How cunning car owners fix the suspension without buying spare parts
- March 14, 2023
- 0
It just sounds casual: “shake up the suspension”. In fact, such an operation, as a rule, hits the car owner’s wallet. You can go broke just buying new
It just sounds casual: “shake up the suspension”. In fact, such an operation, as a rule, hits the car owner’s wallet. You can go broke just buying new levers, ball bearings and silent blocks. The AvtoVzglyad portal tells how to drastically reduce such expenses.
Automakers around the world have perfected the principle attributed to Henry Ford. He demands to produce cars in order to sell spare parts for them later. And in a modern passenger car, everything possible is made ‘disposable’. Includes hanging parts. Take leverage, for example.
This is a large piece of iron with two or three ball joints attached to it. One such hinge failed – that’s all, throw away the whole handle and turn it into a new, dear car owner! Because this assembly is not separable, the manufacturer has specially designed it that way. It is also profitable for him to sell you not one “ball joint”, but the entire lever structure.
By switching to the use of non-genuine suspension parts, the driver’s wallet is partly saved. However, not quite. But there is a way out. In addition, if they find it, the owners of a used “premium” get especially high, spare parts, the repair of which sometimes cost as if they were made of gold. So, the first method is the most budgetary and quite effective. Its essence is that a special plastic in molten form is pumped into a broken ball (sometimes even without disassembling it!). It fills all the cavities and then hardens and turns into a new ball bearing.
The recipe is such that the hardened plastic becomes stronger than the factory liner. The procedure costs about 600 ₽. The restored part has then driven about 25,000 km without any complaints. This operation can be repeated up to three times during the life of the support. “On the circle” resuscitation of three wishbone supports costs 3000-4000 rubles – including the cost of the operation to remove / put the entire assembly on the car. And this despite the fact that just one purchase of a more or less high-quality “non-original” of such a spare part costs for some “Japanese” from 3,000 to 15,000 rubles – and this is without taking into account the cost of a car mechanic. Savings are evident.
A more serious approach to restoring ball joints involves disassembling, grinding, installing a new liner and applying new grease. The price of such work is higher – about 1000 rubles apiece. But it still turns out to be at least twice as profitable as buying a new part. In addition, after resuscitation, the hinge becomes collapsible and serviceable – an unlimited number of times.
As for the silent blocks, they are also restored, avoiding expensive replacement with new ones. Here, with the help of a press, the worn-out elastic element is replaced with an insert made of polymer material. Which, with careful operation of the machine, turns out to be almost eternal.
Avito’s photo
Automakers around the world have perfected the principle attributed to Henry Ford. He demands to produce cars in order to sell spare parts for them later. And in a modern passenger car, everything possible is made ‘disposable’. Including hanging parts. Take leverage, for example.
This is a large piece of iron with two or three ball joints attached to it. One such hinge failed – that’s all, throw away the whole handle and turn it into a new, dear car owner! Because this assembly is not separable, the manufacturer has specially designed it that way. It is also profitable for him to sell you not one “ball joint”, but the entire lever structure.
By switching to the use of non-genuine suspension parts, the driver’s wallet is partly saved. However, not quite. But there is a way out. In addition, the owners of a second-hand “premium” are especially happy when they find it, the spare parts for the repair of which sometimes cost as if they were made of gold. So, the first method is the most budgetary and quite effective. Its essence is that a special plastic is pumped into a broken ball (sometimes even without disassembling it!), in a molten form. It fills all the cavities and then hardens and turns into a new ball bearing.
The recipe is such that the hardened plastic becomes stronger than the factory liner. The procedure costs about 600 ₽. The restored part has then driven about 25,000 km without any complaints. This operation can be repeated up to three times during the life of the support. “On a circle” resuscitation of three wishbone supports will cost 3000-4000 rubles – including the cost of the operation to remove / put the entire assembly on the car. And this despite the fact that just one purchase of a more or less high-quality “non-original” of such a spare part costs for some “Japanese” from 3,000 to 15,000 rubles – and this is without taking into account the cost of a car mechanic. Savings are evident.
A more serious approach to restoring ball joints involves disassembling, grinding, installing a new liner and applying new grease. The price of such work is higher – about 1000 rubles apiece. But it still turns out to be at least twice as profitable as buying a new part. In addition, after resuscitation, the hinge becomes collapsible and serviceable – an unlimited number of times.
As for the silent blocks, they are also restored, avoiding expensive replacement with new ones. Here, with the help of a press, the worn-out elastic element is replaced with an insert made of polymer material. Which, with careful operation of the machine, turns out to be almost eternal.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
