Front Shock Lower Bushing Sleeve

[S2Jay]

Front Shock Lower Bushing Sleeve [Could not think what else to call them.]

Ok, have not seen this item covered before & no good pics anywhere that I could find, including on websites of RD Ent, TonyT, SJ Sportscars, and this forum.
What's the problem?
When assembling the Front Suspension on this S2 Elan with a set of "new" [used] Konis, the steel sleeve in the lower eye bushing where the mounting bolt goes through between the wishbone halves is "offset" to one side.

The Bushing in the eye appears to be an original rubber bushing, and the Steel Tube/Spacer/Sleeve through the center for the through-bolt mounting does not appear to have been modified. The offset can be seen in the attached pic. The offset is approx 0.48" on one side & 0.12" on the other.

The sleeve is so long on 1 side that i side of the wishbone contacts the Turret while there is still a gap on the other side, and if you try to tighten the through-bolt it will try to push the bottom of the shock sideways. Not sure I have described this well, but the pics help, I think.

I suppose one of the simplest solutions would be to just cut the sleeve on the long side & make a spacer of appropriate length for the other side. But I thought it best to check here in case there is something I am not seeing, or if this iis a common situation, is there a better fix, etc. Don’t know if these shocks were originally set up for some other application, but they are the same P.N. as the ones I removed from this car: [82 1691 Special “D”].
So any & all comments, suggestions welcomed & appreciated, as always.

[oldelanman]

I would say those bushes have failed and need to be replaced. The inner sleeve should be bonded to the rubber and should not be offset as yours are.

[S2Jay]

Thanks Roger. I appreciate the input. It does look like the bushings will need to be replaced. I was surprised that the sleeve does not seem to be loose at all, so I don’t know why they became so offset, unless they were originally for some other application.
It can’t be seen in the pic, but the bushings do not appear too dried or rotted, and the inner sleeve seems firmly attached/ bonded to the rubber.
Also, I have not yet found a source for this bushing, so I may need to re-use it. It may normally come built into the shocks when new. Even if I can get one from Koni, or whomever, it looks like it would be tough to remove & replace and hold in position.

If I can use the existing bushing, then the easiest solution may be to cut off the excess length of the long side sleeve, then add part of that tube to the other side, with flat washers on each side against the wishbone.

Although, at that point, it would begin to look a bit like something created by Mickolus von Mousenstein.
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[oldelanman]

I just dug out an old original damper for comparison. As you can see the sleeve does not extend beyond the rubber of the bush which is central in the eye of the damper. I measure the width of the eye at 27 mm and the sleeve and rubber at 34 mm overall. The TTR dampers I have fitted now look to be similar although I can't measure them on the car.

Replacement bushes are available from the usual suppliers here in the UK but these are for the original dampers and probably would not fit your Konis.

Why not contact Koni directly for advice, they may have agents in the US who could help you.
https://www.koniuk.co.uk/contact

[S2Jay]

Great! Thanks much for the pics & info. I will try to contact Koni, but now I am curious about the original installation, such as yours. When assembled, is there a gap between the Shock bushing & the wishbone halves?

If assembled without the extension of the steel tube sleeve, then it appears that there would be a gap. This would-be gap, is bridged by the extension of the sleeve in this pic, taken before disassembly. The extension on 1 side is a bit longer than the other side [opposite side of the same shock, not opposite side of the car].

Of the dozens [probably hundreds] of pics I took during disassembly/ cleaning, etc, I could only find 1 pic that even remotely shows that area. I cropped the pic to get to the 2 mg limit here, but even in close-up, it barely shows the steel sleeve protruding primarily from 1 side. And this is the same P.N. Koni as the replacement which has the long offset steel sleeve.
Of course, I do not know if this installation was done correctly, as it was on the car when I bought it.
I am thinking that if there is a gap when I assemble the "new" Koni, then it would be stronger if there is a steel tube sleeve of the proper length.
It would be great to see other examples, but I have not been able to find other pics that show this clearly.

[oldelanman]

I am curious about the original installation, such as yours. When assembled, is there a gap between the Shock bushing & the wishbone halves?

No.
As shown in my previous photo, the rubber part of the bush is the same length as the inner steel sleeve so when installed there is no sleeve exposed. I suggest you compare the dimensions I gave above with your Konis to see what's different ... looks to me that the bush housing in your Konis is narrower than the original dampers .... maybe someone else with Konis can confirm what you have is typical.

TTR damper installation viewed from below

[RichardHawkins]

Mike,

Thanks, that’s what I was looking for but could not find.

Thanks a lot,

Richard Hawkins