Squeaky Spherical bushings BP51

[Markuson]

Whats the VD101019SP for? Not seeing that on the part charts that ARB sent me. I Ordered the 10010018SP x2 for the bottom of the struts. Also all the other bags, what are those. Did I miss something?? @Markuson

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ARB made a change to the part at some point, and because there was uncertainty about which serial numbers mine were, they sent both. Has to do with being an early adopter, and the fact they sent additional sets to replace my originals.

 

[arich]

I just go the Spherical bearings from Cruiser Outfitters. Parts number VD11010018SP. $140 for the pair. The actual bearing is a F.K. Bearing Part Number COM18MT F2 Fit
This doesn't appear to be a driveway fix. The instructions are talking about a separate ARB tool kit to press the bearings out with an arbor or manual press. Has anyone actually done it themselves? If I have to pull them I'm putting the Koni 90 Raids on for the winter and sending these in for service.
I was thinking this would be a "find the right size socket" and tap them out kind of job.
ANT

 

[hickuptruck]

Everything that I've wanted to say is in this thread. I don't have BP51s or Kings but do have Raflos on my 100. It has poly top bushing and spherical joint at the shock mount.

Basically as a me too point for this thread/another point of reference

-the spherical bushing squeaks when I'm using it off-road going over 20mph. Any higher speed 20mph+ running and I hear it through the cab. Tried spraying ptfe dry lube and it just washes away. The squeaking is inherent to the high end shocks. Squeaking doesn't mean it needs to be replaced - waste of effort and $. If you watch videos of midtravel and up prerunners up to full blown desert trucks, there is no end of squeaking picked up from the mic from the shock making that noise.

- I've tried non poly bushes on my Radflos, the old ahc bushings. The regular oe bushings transmit a bit less nvh into the cab. Poly bushings don't take even the slightest bit of overtightening because they tear whereas rubber ones deform more before tearing when overtightened. Seen this on track vehicles.

Factory spec torque is for rubber OE bushings. Torque the poly bushing to where it's snug, which will always be less than the OE spec torque #

 

[bloc]

That doeesn't look anything like the bushings on the Kings I got this winter. Mine are a black urethane with lips that center in the hole. And they are bracketed by blue aluminum cup washers. My bottom mounts are spherical bearings. I wonder if they made running changes?

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Yep, that's what the ones I pulled out looked like when new, and what the replacements looked like again. Wear in an amazing thing.

Kings are great, but they are race components. Race components handle excessive abuse for a short period of time. OE components handle limited abuse for an extended period of time. One is not right or wrong, just two different products for two different applications.

Just wanted to verify.. the bushings you showed had the raised section in the middle to better fill out the larger hole in the cruiser crossmember? Your pic seemed like those bushings were flat.

I ask because I ordered new upper bushings to have on the shelf in case mine grenade, and what King sent isn't like what came on the original shocks.

See Charlie's picture with the smaller diameter raised section in the middle.. my replacements didn't have that. Also still curious if you think a level panhard rod (lower frame-side mount) would lessen these bushing issues.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Just wanted to verify.. the bushings you showed had the raised section in the middle to better fill out the larger hole in the cruiser crossmember? Your pic seemed like those bushings were flat.

I ask because I ordered new upper bushings to have on the shelf in case mine grenade, and what King sent isn't like what came on the original shocks.

See Charlie's picture with the smaller diameter raised section in the middle.. my replacements didn't have that. Also still curious if you think a level panhard rod (lower frame-side mount) would lessen these bushing issues.

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Those look like all the King bushes I’ve been getting for about the last year. Also, a rubber lip isn’t going to hold against frame abrasion. A metal washer lip, yea, rubber, no.

As for as a panhard. The shocks themselves are going to change angle at the top end NOT because the axle housing is centered or not. It’s going to happen because the axle housing itself is literally on an arch swing as it compresses and extends due to the upper and lower control arms.

For any mountain biking dues out there, think those high end rear suspicions to move the rear tire perfectly up and down in a straight line... we don’t have that at all. and the swing is far more significant than the left right swing with a centered housing from an adjustable panhard. The length difference between a factory ride height panhard and a 4” lifted panhard is .2” longer. .2”

There is no way around that, which is why Toyota puts a metal washer on top of the bottom bush. The fact that King is not is, in my opinion, a failure on their part for not thinking deep about the OE. Which is super common for them actually. The resi mounts alone leave a lot to be desired if you put a camera under the car and drive down a gravel road. Too much pulling and tugging for my fast.

 

[AWilson013]

I just go the Spherical bearings from Cruiser Outfitters. Parts number VD11010018SP. $140 for the pair. The actual bearing is a F.K. Bearing Part Number COM18MT F2 Fit
This doesn't appear to be a driveway fix. The instructions are talking about a separate ARB tool kit to press the bearings out with an arbor or manual press. Has anyone actually done it themselves? If I have to pull them I'm putting the Koni 90 Raids on for the winter and sending these in for service.
I was thinking this would be a "find the right size socket" and tap them out kind of job.
ANT

I have replaced these on a friend's vehicle and just ordered the parts to do my own. Find the right socket and tap it out works just fine, as long as you remove the snap ring first.

Fairly quick job and it made the squeaks disappear. I think when I do mine I am going to leave that rubber o-ring out of the equation... I have had many other coilovers with spherical bushing on the bottom and never had that o-ring. Perhaps coincidentally, I have also never had the issue with the noisey bushings on any other coilovers I have owned.

 

[Recon Aircrew]

Have had almost two years of bump-induced squeaking from the rear suspension on our'16 LC with BP-51s. Extremely annoying. After bringing it into 4-Wheel Parts a few times, they offered to install new BP-51s on the rear (which I thought was pretty cool of them). Unfortunately, the squeaking persists even with the new shocks. Despite reading through the posts, it's still unclear to me if there is a bulls-eye on the issue and the best remedy (bushings, spherical bearings, etc?) Of note, I have zero issues on our '13 with BP-51's. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[kcjaz]

Have had almost two years of bump-induced squeaking from the rear suspension on our'16 LC with BP-51s. Extremely annoying. After bringing it into 4-Wheel Parts a few times, they offered to install new BP-51s on the rear (which I thought was pretty cool of them). Unfortunately, the squeaking persists even with the new shocks. Despite reading through the posts, it's still unclear to me if there is a bulls-eye on the issue and the best remedy (bushings, spherical bearings, etc?) Of note, I have zero issues on our '13 with BP-51's. Any thoughts? Thanks!

See my post #4 in this thread and the FAQ Thread Options for lifting a 200. The the lipped washers were my problem and the problem many have had. Your squeak could be different. I described the noise as a chirp more than a squeak. Its easy enough to look. The top nut is a bit of a pain but you can get to it with a long gear wrench.

 

[CharlieS]

Also, it isn't true that all "race" shocks squeak. I've run the same set of King 2.5 suspension on two different 200 series and they're quiet as church mice.

 

[bloc]

Also, it isn't true that all "race" shocks squeak. I've run the same set of King 2.5 suspension on two different 200 series and they're quiet as church mice.

Same here. Almost 20k on mine without a peep. I’ll pull one of the rears before long to check the upper bushings but there are no indicators of problems at all.

 

[Recon Aircrew]

See my post #4 in this thread and the FAQ Thread Options for lifting a 200. The the lipped washers were my problem and the problem many have had. Your squeak could be different. I described the noise as a chirp more than a squeak. Its easy enough to look. The top nut is a bit of a pain but you can get to it with a long gear wrench.

Thanks for that! I would also characterize my sound as chirping. Never-ending chirping.

To be sure I fully understand, all I need to do is replace the washer on the left (image) with one like that seen on the right (the stock washer)?

Image credit to Taco2Cruiser.

 

[kcjaz]

Thanks for that! I would also characterize my sound as chirping. Never-ending chirping.

To be sure I fully understand, all I need to do is replace the washer on the left (image) with one like that seen on the right (the stock washer)?

Image credit to Taco2Cruiser.

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yes. I used my old OEM washers as I didn't want to try getting new ones from OME or Slee (where I bought the kit).

 

[bloc]

This post isn't about sphericals, but it ended up talking about king bushings and I figured I'd post some feedback about my 35k mile rear kings after pulling them and getting some pictures. They were doing fine. I'm assuming what was sent on the kings posted earlier wasn't the correct part..

 

[Sharky1528]

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[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Has anyone found a source for replacement bearing spacers for the earlier gen BP51s with the FK COM18MT F2 fit bearings? One of my front coilovers is the older design and one is the newer design.

Looks like it’s a 3/4” to 1/2” spacer with a 1.5” mounted width and roughly 0.4” going into the bearing

I had a really large hit and bent my bolt on one side and had to drill it out and the misalignment spacers are toast.

Called/talked to several distributors (in Utah, Colorado, and locally) and they either referred me to ARB or were no help whatsoever. After contacting again, ARB told me to contact distributors for parts. I gave up on finding parts for a while as this is a spare suspension set I’ve got hanging in my garage on the wall.

Anyways, I want to get this set cleaned up and maybe thrown back on the truck as the Fox kit I have now is meh. So I’ve contacted ARB service again and they said the old ones weren’t something they could get. Asked if they could get me part drawings to compare to what’s on the market or so I could have replacements machined and they told me to submit a ticket to ARB AUS which I haven’t heard anything back about in over two months now.

Getting pretty annoyed by this whole deal at this point.