Wishbones - Polybush or New?

Hi guys.

Just looking for people's thoughts on this; my suspension "refresh" is in full swing consisting of;

Koni Sport Dampers all round
Refurbed Polybushed Rear Subframe
Rear Lower Radius Arm Refurb
New Topmount Bearings
New Droplinks
Eibach Camber Bolts
New Bumpstops all round
Whiteline Rear ARB
As new standard springs all round
Polybushes on all Front ARB points
4 Wheel Alignment once all done

Included in all the above is wishbones. I got a pair of original Fiat ones with good ball joints from Motormech (thanks Paul & Nigel) with a view to having them polybushed as well. As the bushes are £70 is it worth it as once ball joints go, it's new wishbones anyway?

Just looking for people's views, especially those who've done either / or in the past.

depends on the ball joints

if they are in good order then poly, if you have any doubts then get a new set of wishbones in. once the polys are pressed in theyre pretty much fixed.

I don't get poly bushing coupe wishbones, in my experience the ball joints are weaker than the oem bushes and give first, plus on and off does the gaiter on the ball joint no favours at all which in turn makes the poly bush a waste.

I have the Supaloy wishbones fitted to the scirocco, is there anything in the range that will fit a coupe subframe?

http://www.advancedautomotives.com/vw-su...-kit-2229-p.asp

Well it's worth doing it with a brand new set of wish bones to start with then rather using second hand stuff

Quite possibly, I'm not an expert so I'm only throwing suggestions and asking questions, If the ball joint is the weak point and you strengthen the mountings does this not put extra pressure on the ball joint and shorten the life of the wishbone?

I ask as I'm on my 4th set during my ownership (the middle two sets were the cheap ones and they didn't last at all) and if I am wrong then next time I would be thinking similar. See how long OE ones last first.

Yes absolutely, it's physics, the energy has to go somewhere so if you remove the energy absorbing rubber bush and fit a more rigid polyurethane bush then that energy will be transferred to other parts, top mounts, ball joints, etc.
As to how much it reduces the life of the ball joint, that's anyone's guess.

I think a replaceable ball joint at the end of the wishbone would be a great addition to the coupe wishbone design. Look at those Scirocco wishbones, not only replaceable but they are mounted on an elongated hole so the camber can also be adjusted.

As said above, a Coupe eats ball joints for breakfast, lunch & dinner - so why go through the pain of pressing polybushes all the time..?

cant you buy a replacement ball joint

Ball joints are part of the wishbone, I don't think you'd get them out and if you did you'd need a way to refit.

Think I'll stick with OE parts and replace every 2 years.

i don't understand the way the ball joints
have play so early

do they scuff ?

The ball joints on subarus (at least all the imprezas i've worked on) have seperate ball joints that unbolt form the wishbones, has anyone ever thought of just drilling out an old set of wishbones and fitting one of these type ball joints?

I'm pretty sure the pin that fits into the hub carrier is the same size.
Worth investigating?

If you're sure you can keep same pin location - yes.....