I know that a few out there have had problems with the front sway bar bushes in the past, in particular being chewed out and knocking. Which bushes is it that you were having problems with? Was it the D bushes and if so did you find an after market replacement option. I seem to remember it may have been covered somewhere but cant seem to find it. I think this may be my elusive knocking sound that I hear in the front end periodically.

Yeah, they replaced the D bushes on mine from memory,done under warranty so just factory gear i would think.

Nolathane?

Nolathane dont do any bushes for the 380. They got as far as the part numbers before the 380 got pulled and didnt go any further. There is a QLD company that does them I know. Cant remember the name. It sounds like the front D bushes are the problem.

Mine are fine after my Mech loaded them?? so I did not get a chance to go to Heasman to see if they have something to fit

Soz

I may have to chase down fulcrum to see if they do them.

I had knocking sounds from my suspension for a while, but couldn't track down the cause. Mainly on coldish mornings when going over bumps.

Replaced the front sway bar D bushes a month ago, hey presto no more noise!

Cost only $6 or $7 each from my local Mitsu dealer + $35 labour to fit. The mechanic (my exhaust guy, not the dealer) said the old ones were definitely knackered. Note that the bolts holding the D brackets are a little difficult to get at and they are/were bloody tight, which is why I had my exhaust guy do it rather than DIY. Didn't relish the idea of yanking as hard as I could on a bolt while lying under a jacked up car!

I don't drive all that hard, only the occaisional bit of 'enthusiastic' cornering, so it seems the OEM D bushes wear out fairly quickly even under normal driving. Lowered springs and bigger wheels & tyres might have caused them to wear out a little quicker than normal, but I don't reckon that would have made a lot of difference.

KJ.

I drive my car very hard through the corners - what my Falkens were bought for. I've now clocked 104, 000km and no sign of front end knocking.
I've just had a front and rear wheel alignment and no reports of bushes on the way out; so it's not just that my hearing has failed.

That must be it!

I don't drive hard enough!

Too much Grandpa mode causes the bushes to harden up due to lack of use, they need plenty of hard work to stay supple!

/sarc

You have a VRX so you have the 'sports' suspension compared to my pov pack base model, so maybe the VRX suspension includes better and/or heavier duty front sway bar bushes?

But when I asked the dealer for new bushes the bloke on the spare parts counter didn't ask 'base model or VRX/SX/GT suspension?'

I'm dropping in there again today so I'll ask about this.

Edit - just got back from the dealer, one part for all models, part # 4056A158.

So Knotched I can't explain why my bushes wore out at around 40,000k and yours are still going strong at 104,000k, especially seeing as you (apparently) give it more in the corners than I do.

KJ.

Maybe it's a quality control issue; but seems unlikely.

Next time I'm at my tyre supplier I'll ask them specifically how the front bushes are travelling.

Mine went belly up between the 60k and 75k service and I could tell they were gone as the knocking was quite noticeable. Quiet again now...

mine are knocking again

After my Mech loaded them up before my road trip to Vic they were fine oh well getting new spring so I will get these fixed too sitting @ 68K

mine are knocking again

After my Mech loaded them up before my road trip to Vic they were fine oh well getting new spring so I will get these fixed too sitting @ 68K

Mecha,

What do you mean by 'loaded them up'?

Replaced them with new?

Tightened the brackets?

Coated them with plenty of grease? (which only works if you take them right off and coat them with special grease).

And if your mech took the existing ones off, greased and refitted them then he should have noticed that they were on the way out.

KJ.

The front swaybar bushes on my VRX were replaced at the 15,000 service.
The sway bar had been making clunking noises for about 2000K's before they were replaced.

dunno but he also said mine were fine but I have a knock all the time ATM