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I took my 240 in for a safety check, and was told that it needed the torque rod bushings replaced. Only about 20-30,000 km ago or so though (I'm guessing), I replaced both the trailing arm bushings and the torque rod bushings.
I bought the bushings from FCP Groton. I think they were probably Scantech, but anyway, the mechanic claimed there was terrible slop in them. I checked them today, and I think they're fine. I'm thinking that the mechanic doesn't realize that these bushings aren't 100% rubber cylinders - they have the slit cutouts that allow motion on one axis:
In the left picture, you can see the slits at the top right and bottom left.
Here's the test I did. Grab the torque rod with your hand, and try to rotate the shaft. Because of the slits that are situated at the top and the bottom of both the front and back bushings (when installed on the car), I found it possible to twist the torque rod using one hand, enough such that I could feel the metal frame of the torque rod hitting against the mount.
Since there is 100% rubber as you travel along the torque rod shaft through the bushing, movement is rigid in this direction, thus controlling the rear axle appropriately. I believe the easy twisting movement I was getting is normal, but I would like to get opinions from someone who is knowledgeable on what is expected here. I really don't want to be messing around with the torque rods because of some mechanic who doesn't know what he is talking about.
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David Armstrong - '86 240(350k km?), '93 940T(270k km), '89 240(parts source for others) near Toronto
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