When I wasn't getting fed up with trying to fit my new ones, I was comparing the different wishbones that I've amassed for the Multipla (as much because I'd forgotten that I'd already bought some as anything else, if you're curious why I've got more than the usual tally).
First up, the Fiat OEM wishbones. These only get a quick mention because - I haven't got any. Those that would have originally graced my humble steed have long since gone to the scrapyard. However, ePER is good enough to tell us that they weigh 3300g apiece. They are also BIG money.
Next - the ever popular offering from Birth, makers of OEM parts for many Italian car companys and a safe 'middle of the road' (to avoid the potholes?) choice. If you buy a wishbone from Shop4Parts, these are what they'll send you. They look like this (top of picture):
Then bottom of picture:
To be honest, I'm not impressed. Whatever tooling they use to make them looks like it should have been thrown in the skip long ago. They are also monstrously heavy - 4,200g. They are thick, not very well finished and just look, well, poo. The bushes and ball joint look ok and feel firm enough, but if you value keeping unsprung weight down, these aren't for you. The ball joint is stamped with the Birth trademark. Country of manufacture: Italy
Step forward contender No.2: Lemforder (it's the one in the bottom of the first picture). The minute you pick these up, you can tell that they are a quality item. Reasonable paint finish, nice, crisp (slim) arm and decent fit and finish of the bushes (to be fair, the Birth ones aren't too bad in this respect either). The fitting of the ball joint looks especially trick as it appears to have been machined after it's been fitted to the arm, so you can't tell where one finishes and the other begins. The ball joint is stamped with the Lemforder trademark, but that's the only place it's present. Weight: 3,100g, beating even the Fiat part by nearly 1/2 a pound and making the Birth one look like a lardy thing. They also come with a new pinch bolt and nut for the ball joint, which is a nice touch. Detail pics:
Country of manufacture for this fine piece of German engineering? Italy.
Now a quick shot of the bush spacing, as many on here have said that they've had problems fitting Birth wishbones because they don't line up with the subframe holes:
The subframe hole centres are 270mm. Lemforder are 270 (the bolts go straight in); Birth around 268.5-ish. The bolts go in OK on my example, but the bolt threads are just catching on the subframe holes.
Lastly, we have the outgoing contender as purchased form ziggy A2Z on ebay a couple of years ago and gracious provider of an MOT fail 3 months ago (one ball joint and two bushes with excessive play, after clocking up about 16k miles). I have to confess that I spent quite a long time cleaning flash metal of the edges of these when I got them, especially inside the big round holes in their middles and down one edge. This was followed up with a couple of coats of chassis enamel when they were new, before I fitted them, so what you see here (apart from an MOT fail) isn't entirely representative of what this ebay purveyor of fine replacement parts will send you. You may detect that I'm not entirely convinced by the quality of this places offerings. The fact is, I bought quite a pile of parts from them for my Multi when I did all that work a couple of years ago, and these wishbones are the last of them to remain on the car. Be warned: Buy Cheap, Buy Twice; or Buy Cheap Once, Sell Quick.
There's no makers mark anywhere on these and I recall the packaging they originally came in was anonymous. I'm not sure of country of origin. Weight: 3,770g. Pictures:
This ISN'T supposed to happen:
So there you have it - the (worlds first?) review of wishbones for the Fiat Multipla. Riveting stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.
Of course, none of this guarantees longevity in service (certainly not for the A2Z ones). Time will tell if the Lemforders fair any better. The Birth ones will go back in their bags, perhaps for good.
First up, the Fiat OEM wishbones. These only get a quick mention because - I haven't got any. Those that would have originally graced my humble steed have long since gone to the scrapyard. However, ePER is good enough to tell us that they weigh 3300g apiece. They are also BIG money.
Next - the ever popular offering from Birth, makers of OEM parts for many Italian car companys and a safe 'middle of the road' (to avoid the potholes?) choice. If you buy a wishbone from Shop4Parts, these are what they'll send you. They look like this (top of picture):
Then bottom of picture:
To be honest, I'm not impressed. Whatever tooling they use to make them looks like it should have been thrown in the skip long ago. They are also monstrously heavy - 4,200g. They are thick, not very well finished and just look, well, poo. The bushes and ball joint look ok and feel firm enough, but if you value keeping unsprung weight down, these aren't for you. The ball joint is stamped with the Birth trademark. Country of manufacture: Italy
Step forward contender No.2: Lemforder (it's the one in the bottom of the first picture). The minute you pick these up, you can tell that they are a quality item. Reasonable paint finish, nice, crisp (slim) arm and decent fit and finish of the bushes (to be fair, the Birth ones aren't too bad in this respect either). The fitting of the ball joint looks especially trick as it appears to have been machined after it's been fitted to the arm, so you can't tell where one finishes and the other begins. The ball joint is stamped with the Lemforder trademark, but that's the only place it's present. Weight: 3,100g, beating even the Fiat part by nearly 1/2 a pound and making the Birth one look like a lardy thing. They also come with a new pinch bolt and nut for the ball joint, which is a nice touch. Detail pics:
Country of manufacture for this fine piece of German engineering? Italy.
Now a quick shot of the bush spacing, as many on here have said that they've had problems fitting Birth wishbones because they don't line up with the subframe holes:
The subframe hole centres are 270mm. Lemforder are 270 (the bolts go straight in); Birth around 268.5-ish. The bolts go in OK on my example, but the bolt threads are just catching on the subframe holes.
Lastly, we have the outgoing contender as purchased form ziggy A2Z on ebay a couple of years ago and gracious provider of an MOT fail 3 months ago (one ball joint and two bushes with excessive play, after clocking up about 16k miles). I have to confess that I spent quite a long time cleaning flash metal of the edges of these when I got them, especially inside the big round holes in their middles and down one edge. This was followed up with a couple of coats of chassis enamel when they were new, before I fitted them, so what you see here (apart from an MOT fail) isn't entirely representative of what this ebay purveyor of fine replacement parts will send you. You may detect that I'm not entirely convinced by the quality of this places offerings. The fact is, I bought quite a pile of parts from them for my Multi when I did all that work a couple of years ago, and these wishbones are the last of them to remain on the car. Be warned: Buy Cheap, Buy Twice; or Buy Cheap Once, Sell Quick.
There's no makers mark anywhere on these and I recall the packaging they originally came in was anonymous. I'm not sure of country of origin. Weight: 3,770g. Pictures:
This ISN'T supposed to happen:
So there you have it - the (worlds first?) review of wishbones for the Fiat Multipla. Riveting stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.
Of course, none of this guarantees longevity in service (certainly not for the A2Z ones). Time will tell if the Lemforders fair any better. The Birth ones will go back in their bags, perhaps for good.
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