer]

First question - were the bolts tightened once the car was down and on the level? Because even genuine Vx will be ripped to shreds in about 3k miles or less if they are torqued up whilt the wheels are still off the ground. 

ATP are thought of as 'decent for the price' / best bang per buck.

Next step up (and what I always personally recommend) any old cheap n cheerful wishbones, with Poly bushes and genuine Vx rear bushes and genuine Vx balljoints. Build your own, even slap a good coat of stonechip paint on them (as I did) to prolong the metalwork.   

[Raeturbo]

Thank you for the reply and yes I believe it’s mandatory for all wishbones, I’m reluctant to use these useless things even to rebush they’re rubbish so I’ll try the ATP then perhaps.

[Raeturbo]

Just found a pair of atp on eBay for £58.95 free p&p can they be ok for that price then?

[Diamond Black Geezer]

So you are in command of all the facts, genuine GM have a weld seal all the way round the vertical bush 'collar', aftermarkets (as mine are) tend to only have a few blobs. They have been known to fail, under extreme pressure/abuse, however 30k done on mine and no death yet  I'd say its very very very rare.

For this reason some people prefer to use second hand GM ones, clean up, repaint then rebush etc.

However, that ATP price sounds like the right sort of ballpark. They do (well, did at least) a kit of wishbones, droplinks, track rods for maybe £80, I seem to recall.

Consensus on here is if youre touching the suspension, do the lot, get a geometry set up at the same time. Don't have a geo setup, save £50, but burn through three times that in tyres per year before you realise your error... if you see what I mean. 

[Raeturbo]

Ok that’s my kinda price I will get them. Thanks

[dave the builder]

Just found a pair of atp on eBay for £58.95 free p&p can they be ok for that price then?

what cheap ones did you buy 
the ATP kit at £75 clicky link

surely the same as the £59 ones  same seller
may as well get the entire kit if not for £16 more

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Thats the kit I was referring to  Good to see its still out there (5 years since I bought it)

[Raeturbo]

Yes indeed I’ll buy the kit even if I never use them and give them away later👍

[TheBoy]

Most of the shite in the ATP kit is pointless.  You'd be mad to use the TRE for example.  The stuff is utter rubbish.

Although its cheap enough to replace every 6-9 months, its the subsequent alignment costs that make it unfeasible to do so.

[Alnico Blue]

There is always conflicting opinions on this subject . . . of course everyone would like to use the best stuff or/ & probably the best way to go is recon of genuine GM bones with poly & new bushes.  But . .. the likes  Oofers like me who do low mileage in the omega & drive at a fairly sedate pace most of the time , find that the ATP kit is more than adequate for my use.
  Of course owners who drive in a "spirited manner" most of the time would probably wreck this type of component in a short time .  But I would recommend them for anyone in a similar useage situation to me .  Seem to remember Dr. Gollum in the past  advising that APT bones are good for up to 20k miles .

[Raeturbo]

He’s a moaner, so if they’re good enough for him then I’m sure they’ll be good enough fo me

[TheBoy]

Seem to remember Dr. Gollum in the past  advising that APT bones are good for up to 20k miles .

Yeah, but he ran his tyres so inflated that he couldn't feel the fact they were knackered, as the car was constantly sliding around all over the place

[Nick W]

There is always conflicting opinions on this subject . . . of course everyone would like to use the best stuff or/ & probably the best way to go is recon of genuine GM bones with poly & new bushes.  But . .. the likes  Oofers like me who do low mileage in the omega & drive at a fairly sedate pace most of the time , find that the ATP kit is more than adequate for my use.
  Of course owners who drive in a "spirited manner" most of the time would probably wreck this type of component in a short time .  But I would recommend them for anyone in a similar useage situation to me .  Seem to remember Dr. Gollum in the past  advising that APT bones are good for up to 20k miles .

Mine did more than that. But I'm not heavy on stuff, as I got 25k out of a set of four budget tyres, did 50k miles on the front discs and pads that were fitted to my car a year before I bought it and averaged 25mpg in normal use. The quoted 'typical wear' rates  many OOF members suggest make me think they could break rocks.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

ATP will be fine.

I only Poly'd mine because I had a soon-to-be sold car which I knew had Polys on its wishbones, so cannibalized them, and balljoints are still readily available, so went the whole hog and 'GM'd' my aftermarket wishbones.

I had more free time then to go to the labours of hacking up wishbones and uprating them.