Centerlink and Idler Bushing Repairs/Questions

[Pepperbilly]

I have been putting this off but my shimmy through the steering wheel between 40 and 55 mph is getting worse.

The new centerlink I installed when restoring has turned into complete garbage! The rotating pins became loose. Seems as there was no grease and the plastic/nylon guts was dry and failing...falling out in little pieces. The first photo shows the extreme angle of deflection. My original centerlink that I kept has nice straight rotating pins. I may put the original back in.

I also pulled the idler bracket off to check the pin and bushing fit. I slid the pin back into the bracket and checked the deflection/play with a dial indicator. Axial play measured .015" of an inch. Seems like too much but I don't know what the tolerance is.
The bushing and rubber looked good. I am not familiar with replacing this bushing. If replacing this bushing is it similar to the stock or is the replacement just all metal without rubber?

The ball joints check out fine so I would like to reuse them. Problem is the boots are torn at the bottom which could allow the grease to escape. If I could find replacement boots that would make me happy.

Bill

[raygreenwood]

The centerlink:

I have been rebuilding them for years. Here is a thread with a link to a "how-to". Takes a couple of hours and about $30 in parts.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=628219&highlight
I keep meaning to drop that document at the link in that thread into the Samba and get it out of my drop box (I thought I had).
Also, in reality you do not have to use bronze washers/bushings to rebuild with. This part has so little movement that you could use steel washers as well.


The idler arm bushing:

The original bonded rubber bushing was really a defective design. In the last of teh super beetles they went to a solid bronze bushing that is readily available and fixes the issues. Its about the same price.

Some background:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=607049&highlight=idler+arm

Something I learned

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=621850&highlight=idler+arm

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=618853&highlight=idler+bushing

There are two bronze bushings. You need the later one according to those two threads above.

I am having a hard time finding it this morning as the links in those old threads are dead.

Here is an aluminum anodized T-6 bushing with grease grooves but I do not know which length version it is. Price is normal
https://dunebuggywarehouse.com/products/topline-id...LbEALw_wcB

Here is one at Cip1
https://www2.cip1.com/acc-c10-4020/?srsltid=AfmBOorsw3ql4WkaQKkSkaZ-6LEFcrUfW7xE309bN0QF9YKnxrlPfHdm

The gist is that the original rubber bushing had a rubber cuff that stuck out below the steel tube so it was longer. That rubber cuff compressed against the idler arm and gave it some sealing and tension. Once that rubber got ground up, things were loose.

This maye be the difference between the early and late long and short versions of the bronze bushing. That first link about the bronze bushing is a good read. A lot of little details about length of bolt, fitment of bolt (round head versus square head etc.)

Ball joint boots:

I have a massive post about ball joint boots and replacement, non-stock ball joints etc. It is not finished yet.

Not to get into the other types of joints and the mods to use them here in this thread....but if you have excellent joints and have made gaskets for them and installed the grease fitting mod....I have found that boots from super beetle while slightly tight...work just fine.

For those pictures I bought either SKP or Suspensia brand ball joint at Rock auto for about $15 and just stole the boots.

At Rock auto under 1973 Super beetle:

SUSPENSIA X52BJ0156 for $17.40 each

SKP SK9029 for $13.55 each

I recently just bought a new digital scale to be able to do the acid test and find out what the boots are made of but have not had time yet to tes.

The comphrehensive document I will be putting out also has how to and information to totally get away from our ball joint design when the time comes and also has some other boots from American joints that while different, are excellent.

These boots in these pictures fit very nice. The metal ring around the bottom keeps the boot from mushrooming out around the edge. I would install these with a little Permatex Motoseal down on the big end.

They are thick and will compress down very tight once you tighten the ball joint nut.

The ball joints I stole these from I bought for about$15 each at Rockauto. The part # is on the box in the picture above.

Ray

[Pepperbilly]

Excellent Ray!

The ball joint info is just what I needed. Now I can do the zerk fitting mod and new boots. I am not sure what you mean about a ball joint gasket? Where does the gasket go?

So it looks like the idler arm bushing and pin are a snug fit but still allows an easy rotation? I can now see mine was pretty loose. You have any preferences on the bushing material… bronze vs. aluminum? I like the idea with the Topline aluminum bushing having a grease channel and zerk nipple option.

Just curious why VW had the idler bushing housed in rubber? Could it be for smoother steering, maybe absorbing vibrations and shocks when driving? With the solid bushing mod I wonder what people thought about the steering feel? This car has always had nice light and precise steering characteristics. Would hate to change that feel.

Bill

[raygreenwood]

[Pepperbilly]

An update on my front end work:

Took Ray's advice and ordered 2 inexpensive Super Beetle ball joints to swap new boots for my old ball joints. Installed the new boots and they fit perfectly using proper sized zip ties. I did not add a grease/zerk fitting because I wanted to make sure my original joints are acceptable thru test driving. If ok then I can add the fittings later.

I also installed the 2 Bilstein B6 struts. Very straight forward and easy install. Fits just like stock. I did have to buy a "clamshell" type of spring compressor. I like it because I felt very safe using it. Bought it from Harbor Freight. I was very pleased with the ride quality which reminded me of the Sachs that came off, only better. Probably a bit more firm but very nice damping action. It did not alter the front ride height either. Was not looking for any more nose high attitude. In the photo the original Sachs is the red one and the Bilstein the yellow. You can clearly read the numbers on the shocks if you need that info. The Sachs were both leaking some oil but not much. It was all contained in the strut tube.

I also rebushed the idler assembly. Had to have an old independent VW garage press the old one out which is no simple task. He had to make some press pieces on his lathe to do it properly. Turned out to be a nice snugger fit, but not overly snug. I also ended up jam nutting the idler pin. It was easier than drilling a hole for a cotter pin. I think this will work just fine and make any adjustments in the future pretty easy. You can see all this in the photos...

Bill