Powerflexed the Lower Torque Rod

[graemewelch]

james i strongly disagree with what youve wrote above. ive re read the posts in this tread and lee has given you nothing but good advise and is right on every level. you know as well as everyone else on here that lee is a very knolodgeable guy with not just volvos but cars in general and the standard of his car just shows that. after all it is what he dose for a living. i remember about a year ago getting the same sort of abuse from you when you got the hump with me cause you didnt agree with what i had to say. so for me james theres only one guy in the wrong here. dont take it as a personal attack im saying it as it is just like i do with every other thread on hear, no matter who started the thread. there is no hijacking on thread. its a public forum wear you ask for a lot of help. sooner or later people arnt going to refuse to help you.

[JamesT5]

james i strongly disagree with what youve wrote above. ive re read the posts in this tread and lee has given you nothing but good advise and is right on every level. you know as well as everyone else on here that lee is a very knolodgeable guy with not just volvos but cars in general and the standard of his car just shows that. after all it is what he dose for a living. i remember about a year ago getting the same sort of abuse from you when you got the hump with me cause you didnt agree with what i had to say. so for me james theres only one guy in the wrong here. dont take it as a personal attack im saying it as it is just like i do with every other thread on hear, no matter who started the thread. there is no hijacking on thread. its a public forum wear you ask for a lot of help. sooner or later people arnt going to refuse to help you.

Some people will read Lee's replies and think the same as me, some won't. But I don't like the tone of his replies and that's the end of it. Most people don't reply like that on here so somewhere something has gone wrong and what are we now doing discussing this on a thread about how I polybushed my Torque Mount!

One pedantic comment about what someone thinks is wrong with what I said and it's WW3 on here. What was wrong with Lee just simply coming on and wording things little more diplomatically, something like;

"Nice work, thanks for the useful post and photos" followed by "Sometimes these holes in the rubber bushes are naturally occurring and not necessarily a failure within it, but you can clearly see the difference between Poly bushes and Rubber in terms of integrity"

Does that not basically say the same thing without hacking in to me and behaving like a "Mr Know it all"?

[graemewelch]

still disagree james. we will never see eye to eye and will probobly disagree on most things. but all lee did was try to help you several times and correct what you had said. like he said its no good giving bad advise so it was corrected. im sure your reply was something along the lines of i dont give a toss what the condition of the bush is. ive replaced it with better anyway. i cant be bothered to go through old posts to quote exactly what you said

[V70-R-T5]

Graeme. It's the difference between knowing and believing.

This might put it in perspective though.

Regarding the removal of expensive to replace trim, Lee advised;

Yes, we'll done. However, invest in a cheap set of 'boning' tools as ramming a flat blade screwdriver between expensive plastic interior is a sure fire way of not only cracking the interior plastics but also marking them!

I'm not too bothered mate, the inside of my car has done 257,000 miles and is less than perfect anyway. The careful use of a flat bladed screwdriver is absolutely fine for a 13 year old Volvo, if it were classic Rolls Royce or Ferrari then perhaps a specialist tool may be useful.

and that from someone who will silver Hamerite an aluminium casting that sits right under the engine/gearbox of the car.

Or; in reference to a basic servicing item - adjusting the handbrake (having had new handbrake shoes fitted 15 months prior), the handbrake clearly hadn't been correctly adjusted "for ages".

Someone tried to assist and advised....

I find the s60 handbrake very good. Probobly worth checking the condition of shoes discs and any adjusters

and got in reply, a curt;

They're nearly new! Had the shoes replaced with the brake pads and discs about 15 months ago and I wouldn't expect parts like that to fail in 15 months.

That depends on the quality of the parts fitted and the correct adjustment of the handbrake. However, the fault was eventually addressed ............with a spanner????.

Many thanks to Mr Peachey for his tip on how to adjust the handbrake. For ages now, the handbrake lever had been in my arm pit at each red light but no more as today I adjusted it using a 10mm spanner.....



Didn't realise how simple this job was and now the handbrake is right where I want it.

That looks suspiciously like a 10mm socket......from Aldi per chance?

I got on with 'the other job' whilst I waited a few hours for the paint to dry and then it was time to push in the new bushes. The large bush went in really easily, the small bush was complete ball ache because the one side didn't quite want to push in all the way which meant getting the small end back in to the centre tie bar was nothing short of hard work. This of course was made a lot harder by the Black Series Powerflex compound being so stiff, but in the end I managed without the need to go and buy a G-Clamp or Hydraulic Press (I could of done with one). Incidentally, it helped to put the bolt through and tighten it up to press the bushing in before undoing the bolt again, then using brute force to wiggle it in to the centre tie piece, still, very hard work and a total PITA non the less.

Powerflex offer a "Lifetime Warranty" on all their bushes, they wouldn't offer that if they were prone to failing like a rubber bushing. That's enough for me and says it all!

And to try to bring this back on topic, what is "Lifetime Warranty" anyway? Lifetime of the purchaser? Lifetime of the car? or Lifetime of the part? But wait.....

***STOP PRESS***.......From the Powerflex website FAQ on warranty and specifically "Lifetime Warranty"......."Any parts used for motorsport/competition purposes or part numbers ending ‘BLK’ are excluded from our lifetime warranty."

So that'll be the entire "Black Series" range of bushes not covered then...............

All that being said and to include some balance in this post and to be fair, James you should be applauded for taking the time for posting information intended to be helpful to those with limited knowledge of repairing these vehicles. The inclusion of quality pictures also must assist those people who may find, what are simple jobs for experienced mechanics, a bit more taxing.Not everyone here has years of experience on the tools.

That being said however, the information should be correct which, in the case of your description of the bush was not. The bush was serviceable although, in your opinion/belief not, and again in your opinion inferior to the Powerflex offering. Both bushes do a similar job, one just does it with less "harshness" through the body of the vehicle. Also the Powerflex Black Series bush you have fitted does not come with their "Lifetime Warranty" if their website information is correct. So, it would appear Powerflex don't offer a lifetime warranty on all their bushes contrary to what you believe and the information you provided. As I said at the top, it's the difference between knowing and believing.

[LeeT5]

No, I think you lack maturity, going off on one with troll-like behaviour on virtually every thread I post. For a man who claims to know so much about these cars, yours seems to spend a lot of time in the Volvo garage which says it all to me - an ego bigger than your knowledge.

Sorry mate, you respond so abruptly to me all the time then my replies will be the same back to you. My attitude will change no more than yours will but just stop hijacking my threads and devaluing the content of my initial post.

Oh really? So, the last time my car was at the garage was when? I'll tell you...It was 5th December 2013 for a Brand New turbo. Now due to my busy shift and hectic life I don't have time to spend 2 solid days fitting a new Turbo, even thou the book time is 4.5hrs, that's rubbish, as we all know book times are a guide and rarely are adhered to, even in a nice clean workshop with all the proper tools it still took Volvo 2 days and I needed my car asap and cannot afford for it to be off the road should anything go wrong. That's why I had the dealer replace it and I was more than happy to pay the £1350 to supply and fit as it was a negotiated price between Lipscomb and MRG. It also saved me a tank of fuel and overnight expenses. Note - it was not broken down and drove to the garage, so you could call it maintenance! Prior to that, my car was last in a garage on 13th September 2013 for a CV boot (no big deal). I noticed grease inside the wheel when washing at the weekend and it was booked in that week in between my shifts. It was in and out in 2 hours total (including chatting and coffee's) and was fixed at a time that was convenient for me, rather than trying to fix it myself and finding time to do it when it's not raining. This would have meant my car being off the road for longer.
Prior to that it was at the Dealer on 30 April 2013 for a routine SUM calibration and headlight adjustment. It's a common thing on R models for the lights to go out of adjustment over time. This is due to the harsher suspension and vibration on the light unit. It only cost me £30 total which I consider money well spent and means that my lights are always pointing where they should. Again, routine maintenance and not due to breakdown.
The last time my car actually broke down was.......NEVER!!

The real reason my car goes to a garage (sometimes, inc the Dealer) is because it saves me money. Lots of money!!!!
Alternator replaced at the dealer for noisy bearing, - Cost £526 and I paid £61!
Two new front calipers (Slightly binding) + pads replaced at the dealer - cost £968 and I paid £483!

So you see James, there is a very good reason why my car goes to a Dealer and local garage for repair/maintenance and not becasue you think I don't know what I'm bloody doing!

Some people will read Lee's replies and think the same as me, some won't. But I don't like the tone of his replies and that's the end of it. Most people don't reply like that on here so somewhere something has gone wrong and what are we now doing discussing this on a thread about how I polybushed my Torque Mount!

One pedantic comment about what someone thinks is wrong with what I said and it's WW3 on here. What was wrong with Lee just simply coming on and wording things little more diplomatically, something like;

"Nice work, thanks for the useful post and photos" followed by "Sometimes these holes in the rubber bushes are naturally occurring and not necessarily a failure within it, but you can clearly see the difference between Poly bushes and Rubber in terms of integrity"

Does that not basically say the same thing without hacking in to me and behaving like a "Mr Know it all"?

No, because sometimes is incorrect.

I'm not speaking to my Mother or my granny so I don't have to flower it all up! Fact is James, you make a rod for your own back with these threads that you post because you clearly show just how incompetent you are, worse bit is, you don't even realize it! I'm sorry mate but if you read my posts with a 'tone' then it's because your being defensive and are not averse to criticism no matter how poignant it is. I'm not going to let you or anybody else post blatant incorrect facts and not say anything. If you took that stubborn head off of yours and actually opened your eyes and ears then you would see that everyone is trying to help you and advise you, but (as usual) it is you that is not listening. Not once did I personally attack you or beat your thread down, I merely pointed out the fact that on this occasion you were incorrect. I didn't realize that I had to stroke your head and tell you "don't worry, you'll be ok". I ain't pussy footing around, so deal with it.

[graemewelch]

youve hit the nail on the head there lee

[T5RatherAmusin]

can we all just give the ££££ over now. your all a bunch of cocks!

[LeeT5]

can we all just give the ££££ over now. your all a bunch of cocks!

Come again? What does that mean?

[Gold 'N' Brown]

can we all just give the ££££ over now. your all a bunch of cocks!

I think you meant "you're"

[M-R-P]

can we all just give the ££££ over now. your all a bunch of cocks!

now put the socks down...

(reference to a recent facebook horror)


This is all getting a bit bloody deep now, must be the weather.

Behave yourselves children or I'll take your toys away

[Gold 'N' Brown]

It's that time of the month again. Except where most women get it once per month, VPCUK gets it at least twice a month if not more.

[T5RatherAmusin]

i didnt comment to argue with anyone by refering to you lot as cocks -probably not the word i shoulda used lol
i commented to put an end to it
the little time i come on here most of its full of bull££££ like this

[LeeT5]

i didnt comment to argue with anyone by refering to you lot as cocks -probably not the word i shoulda used lol
i commented to put an end to it
the little time i come on here most of its full of bull££££ like this

Absolutely the word!!! Made me laugh

Joking aside, I think I've made my point very clear. I'm done with this thread now. James........hit me with it baby!!!! I'm ready for it.

[laughjimbo]

what a failed poly bush looks like.
beit not a powerflex...
Attachment 24217

These were PPS and total crap in my opinion, these were only on the car for a very short time, less than 1000 miles I think.

[T5RatherAmusin]

ye i made an arm with these in and i didnt like how they felt so they never went on my car lol

[laughjimbo]

The rear bushes totally fell apart and the front bushes were a bit better but started to wear also. I had a garage replace the rear bushes in the arms for me with normal rubber ones but they fitted them upside down so the rear bushes actually worked their way out of the arms.



I made it clear what way round they should be, only to be told, we've done loads of these mate, we know what we are doing!!

I did them myself this time, just replace the whole arms with Meyle HD items. Feels loads better now.

[T5RatherAmusin]

ahahahaha!
im using a std one in the front and poly in the rear one. feels real nice! will get the new powerflex front one when the time comes...

[laughjimbo]

I know laughable isn't it. I don't trust garages often. I am going to see how these meyle arms go.

[graemewelch]

thats terrible that. i hate using garages to do jobs on my car and silly thing like this are why

[laughjimbo]

I know Graeme, I normally do everything myself but I know this guy pretty well and he always seems to be a good mechanic but I have had a big falling out with him over this and I got my money back for the parts they replaced and the labour. I only got someone else to do it because at the time I was really busy with work. They also did other work which was crap on my other cars. I got all my money back in the end and did the work myself.