205 Rear Beam Rebuilds

michaelh

michaelh

Member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Apr 27, 2001
Messages
176
Location
Canberra
My rear beam is in pretty bad shape, so I'm looking at all the options regarding replacing/rebuilding it. I'm afraid to ask what the cost of getting someone to rebuild it with parts from Peugeot are, having heard figures of $4000 mentioned occasionally. :cry:

Has anyone had one completely rebuild including replacement of the trailing arm shafts and beam tube and what the likely price would be to get the job done commercially?

Alternatively, it seems rebuilding rear beams is something of a cottage industry in the UK judging by the number of posts concerning this issue on the 205Gti drivers forum. The prices for rebuilds are much cheaper, at around the 200 pound mark done privately.
This company exclusively does rebuilds for peugeots, from 285 pounds:
http://www.sspengineering.co.uk/

The only problem of course is getting them here. Can anyone with experience in importing stuff from the UK offer any advice regarding cheap methods for shipping a beam here at a worthwhile price? I gather the weight of an entire beam would be about 50kgs?
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. :cheers:
Michael
 
I have recently rebuild my rear beam but I was able to do it myself.
The original design is not very good as the swing arm pivit tubes run on 2 needle bearings each side. Needle bearings would work fine when new but I found that the needles wore grooves in the tube as the travel of the rear suspention is small & only allows the needles to run in the same spot.
I ended up pressing the swing arm pivit tubes out of the swing arms & having the wear ground off (they are hardened steel). I then machined up 4 bronze bushes to suit & pressed them into the rear beam. I also put a grease nipple between the bearings so they are able to be lubed ( I have no idea why Peugeot never did this :confused: ) & fitted 2 new oil seals I got from a bearing supplier. I would recomend everyone do this anyway as it would make the standard setup last a lot longer. It all fitted together nicely, & will last for ever :D.
You might be able to get a local machine shop to do it. It would cost a lot less :2cents: than getting one from Europe & it would last a lot longer :wink2: .
Hope I wasn't to confusing

Will
 
I had mine done 1yr ago and it cost about $600 from P504 in Sydney. I think it's only that price if your provide an exchange unit without the wear mentioned by Wauty. They told me the beam is about $600 alone if that needs to be replaced. If it's ok, the labour and parts are $600. Parts would be less than $200 I think. They also put two grease nipples in mine.
 
Hmm, I've been quoted $2000 for a worst case full rebuild, but not with new parts. That was from a place here in Canberra, guess where. That price difference is seriously strange, although I'm yet to figure out exactly what they do for $2K. I'm pretty sure it didn't entail grease nipples though, or greased nipples for that matter. I'm sure $2K would buy a lot of that in Fyshwick.

Anyway, back to the point. I know $2K sound excy, but $600 sounds very cheap. I thought this was a big labour job? Michael, I'd be very interested to find out what you know about this, seeing as you are a fellow Canberran.

Will, is not part of the problem the pressure on the inner bearing when cornering? The lateral forces mean the trailing arm/stub acts as a lever, putting pressure on the bearing. I remeber someone telling me that there wasn't much left of the bearing when they pulled it out. Does this sound stupid? :confused:

Pete
 
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Pete,
I know for certain that mine is pretty close to a worse case scenario. The driver's side got so bad that the wheel was rubbing on the arch. I took it to Bill MacNamee for running repairs while I figure out the most financially viable course of action. He showed me the outer bearing, or what was left of it. It was pretty much disintegrated :(
He has sourced a locally rebuilt beam, but I'm not entirely sure whether it includes the beam tube and trailing arm shafts which I gather will need replacing. The figure (for the parts only I think) was around the $1000 mark and he said it would be very close to perfect. In the meantime, I just thought I'd see what other options there are out there. $600 does sound very cheap though.
The $4000 figure I've heard mentioned around the area may be the same place you were quoted $2000 - either way I can't afford it at the moment and like you, cannot imagine what you get for the price although nipples of some kind would want to be!
Has anyone else in Sydney apart from 'dlions' had theirs done?
 
michaelh said:
Pete,
I know for certain that mine is pretty close to a worse case scenario. The driver's side got so bad that the wheel was rubbing on the arch. I took it to Bill MacNamee for running repairs while I figure out the most financially viable course of action. He showed me the outer bearing, or what was left of it. It was pretty much disintegrated :(
He has sourced a locally rebuilt beam, but I'm not entirely sure whether it includes the beam tube and trailing arm shafts which I gather will need replacing. The figure (for the parts only I think) was around the $1000 mark and he said it would be very close to perfect. In the meantime, I just thought I'd see what other options there are out there. $600 does sound very cheap though.
The $4000 figure I've heard mentioned around the area may be the same place you were quoted $2000 - either way I can't afford it at the moment and like you, cannot imagine what you get for the price although nipples of some kind would want to be!
Has anyone else in Sydney apart from 'dlions' had theirs done?
Click to expand...

Hi Michael, I've PM'd you (and copied in Peter). I can show you all about how the beam goes together, what wears and what gets replaced etc.

Pete, if you want to drop by sometime I can also show you, I now have a spare sitting about, as well as heaps of "show and tells" from damaged beams.

Cheers

Jim
 
Cheers Jim, I'll see if I can manage to get around to your place sometime. Seeing that other beam on the bench really helped figure out what was going on.

Michael, that $4000 figure I heard was from a guy selling his pug on the pug club site a while back. He wrote in the ad that it was for a completely new rear end. Who knows if he meant shocks and all.

Also, I'd be interested in finding out if you guys have had any problems with the front end as well. Mine is starting to bang a lot at low speeds and the streering over rough roads is attrocious. I think the bump stops are gone.

BTW, Do either of you two know who owns the red s1/s2 with a big wing in Weston Creek? I was trailing him for about 2km and he didn't notice me. I wanted a wave!!!

Cheers,
Pete
 
plasmapug said:
Cheers Jim, I'll see if I can manage to get around to your place sometime. Seeing that other beam on the bench really helped figure out what was going on.

Michael, that $4000 figure I heard was from a guy selling his pug on the pug club site a while back. He wrote in the ad that it was for a completely new rear end. Who knows if he meant shocks and all.

Also, I'd be interested in finding out if you guys have had any problems with the front end as well. Mine is starting to bang a lot at low speeds and the streering over rough roads is attrocious. I think the bump stops are gone.

BTW, Do either of you two know who owns the red s1/s2 with a big wing in Weston Creek? I was trailing him for about 2km and he didn't notice me. I wanted a wave!!!

Cheers,
Pete
Click to expand...


More likely the strut tops.
Graham
 
Don't know that I've seen the red one you're referring to pete. very rude not to wave though. :nownow: My front end need work too - at a minimum I plan to replace all the shocks as well as getting the beam done. I'm still trying to decide if the sachs shocks will suffice or to splash out for the genuines or konis. Either way my Christmas presents for the next couple of years are taken car of! :D
Which 205 do you own pete?
 
plasmapug said:
Will, is not part of the problem the pressure on the inner bearing when cornering? The lateral forces mean the trailing arm/stub acts as a lever, putting pressure on the bearing. I remeber someone telling me that there wasn't much left of the bearing when they pulled it out. Does this sound stupid? :confused:

Pete
Click to expand...

Thats right, but in my case the outer bearing on the passenger side was the worst (it was almost not to be found!!! :disappr: ). This would have been because it was exposed to dust & water getting in the end as there was no seal on that side :confused: ??!! The other side was still intact but still worn about even inside & out.
 
michaelh said:
My front end need work too - at a minimum I plan to replace all the shocks as well as getting the beam done. I'm still trying to decide if the sachs shocks will suffice or to splash out for the genuines or konis.
Click to expand...

That's what I am wondering about too. I love the car to bits but I am starting to do cost benefit analyses!!! The Konis from Ray look like good value but I am worried about the ride for a road car, especially if the guy who sets it up isn't aware of their traits. This is Canberra afterall, we don't have that many options on where to take a pug to get work done!

michaelh said:
Which 205 do you own pete?
Click to expand...

It's the silver s2 at the ANU with the black spoiler on the back, and now missing a reflective strip! :cry: I'm sure you've seen it before, I thought yours was the dark green s3 with a similar spoiler.

BTW Cheers for the opinion on the front end Graham. I'm still getting my head around suspension in general.

Pete
 
plasmapug said:
That's what I am wondering about too. I love the car to bits but I am starting to do cost benefit analyses!!! The Konis from Ray look like good value but I am worried about the ride for a road car, especially if the guy who sets it up isn't aware of their traits. This is Canberra afterall, we don't have that many options on where to take a pug to get work done!



It's the silver s2 at the ANU with the black spoiler on the back, and now missing a reflective strip! :cry: I'm sure you've seen it before, I thought yours was the dark green s3 with a similar spoiler.

BTW Cheers for the opinion on the front end Graham. I'm still getting my head around suspension in general.

Pete
Click to expand...

Ray Bell is the one for the Konis.
I have Sachs (touring plus) in the front of my 205 Si
They are certainly firm enough, even with the softer Si suspension, but probably not as well controlled as the originals or Konis. The originals were worn out although the rears are still OK at 220000km.
It might be worth me fitting the original Peugeot Shocks from the low km wreck I have..
Graham
 
plasmapug said:
That's what I am wondering about too. I love the car to bits but I am starting to do cost benefit analyses!!! The Konis from Ray look like good value but I am worried about the ride for a road car, especially if the guy who sets it up isn't aware of their

traits. This is Canberra afterall, we don't have that many options on where to take a pug to get work done!



It's the silver s2 at the ANU with the black spoiler on the back, and now missing a reflective strip! :cry: I'm sure you've seen it before, I thought yours was the dark green s3 with a similar spoiler.

BTW Cheers for the opinion on the front end Graham. I'm still getting my head around suspension in general.

Pete
Click to expand...

hi pete,i just replaced my rears on the 205 with the koni sports adjustables from ray.i was also concerened about ride quality but i must say after having them on the car for about three weeks now in very very glad i went with the koni's.they are firm but not at all thumpy,i have them on the lowest setting which is the softest setting and for the first day or so noticed them being hard but now they are great.
i was supposed to have the fronts as well by now but there has been a mix up in stock and i wont have them till mid january[bugger!].
apparently it is suggested to start off on the softeset setting for 1000km to bed them in properly then go to town.
the thumpy hard ride is usually asoc iated with hard lowered springs.im not going to change my springs just the shockers.
when the fronts come ill have the oportunity to play with them and ill post the results.
i dont like hard thumpy rides but the konis seem to give you far better control of your steering and tracking in general.you do loose a little bit in ride quality but this makes up in the more responsive handling.
you save quite a bit going thru ray so its worth it.-BAZZ
 
pete,
yep, mine's the green one - are you around uni at the moment? maybe we could meet for a beer one afternoon? sad to hear about your reflector panel - i'm paranoid about someone flogging mine now!
back to the shocks issue, bazz, are the konis you bought the yellows? are these the softest type of konis available for the 205? i'm really not keen on making the ride any harsher than it is and i often drive on pretty rough roads, hence the temptation to go for the originals over the sachs or yellows.
 
The original design is pretty poor, what usually happens is the seal will disintegrate on one side, water gets in(especially over here in the UK) and you know the rest. It's not too bad a job( there is an article on 205 gti drivers site). Just make sure you do the refurb job before the beam gets too worn, otherwise it's big bucks!!!!



Josh
 
Thanks baz, thanks Graham. Like Michael, I'm leaning towards originals, but I'll wait and see what the report on my front end says. I'm not sure what else needs to be changed apart from shocks.

Josh, my wheels aren't rubbing the arches quite yet, so hopefully that mans the beam is OK.

Michael, yeah, I'm postgrad at RSPhysSE, so I'm around for most of the year. Beer at Uni House would be good. :adrink: The worst bit about losing the reflector strip was that it was me who took it off! It was coming off a bit, so I decided to take it off to refit it properly. It was sitting there waiting for months and one day I moved something I shouldn't have and it fell. I didn't quite cry, but I did spend quite some time staring silently at red plastic shards.

Yay! I'm now a "Member" :D FINALLY!!!

Pete
 
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WAUTY205 said:
I have recently rebuild my rear beam but I was able to do it myself.
The original design is not very good as the swing arm pivit tubes run on 2 needle bearings each side. Needle bearings would work fine when new but I found that the needles wore grooves in the tube as the travel of the rear suspention is small & only allows the needles to run in the same spot.
I ended up pressing the swing arm pivit tubes out of the swing arms & having the wear ground off (they are hardened steel). I then machined up 4 bronze bushes to suit & pressed them into the rear beam. I also put a grease nipple between the bearings so they are able to be lubed ( I have no idea why Peugeot never did this :confused: ) & fitted 2 new oil seals I got from a bearing supplier. I would recomend everyone do this anyway as it would make the standard setup last a lot longer. It all fitted together nicely, & will last for ever :D.
You might be able to get a local machine shop to do it. It would cost a lot less :2cents: than getting one from Europe & it would last a lot longer :wink2: .
Hope I wasn't to confusing

Will
Click to expand...

Hello ,

First time post. Unsure if I'm doing this correctly or if it will be posted..

I've got two 205's, both SI, and want to rebuild the rear beam on both. Both are still low k's 75 and 105k but I'd like to get in early and have em running for, well ever.

I've read both books, Haynes and Porters, both posts here and have just taken off the beam, removed the arb, torsion bars, trailing arms.

It all came apart almost like new. Cursory inspections reveals the trailing arm shafts to have minor wear, bearings look surprisingly good and main beam looks great.

I've got a reburb kit with new bearings and trailing arm shafts but the post above sounds more like the way to go so I may end up leaving my pin bearings and making up some bronze bushes instead. I'm wondering if I've understood properly what Wauty205 did. Were the bronze bushes in place of the needle bearings or in addition to them? Did you use a soft bronze or a special bronze alloy? Has it stood the test of time?

I'll continue on over the next days/weeks to remove bearings and trailing arm shafts .

thanks in advance for the previous and any additions.
 
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