[Suspension Bushing & Squeaking Issues]

Suspension Bushing & Squeaking Issues

Some of you will remember me talking about the horrible squeaking issue mine had right off the bat in the rear and that after much investigation it was found that the lower frame-side a-arm bushings had started turning in the a-arm and were seized on the sleeves. You might also remember I basically cleaned-up the bushings and a-arm tubes and used a commercial adhesive to "Glue" the bushings in place because after rotating in the tubes, they fit even looser then new.
Well, after my Sipapu trip this year I discovered the squeaking had returned so apart again it came. I found that my work previously was still fine and those hadn't started moving but 90% of all the rest of them...on both sides had started rotating in their mounts/tubes now including the knuckles.  As I disassembled these I noticed that all the ones that had been turning had corroded and pitted sleeves that showed water intrusion and a lack of grease between the surfaces. So I test-greased some that I hadn't taken apart yet and found that grease was easily going between the bushing and tube but none was going between the bushing and sleeve and that made it run dry, seize and force the already loose-fitting bushing to start rotating in the tube causing that all-annoying squeaking.
I got with several bushing makers with the measurements to see if I could bet a quality bushing that would fit better but no luck other then Energy Bushing Co would supply me with the stock material that I could have a shop make the bushings to my specs. So I canned that idea..just for now..and did the same thing to all the rest I had done in round-one as well as re-polished the sleeves as best I could with one additional step.
Many other brands when using these types of bushings also use a wear plate. Essentially as you are braking or applying power, the force on the a-arms from the body thrusts the bushings to one side or the other of the hard mounts and while the suspension is moving, this causes wear on the outside surface of the bushing increasing  it's "end play" over time. My front uppers already have over 30-thousands play. A wear place gives the bushing something not solid to slam into and rotate sopping the wear on the bushing end itself. These are simply some 1.25" x as thin of a washer as possible that have had the centers drilled out to...well slightly over 5/8" to fit over the sleeve. This also means that the bushing has to be milled-down to make up for the extra thickness or gauge of the washers but it's simple enough to do with a bench belt sander. There is a lot of grease in the ports to blow out first though or it will get all over your belt.  Just be sure when you are done that when mounted, there is no pressure being placed on the wear plates or bushings. That they are free moving and with as little end play as possible. Some is preferred over none as we don't want any binding to start the bushing rotating again. And don't worry about the wear plated wearing on the mounts, they get grease when you grease the bushing. Also the wear on the mounts has never been an issue with any other brand.
Now all my rear bushing are all glued and plated including the knuckles. I expect in the future the cheap metal they are using in the sleeves and the low-quality material s used in the bushing will cause me to do some replacements but I WILL be gluing all of them in to stop rotation and force grease to flow where it's supposed to.  Here's some pics of the finished installs. Sorry I didn't get more of do a video. I was a little perturbed  I had to pull this all apart again....with less the 800 miles. This shouldn't be an issue for thousands of miles.

Take Note CFM: All suspension bushing should have the OD increased by .25mm so they have to be at least be tapped in, not slid in by hand. And use bearing-quality sleeve material, not low-grade soft steel.









In addition I would like to add that up until this point I had been using and recommending a graphite-based grease. However when I find seized bushings with dried, gritty material between the surfaces, regardless of the reason I consider this a lubricant failure. For this reason I will no longer use it or recommend it..for anything UTV/ATV related. And because I also found corrosion on the sleeves, I have to assume somehow water is entering these areas so, I will go back to the trusted Marine grease which has always served me well for all chaise and bearing needs. 

Soooooo, the CFM for Dummies translation is.... Belt sand bushings, glue bushings in place , add washers to both sides of bushings?!?  Yeah?

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

Soooooo, the CFM for Dummies translation is.... Belt sand bushings, glue bushings in place , add washers to both sides of bushings?!?  Yeah?

Yeah...that's the jest of it...lol

I am not a huge fan of the CF Moto bushings.  I have been toying with the idea of cutting the ends off the arms and putting Heim joints on there.  That would give me adjustment to my suspension also.  It should also be quieter.  Thoughts?

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

I am not a huge fan of the CF Moto bushings.  I have been toying with the idea of cutting the ends off the arms and putting Heim joints on there.  That would give me adjustment to my suspension also.  It should also be quieter.  Thoughts?

Great idea. I just have not seen Heim joints hold up on long-term off road applications. It may be the types and seal-ability that takes them out though. I know other off-roaders like rock-guys use them a lot .

This bushing system CFM uses is not only old tech, and they use the lowest grade materials making it even worse. Most of the rest of the world has gone to an automotive-style pressed-in fixed rubber bushing. That ends all the issues. Doesn't help with wheel alignment though. If you do adapt a Heim system, I would be very interested in seeing it.

They make heims with rubber boots to seal out dirt.  That should (in theory) keep them from wearing out.  Im still thinking on it for now but if I move forward with it I will take pictures and do a write up.  Can you tell me what size the bolts are that go through the bushings?

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

They make heims with rubber boots to seal out dirt.  That should (in theory) keep them from wearing out.  Im still thinking on it for now but if I move forward with it I will take pictures and do a write up.  Can you tell me what size the bolts are that go through the bushings?

The actual bolt is a 10mm I believe on all the points, just different lengths. Here's the measurements on the rest. This is just the rear:

I am not a huge fan of the CF Moto bushings.  I have been toying with the idea of cutting the ends off the arms and putting Heim joints on there.  That would give me adjustment to my suspension also.  It should also be quieter.  Thoughts?

Yes, several quality ATV performance manufacturers make top shelf Heims, no seals, and very good lifespan. They also free up the suspension arm action, and allow the shocks to work properly. Lonestar,Full flight, TCS, just to name a few.

This also allows for a proper alignment.

I have been keeping an eye on the issues NMK has found with his suspensions and squeaking issues. My machines' suspension started the same thing around 1200 km and is not due to the lack of greasing, being in mud holes etc. Also the lower "A" Arms on my machine have the same issue NMK found; a hole in the "A" Arm busing tube allowing the grease to travel down the "A" Arm frame away from the busing.

I wrote and provided pictures to CFMOTO Canada and C.C. my dealer on my issues. My machine is on full warranty till August 4th. The dealer has asked me to bring the machine in this Tuesday (Monday is a holiday here) so they can start a work-order before the warranty runs out. No reply from CFMOTO Canada, however, understand they are on holidays.

I will follow up on my story as it progresses.

Hopefully, there will be a positive end to this story and future improvements made by CFMOTO on this issue.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

I need to get mine out for a long run to see how this mod hold's up. Interestingly one thing I did notice sitting in the shop after this mod is how smooth the rear suspension operates when there is no seized bushings or bushings turning where they are not supposed to...I mean I did not adjust the shocks in any way but it acts like I backed-off the preload..ie it takes much less effort or force on the hitch to move the it and the movement is like it's on ball bearings...very fluid-feeling. This gives me hope that these 53s can have a nice ride after all. One other thing I noticed was that the first time I hade the rear suspension off the pivets on both shocks were also dry and seized and it only had a hundred miles on it. I pulled the ends off and greased all the bearings at that time and worked the grease through each one. This time I was expecting to find then in the same condition now that I have over 600 miles on it but...no..they were all still fine and working smooth and free so I left them alone. This says they are not greasing the shock ends..at least my 2015 didn't get any. Which reminds me...I have never checked the front shocks. Better do that.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

Well, I was going to do a quick video on servicing the shocks as I was doing my fronts but I botched the video on it and another one on the front a-arm. Yeah, as I was examining the front I found a problem with it so I did my bushing mod on the right-upper and did capture a few short clips. Not very complete..sorry...but has some info that might be helpful that goes with the rest of this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_DK7HgMG20

I've started to notice squeaking in the rear suspension of my machine also. I had greased it around 10 miles, and all fittings took grease, which I pumped until it started coming out the ends of the bushings. I just greased it again last week as I am now about 160 miles (started to notice a squeak in the back) and only 2 of the 4 rear lower A-Arm bushings took grease. Machine is still under warranty, but my dealer is about 150 miles away, so I don't want to have to run it there, drop it, then have to come back and get it again. Question is, did you get new bushings at all or did you just clean up, reuse and glue the old ones back in? I want to get this taken care of before I head to Hatfield McCoys for 8 days in October...

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

I've started to notice squeaking in the rear suspension of my machine also. I had greased it around 10 miles, and all fittings took grease, which I pumped until it started coming out the ends of the bushings. I just greased it again last week as I am now about 160 miles (started to notice a squeak in the back) and only 2 of the 4 rear lower A-Arm bushings took grease. Machine is still under warranty, but my dealer is about 150 miles away, so I don't want to have to run it there, drop it, then have to come back and get it again. Question is, did you get new bushings at all or did you just clean up, reuse and glue the old ones back in? I want to get this taken care of before I head to Hatfield McCoys for 8 days in October...

I used all the original bushings The only one that was "ify" because of the looseness to the a-arm tube was the one I just did on the front. The rest still fit the sleeve fine and had not warn too much off the outer bushing or a-arm tube yet. And you can do this without the wear plates. When I first did these to some of the rears, I found that the bushing flange was too thick and was being squeezed or contacted by the mount bracket. With a belt sander I just took a few thousands off so there was a slight side to side movement on the a-arm when tight...only about 10 thousands. Those first bushing mods held up just fine. They were of course glued too. Oh, one other thing. When you do this, don't put the grease gun to it until the glue is 100% dry as it will push it right out the end and you will have to start over. Give it a day or two. Grease your sleeve when putting it together and just wait..be patient. I wasn't and saw one bushing move. 

I had a squeak that was driving me nuts. After greasing everything turned out to be the shock eyelets.

I've started to notice squeaking in the rear suspension of my machine also. I had greased it around 10 miles, and all fittings took grease, which I pumped until it started coming out the ends of the bushings. I just greased it again last week as I am now about 160 miles (started to notice a squeak in the back) and only 2 of the 4 rear lower A-Arm bushings took grease. Machine is still under warranty, but my dealer is about 150 miles away, so I don't want to have to run it there, drop it, then have to come back and get it again. Question is, did you get new bushings at all or did you just clean up, reuse and glue the old ones back in? I want to get this taken care of before I head to Hatfield McCoys for 8 days in October...

I used all the original bushings The only one that was "ify" because of the looseness to the a-arm tube was the one I just did on the front. The rest still fit the sleeve fine and had not warn too much off the outer bushing or a-arm tube yet. And you can do this without the wear plates. When I first did these to some of the rears, I found that the bushing flange was too thick and was being squeezed or contacted by the mount bracket. With a belt sander I just took a few thousands off so there was a slight side to side movement on the a-arm when tight...only about 10 thousands. Those first bushing mods held up just fine. They were of course glued too. Oh, one other thing. When you do this, don't put the grease gun to it until the glue is 100% dry as it will push it right out the end and you will have to start over. Give it a day or two. Grease your sleeve when putting it together and just wait..be patient. I wasn't and saw one bushing move.

Fantastic. Thank you. I wasn't sure if I should order the bushings before I tore it apart. Didn't want to disassemble and then find out that I needed new ones. I was thinking that they should be ok with the limited amount of miles I have on it so far. Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend. May have said before and I just didn't see it, but what did you use to glue them in? I was planning on using the green locktite.