Dimensions Of 309 Wishbones

[ifcho 0]

Does anyone have the dimensions of the lower arms for 309/205?

 

I ordered some "309GTI" wishbones from a local shop, but they are the same as my 205 ones...

So does anyone have the dimensions?

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

I'm sure I'd posted this picture on here before somewhere but there is about 10mm difference in length iirc.

 

Graham.

[Tom Fenton 1,519]

I measured some the other day, I got a bit more than 10mm but my measurement of 205 arms was on a car which made it a bit awkward, the difference IS clearly visible with a measuring tape and both arms though,

[ifcho 0]

Graham, this is a 309 wishbone, right?

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

Graham, this is a 309 wishbone, right?

Yes, definately, I don't have any 205 wishbones with polybushes in.

 

Graham.

[ArthurH 5]

We think we might have 309 wishbones on our car, which we would like to swap back to 205 ones to reduce the camber a bit.  As we are not completely sure, does anyone have a photo of both, side by side?

[jord294 87]

Above pic is 309. A 205 one has raised casting in 2 places 

[welshpug 1,620]

this is a 205 wishbone casting (albeit with a rose joint insert welded on)

 

 

 

 

 

[ArthurH 5]

Thanks Mei, exactly what I needed.  Is there any difference between the wishbone for a 1.6 205 vs 1.9?

Edited May 2, 2022 by ArthurH

[welshpug 1,620]

no, they're the same,   as would euro rallye and Turbo diesel (afaik!), all the same part number.

Edited May 2, 2022 by welshpug

[ArthurH 5]

And that applies across the years as well?  I'm seeing different results if I search for 1984 as opposed to 1989

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

Just had a look on catcar.info & the wishbone has the same number for all 205 GTI's, 

Left; 3520 54 VSA 532 A
Right; 3521 37 VSA 533 A

 

g

 

[ArthurH 5]

Ah - OK.  I am confused by this listing.  It looks a good price and says it fits an '84 1.6 GTI https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313560852761  (I am assuming its a 'stock photo' of a random wishbone - they use the same photo for a ford :) )

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by ArthurH
Added more info

[welshpug 1,620]

A carburated 1.6 205 will not have wishbones, but track control arms, located by the anti roll bar.

Edited June 8, 2022 by welshpug

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

That wishbone on ebay is "Genuine DELPHI Front Left Wishbone for Peugeot 205 Carburettor 1.6", not a GTI.

 

As said they don't have the same set up as the GTI & that must be a stock photo as it looks nothing like any 205 wishbone I've seen.

 

g

[ArthurH 5]

As always, thanks guys.  It was the confirmed compatibility with the GTI as per the screen shot below that was confusing me.  However, I now believe that is an error either by the vendor or eBay, and that I am wasting your valuable time with this issue.  These look far more likely to be correct: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294867720048, and unless I am again missing the obvious, I'll go with them.  As an aside, it looks like the vendor is selling them individually for less than half of what they are the pair  

[welshpug 1,620]

That listing looks better, correct picture  and a fair price, no part numbers to cross reference but an image if representative  is good.

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

Yeah, that one looks right & the 24 month warranty is a bonus, especially as they look to have non-oe style inner bushes.

 

Funny he is selling them separately for less than a pair on individual listings but probably hoping the buyer won't realize!

 

g

 

 

[dcc 855]

if you have 309 wishbones fitted at the moment be sure to check your driveshafts, they are likely to be 309 items too, and as such wont fit with 205 wishbones.

 

years ago people would fit a 309 wishbone and get away with a 205 shaft, in my personal experience the 205 shaft is too short and would pull out of the CV.

 

I remember measuring 11mm difference on the 205 and 309 wishbones (that was centreline of bush to centreline of balljoint). likely that the casting from manufacturers will vary a bit.

[ArthurH 5]

Thanks for the heads up Dan; as it happens we can be certain we currently have 205 driveshafts, as we bought them new.  We had the opposite problem with the driveshaft lengths; we had a very bad vibration due to the inner 'tripod' of the driveshaft bottoming out in the CV casing.  We solved it by very carefully centering the engine to equalise the driveshaft endfloat, but we know we are very close to maximum driveshaft length with the 205 ones.  It could be due to our chassis having had a hard life....

[Anthony 1,000]

8 minutes ago, ArthurH said:

as it happens we can be certain we currently have 205 driveshafts, as we bought them new.

That's no certainty I'm afraid, at least not from my experience - plenty of recon/exchange driveshafts that are wrong out of the box unfortunately.

 

Certainly that was a big issue a few years back when everyone wanted 309 wishbones and driveshafts for their 205's, and almost certainly not helped by the number of people that admitted to returning 205 or other non-309 'shafts back in exchange...

[ArthurH 5]

For various reasons, we have elected to stay with the 309 wishbones.  One of the front bushes needed to be replaced.  While doing so, I discovered that the front and rear bushes are not on the same centerline!  Not by a little bit, but by 10mm or so.  I assume the subframe mounts have the same offset (I'm not taking it off to check).  I'm struggling to understand Peugeot's logic.  It would mean that there would only be one position for the wishbone (nominally horizontal) that would not be badly contorting the rubber in the bushes.  Can anyone explain this?

[SRDT 146]

It can't be worse than on a 206 wishbone with both bushes on a vertical axis.

Rubber isn't just there to dampen vibrations, the bushes can act as ball joints.

[welshpug 1,620]

I'm far from an expert, but what I gather it does do is change the arc of the wishbone as the radius is different front to rear relative to the outer point, therefore the outer pivot moves backwards  or forwards as well as up and down.

 

This is partly why the original  rubber bushes  work better than a polyurethane bush, as well as the fact that theres usually far less flexible material in the original bushes due to the outer sleeve AND an intermediate tube.

[welshpug 1,620]

3 hours ago, SRDT said:

It can't be worse than on a 206 wishbone with both bushes on a vertical axis.

Rubber isn't just there to dampen vibrations, the bushes can act as ball joints.

 

The 180/RC and SW 206's have a spherical joint on the front inner pivot point, as do many bmw's