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ARB drop links and nolathene bushes .

Grimbo

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After several years I got round to fitting some extended rear arb drop plates and a home made spacers on the front arb after I fitted an OME 2inch lift suspension ( now settled in nicely ).....also fitted some of the nolathene bushes from Roughtrax .

Rear drop plates came from Benji Craddock and are his branded NBF Bespoke range of parts . Well made pieces of kit and in stainless so won't rust . I am impressed with his quick despatch and communication .... hopefully he will extend the range of "NBF Bespoke" parts for our Cruisers.

Front arb drop blocks were made from some 50 x 30 mm alloy bar I had ....don't know what grade alloy it is but it's not a soft alloy .... TBH it's probably a bit of aircraft ...

All the bolts except 1 came out of the chassis without any problem ... 1 waited until the last few threads before shearing.... drilling it out actually spun it through into the chassis so a result.

I took the opportunity to fit new arb bushes and this revealed the biggest surprise as despite the ARB's looking rust free ... when I took the U clamps off and took the bushes off the bar it was surprisingly rusty inside where the bush sat and would have been causing the arb to bind and stop a bit of flex . Cleaned up the rusty bits and repainted then fitted new bushes and end bushes to both arb's .
All the bolts were replaced using new Toyota ones apart from obviously the extended ones through the front arb spacer ...these were some I had in stock but were same as original in that they had the retained integral washer and spring washer .

Not sure in daily driving I will notice much difference but a short test up a potholed track ( Sussex word for a B road ;-) ) it did seem to be a bit more supple .

I may well be worth just dropping your U clamps on both ARBs and peeling the rubber bush off to check for a build up of rust...
 
I did mine 18 months ago Grimbo, all looked ok until I pulled the bushes off! I ended up dropping the rear bar right off and cleaned up the areas where the bushes sit with a flap disc so it left a good smooth surface then reassembled using rubber grease. I managed to clean up the front bar in place with some emery strip.
I’ll probably check them after the winter and if the rubber grease doesn’t like the wet environment I’ll maybe try some waterproof grease!
 
Mine was the same ...the bars still have a lovely black factory paint on them ....apart from under the bushes ....did the same as you to mine .
The Nolathene bushes are grease free so I will keep any eye on them over winter .....in the summer I'll sandblast the bars and either stove enamel or get them powder coated .
 
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I’m running nolathane bushes too, I only added the rubber grease to give the bar some protection without damaging the bush, hopefully they would withstand waterproof grease if I decide to try it out
 
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