Suspension bushings made from birch - real or myth?

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In this episode - a seemingly inappropriate material for making suspension bushings that people actually use in real life (if the old stories are to be believed).
Our instagram / garage__54

[@stevetaylor9265]

Wooden bushings are still used in farm equipment but they are treated with oil before installing.

[@joshunderdown8218]

I also think these are so squeaky and fragile due to the fact that they are wet, fresh cut birch

[@joels7605]

I saw a really old car (Studebaker? not sure) that had wood suspension components. They had to be oiled regularly.

[@72polara]

Hudson had a wet clutch that used corks. Cork is of course the bark of the cork oak tree.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

making bushings out of bushes ( that joke prob obviously does not work in russian language )

[@fowletm1992]

Yea was going to say we have hardwood bearings made of Whitegum on farm equipment But they tend to be more like suport bearings along a long shaft like augers The drive ends that actually take load are real ball bearings The wood support bearings are 40yrs old and are still quite good The roller bearings at each end have been replaced many times over

[@benjaminbarton2629]

Someone: says something stupid. Garage 54: we did that last year!

[@blanchae]

It's not stupid if it works - Red Green

[@papaclod-hopper1976]

Make an engine. Let’s say a 4 cylinder. 2 cylinders running normally on gas. 2 cylinders firing on diesel. In the same engine block.

[@renderedpixels4300]

cool idea but diesels operate at like half the RPM gas does. like 1-2k *maybe* 3k, but maybe you could idle the gas engine and rev the diesel a little. maybe a gear ratio on all the shafts or something

[@SleepyTM1]

@@renderedpixels4300 just rev it to 4/5k lol, diesels dont rev that low, not in passenger cars

[@suzysuzuki8865]

You can get up to 5k in the old vw 1.6 diesel so I'm sure it wouldn't hurt nothing having it idle at 1000, which is what my 1.3 liter Sammy engine idles at. That's actually what my buddy's 81 rabbit idles at with the 1.6, although that is a little high but he wanted to crank the fuel lol

[@AnalogDude_]

Yeah, a bigger than 6 liter truck diesel engine with big diameter pistons, like Mercedes, DAF, Volvo, Scania, etc wil rotate 2.500 rpm max, but a modern electronic diesel featured in a passenger car rotates more than 5000 rpm and there are quite a few diesel powered cars that make gasoline powered cars byte in the dust. Like a Audi A6 2.5 / 2.7 / 3.0 / 3.2 TDI, Porsche .... 3.x TDI, Mercedes E class, some 10 year old BMW 3.0 diesel 5 series was very quick, even the very old 324 TD e30 was pretty fast and an awesome engine sounds have these power plant. the Audi 2.5 TDI back in the days was THE engine to have, such a sweet sound form the dual exhaust. melts your heart if you're a petrol head.

[@AnalogDude_]

there are diesel powered cars you can't beat with a normal gasoline powered car, Torque means acceleration power, HP is meant to keep the speed ... and Audi won Le Mans with a diesel powered V12 TDI R8 lmp1 car. A empty full size Mercedes Actros truck with a 12.x diesel engine will out accelerate you on high way entry lanes if the driver is in a good mood and there is nothing you can do with you average passenger car.

[@nigelcarren]

When I was a poor teenager. I bought a Mazda 323GT from a car auction for $100. The car was perfect apart from one thing... It was missing three sides of the tailgate! All it was sold with was the glass and the top hinge, so being good with my hands, I made one out of wood... It was so heavy the rams couldn't hold it! Three years later when the car failed it's MOT for corrosion, the tailgate still looked good as new, though it could use a quick coat of Creosote! Blessings from an English armour-maker in a French forest. I love your mad-scientist enthusiasm! 🇬🇧⚒️🇷🇺

[@taxidude]

I had a neighbour back in the 80s in Edinburgh who made a couple of bushes for his Mazda temporarily out of wood and they actually worked just fine!

[@Karl_Kampfwagen]

That's a clever guy... Made his own bushes. 🧐 That's fancy

[@gaffnaldo1]

Sounds like Wester Hailes man

[@pflaffik]

I doubt he used birch then.

[@Karl_Kampfwagen]

@@pflaffik is a Birch in the bush as good as two in the hand?

[@endgovernmentextremism]

I prefer maple for my bushings.

[@ruddiestmanx5116]

Hell yeah maple looks better

[@samtimo3002]

Im more of a mahogany or turpentine myself but we have opinions

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

I prefer mine out cement.🥴👍

[@simonprescott590]

Ironwood and basswood are good alternatives

[@ThingsToDew]

Red crayons are always better

[@christopherwestlake4159]

Hell I used some old used hydraulic hoses from an 18 wheeler for emergency fix for control arm bushings on a GMC envoy so we could move it around the yard to get it out of our way, well I moved out and the owner forgot I had done that and I just found out its been his wife's daily driver for the last four years, no complaints

[@dodgydruid]

Back in the eighties, one of my favourite go to scrapyards was owned by a pair o' rogue like gypsies (just under Lewisham station in south London) and they had an old cavity insulation injection machine and used it to fill sills, chassis rails with fine concrete and the cars would fly through the mot inspections as they covered the sins with a huge amount of "blackjack" or bitumen underseal. It was them two who taught me about putting sawdust into screaming gearboxes and diffs and how to get about 100 miles from a dead clutch using a lethal substance called carbon tetrachloride sprayed into the clutch plates...

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Back in the 00s at the shipyards we used to use tetrachloride to clean our hands 😏 An other trick for used cars with very noisy engines is to used a healthy dose of STP oil additive It will make it sound like new 😉

[@CobraRedstone]

Shatsoy'sh shchogld of shoydegsh

[@tomtheplummer7322]

Be sure to collect the sawdust to put in the differential to keep it quiet 😏👍🏻

[@squigwarg4207]

Lol

[@statagerz]

@@squigwarg4207 Thats an old trick, combined with mashed bananas you will get a totally quiet drivetrain for a short period of time :)

[@d6893]

as mentioned in grapes of wrath

[@pflaffik]

The idea of the oldtimers was also that sawdust would thicken the oil so it didnt leak out so fast. True story, as late as in the 1980ies an oldtimer brought a Massey Ferguson dipstick to an agricultural mechanics and asked to have it extended, because it didnt reach down to the oil anymore. Oldtimers werent stupid but they would give each other stupid advices, they would fend off opinions from mechanics who went to "fancy ass" schools, to them it was obvious that you had to live on a farm to understand the workings of a tractor.

[@jessejamesainger3263]

It's worth a shot, Sometimes jury-rigged things work better than factory parts. My first P.O.S car was a 99 dodge Neon that went through a front engine mount about once a year. Finally I just drilled holes in a couple hockey pucks and it lasted the rest of the life of the vehicle.

[@shrapnut7612]

Hockey makes everything better.

[@BruceLyeg]

@@shrapnut7612 It's what separates us from the animals

[@SP-mp9yi]

Haha

[@deOliveiraFilipe]

I have a trailer with a dump bed pivoting on orange tree bushings. It has been like that ever since I built it a few years ago. I usually make bushings out of wood so I can weld stuff togheter and not ruin the final stuff. I do load the trailer heavily, and yes, it only sees action from time to time, but not planning to change them anyway.

[@butziporsche8646]

How about 2 engines with one upside down and intake and exhaust ports, chain drive the cranks together and make a vertical opposed piston engine. Like a Fairbanks OP

[@amorag59]

Sounds like a nightmare. Most block deck surfaces are asymmetrical and designed for the oil to flow downwards. Also valving, separating and routing the intake air and exhaust through the coolant jacket.. Nightmare lol.

[@russbilzing5348]

On the passenger ship "Queen Mary" (now parked in Southern California at Long Beach), they give extensive tours, inclusive of the engine room. I don't know what the engine powered, anymore,( it was 50 years ago), and each piston was about 4 or 5 feet across, the rods had a stroke of 6 or 7 feet. Perhaps it was for a generator, as the RMS QM Has 4 turbines for the props. Anyway, what impressed me was that this massive engine had bearings in it made of African Ironwood. Perhaps you could try to find some of that ...

[@beez1598]

I think treating the wood with oil under vacuum would have made those as slippery and strong as a standard rubber bushing. Great video as always fellas.

[@BADBILLY]

The amount of work and effort these guys point into a rather pointless test is AMAZING. No wornfer I am hooked on this channel for years.

[@thehistoricalmember]

Hi and I've seen your crazy experiments but I wanted to know if you can move the engine of a Lada, with the front engine to the trunk, it would be funny the behavior of the car and the mechanical problems that this swap entails

[@johncoops6897]

That is very difficult and would require an alternative engine, gearbox and final drive. Mid-engined would be easier.

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Reminds me of a Renault 8

[@Hybris51129]

Environmentalist: "We need more ecofriendly products." Garage54: "Here is some wooden suspension bushings. Hope you like woodworking."

[@albear972]

Ahhhh! The remains of the old Soviet times with bushings made of wood. Don't forget also mentioning putting sawdust in the transmission to make it run smooth as silky.

[@lucasdiniz5642]

In Brazil, we put flour in the hydraulic steering reservoir XD

[@pauberrymon5892]

Banana peels and saw dust, y'all amatures. Lol

[@pauberrymon5892]

@James Cunliffe 😂😂😂😂😏

[@franksmith2981]

Hey garage 54 I have done this sort of thing when I was a younger man and had no money I actually cut up a couple of old truck tires you know the caps and made bushings for my car out of them they did not last a very long time maybe a couple of months but worn out tires on the side of the road are free and I had no money and lots of time but I think the wood would work too

[@butcherbaker4258]

As an American I have always respected the good people of russia even though our governments have not felt the same. I live in alaska as well so I understand what makes them the way they are as well. I hope one day I will be able to visit all of the beauty mother Russia has to offer. I greatly appreciate this show because it shows that what we have been taught as children was all wrong and I hope more young Americans watch this and realize it's not where you come from, what god you pray to, or what profession you chose we are all human and can still appreciate what eachother have to offer. We are all in this together 🇺🇲🇷🇺🍻

[@chainsawhoarder8921]

I don't live in Alaska, but northern New York. I'd love to visit that place too. The people are nice and resourceful. I think I would go so far as to say I want to move there. Plus their president is a real leader. At least he can go up stairs without falling and can't get up.

[@Marauder252]

Good step climbing ability is important when choosing a president..

[@Sn0ws519]

As a Canadian that visited Russia, DO IT! Beautiful country and all the Russians I spoke to were so incredibly nice and were willing to go out of their way to help out if you needed it. I, unfortunately, visited right after Russia beat Canada in hockey juniors for the gold medal so I got to hear about us losing every time someone found out I'm Canadian lol.

[@someone-gb2ec]

❤

[@chainsawhoarder8921]

@@Sn0ws519 Haha, that's cool. Thanks for sharing that!

[@roscoe454]

ive seen it with wood but had a copper tube in the wood

[@TheHumphrey367]

You guys should make a heated pool with a lada engine. Like runimg water from the pool to the block and return it to the pool. Ive never seen that done lol

[@burgesskab]

Father used to talk about doing 'get you home' repairs of big ends using brown paper wrapped around the trunion. That would have been back in the late 1940s early 50s

[@stevenarrona95]

You should do it again and soak them in oil. You should make them a bit smaller so they can swell with the oil. The oil will make the wood a bit more flexible and reduce the amount of damage.

[@stal5861]

How long should they soak? A couple weeks?

[@prestonspencer6094]

I swear his new merch ad kills me every time lol I love it!!!!

[@danyf3116]

You had me at , "These Siberians!" LOL

[@analiensaturn]

Poplar was used on steam engine brakes so try it as bushings

[@wton]

We love you Vlad!

[@shngsam8777]

another great video by Garage54. i am curious on what is the liquid that coming out at 5:43?

[@SenisterBuilt]

These guys need a million subs badly

[@Leroys_Stuff]

I think they are on their main channel this is the translated one

[@SP-mp9yi]

They used to put Saw Dust and Shavings in the gearboxes to quite them down when they wore out too back then.

[@derrickodyes1934]

Always remember to lube your wood before insertion

[@johncoops6897]

Yeah, I agree. Going in dry causes all kinds of terrible screeches and groans.

[@dr.bright9267]

Here in South America, a crazy ass mechanic friend if mine warped some tire tubes to make a bushing for his 50's chevy truck, it lasted enough to go buy some new bushings, fill the fuel tank and came back home.

[@dariusnunez7158]

Here in Argentina, it was said that to sell cars with damaged gearboxes, they put banana peels in the gearbox so that it would make less noise. I have heard it many times, could that be true? Love this kind of videos with alternative car materials!

[@amorag59]

I too have heard of banana peels as gear lube so you're onto something. Some guy stranded on the dirt roads of Africa ran his diff out of diff fluid and squished up some bananas in there as a hold-over.

[@mikeanthonybrooks]

You know you got a nice car when your mechanic gets wood from your car

[@tylerfranx4286]

This probably sounds random asf but the wood creaking sounds like an old computer hard drive

[@stevenbennett5221]

I wood have tried elm. It has interlocking grain that keeps it from splitting.

[@kuhrd]

Yeah paper birch is only a 910 on the Janka hardness scale. Anything above 1700 would have been a better choice for strength, longevity, and water resistance if I had to guess without the time to test them all out. Laminating with crossed grain would also help.

[@PracticalDadd]

Is there a place where we can find un-translated versions of these videos?

[@gtxjokke]

Maybe birch bushing were bit oiled or/and somewhat painted to reduce presumption? So they don't creak and are so obvisous.

[@gtxjokke]

I hope they try this both out. With oil and with "oily" paint (maybe spraypaint).

[@kniganastole]

You guys could remove the alternator, install a 3-phase induction motor in its place and use it to start the engine. (Don't tell me that you have already done that last year LoL)

[@Scott00]

Will never work, if you ever tried to turn any pulley other than the crank you'd know there is no amount of belt wrap that holds enough to turn engine under compression.

[@kniganastole]

@@Scott00 That's why I want to see they trying to do that )))))))

[@Zachry86]

This is/was common on older smaller engines in boats tractors etc. I have a tractor that has it. Its called dynastart. Alternator is also the starter. Very useful

[@alanmurdock4319]

The front bushings only have to handle a rotating motion. The rear ones have to be able to handle longitudinal and the rotation forces.

[@williamvonroenn8063]

I was just thinking the same thing about soaking them in oil... Lol Great minds think alike...

[@NotStiffie]

Make a prop shaft from different types of wood; one from like, a wooden beam, one from few planks joined together and one from a whole log

[@RedFathom]

birch a hardwood? why not maple or lignum vitae?

[@derrickodyes1934]

Wood car parts are ok until the ants and termites find them and chewing at night starts

[@mrPauljacob]

I like the funky music choice of this episode

[@cumulusvapes7]

You know opening the can of paint and throwing it at the car works, but... Could at least use a mop or something! lol ! 11:52

[@pflaffik]

Its hard to believe anyone made them from woods. In Philippines there are thousands of "bushing shops" where they cut rubber bushings to size with hand tools, or glues on rubber sheets to make them thicker and so on. Some even use hand drills for center holes. Its extremely cheap, a low profit business. I guess in Sovjet Russia the problem wasnt the price but the notorious lack of everything including rubber.

[@Hellsong89]

Slight alteration idea. Dry the wood so it shrinks, then install it, soak it in oil and only then install. This way wood collects oil to it self and lubricates with out wearing out from scrubbing to hard metal. We know witch gives out first. Over time if wood does not wear out first, it releases oil and gets replaced by water from road condition and swells taking out the slack least theoretically that is. This is how you should be able to get best service life out of them. For stories i believe owner would probably be so mind blown that he would not notice minor thing like wood being soaked in oil or it being greased. Also it will effect greatly least on rear links how even the surface is since those bushings get side twisting happening that of course compress the outer edges more, so maybe another test for those where little material is removed on the outer edges allowing it to live a little.. i think best place would be to take it from inner hole side that allows the pipe and bolt stay intact. For actual uses, i see this legit jerry rig repair, just needs to replacing wood time to time and it should drive in the city just fine for long time.

[@homedad3324]

Saw blade wheels on Ice has been done but how about custom chainsaw blades instead of Wheels?

[@antmk2dreaming614]

what about relining a clutch plate with different materials, once heard about somebody that used leather as a clutch friction surface.

[@trevorpomroy550]

Lasts about as long as a gm factory bushing ;p

[@Gatilaras]

You can now try wooden brakes. Wooden discs,pads and wooden drum brakes for the rear or cement brake parts😊

[@creditcrazy597]

I'm seriously curious about if you soaked them in oil since that will both give them lubrication and make them harder to spot

[@johneagle7842]

just wondering if you ever replaced the brake fluid with oil, just to see if it would stop the car .

[@ChieFChalinOLarssoN]

8:48 i was about to write that😂😂

[@nobodynoone2500]

If you don't grease them they will tear out from friction. Running them dry was dumb.

[@geethug6910]

Birtch is hard? They must have some really soft wood where this guy lives.

[@mechanikwsadzie]

Birtch is really hard, they can put down Polish planes 😅. Only people from Poland will understand 😂

[@gustavgnoettgen]

True. I haven't heard about tool handles from birch either but who knows. Maybe birches grow harder in colder countries, like conifers?

[@francoisgiroid6153]

Hockey pucks make great bushings

[@chrisatc627]

Don’t know if you guys are aware but your not supposed to tighten the bushing bolts until the suspension is compressed under the cars weight

[@mlow587]

Lada for sale , well maintained LoL

[@Mart77]

Please do next test - jam regular nails into trailing arm as bushings

[@jerryb1234]

Maybe if you guys had soaked the wooden-bushings in oil, they wouldn't squeak like that, thanks for sharing guys.

[@THOMASS_P]

thats wood alright

[@matthewwiddows6319]

as commented, should have used seasoned wood. i thought the story was wooden bushes where used to get the car sold. if so, then i think this proved that theory true. if the wood had been seasoned and oiled, and maybe only a few bushes chnaged to wood, the buyer ""wood"" have never known they where there!!

[@christianmeeks4430]

Some grease may have helped the squeaking. I'd like to see how bushings made of hedge apple wood or iron wood would hold up.

[@twindragon731]

Either oil or grease. See what ones work better ☺️ also have them where they are very close. 1 mil clearance

[@nophdcoyote3635]

Historical wagons used Elm as the Hub. It would resist splitting.

[@joeanderson444]

This would be cool to see if you could get a hold of enough UHMW instead of wood! I imagine UHMW would hold up a lot better!

[@MrGreenReefer]

Lets hear it for the Garage 54 Mechanics, they be true wrench ninjas!! (from surrey, B.C. Canada)

[@MagentaRV]

Birtch is a very soft, tight grained hardwood. White oak soaked in linseed oil would be more historically accurate.

[@jared4670]

This explains why my wife's car now squeaks after having her bushings replaced at Makk 🤣

[@thehulkamaniabrother2.089]

Did he even grease the wood bushings before he put them in. Lol they are sounding very dry...

[@coskuarsiray]

why dont you make 3d TPU printed bushings?

[@allenm00]

How does that old car still have a solid floor?

[@chrismechanic2000]

you can also cast the shape of the old bush and just pour in polyurethane bushes, that would make a cool video.

[@JoeRocket-sf6qs]

Everyone and their dog has poured urathane bushings at some point.

[@loonyloony6550]

Graphite powder?

[@adamhonda98]

Sparrow rubber tree would be interesting since it's used to make latex

[@gahmivolka]

I am almost certain the wood has to be dry and not fresh cut. And treated with oil to last any distance.

[@nofider1]

Try Lignum vitae if you can find some :-) Great video as always. Thanks.

[@Lucast3]

steel bushings next?

[@seriogamarkovas5407]

Maybe if they were lubed with solidol before installation they wouldn't creak as much or at all... i dont know... Stupid idea but... make a car with a reversed body shell, engine will be in trunk, probably not enough space, but I believe you can manage it garage54

[@MechanicalJay]

How about running your piston rings upside down or piston rings the wrong wing

[@thedarkknight1971]

05:22 - Wood it (haha sorry...) Would it have helped them instead of just bolting them in, but using large washers under the hex head of the nuts and bolts to help with 'durability' and stress loading through the bolts etc?? 🤔🤔😎🇬🇧

[@Aleks_Mechanics]

Notification squad!🔥🔥🔥

[@John-ci2sd]

1. Get a lada 2. Push the engine and gearbox back Make a single wheel centred at the front 3. Make different side panels And here you go you made a russian reliant robin

[@sweet65mustang]

If you used dry wood, fit everything into its bore and then soak it in oil for a couple of days, I bet you'd have a lot more luck.

[@alphaduck2926]

For your next video you should make tires made out of stone. Like the ones in the Flintstone.

[@florin26balalau]

You didn't do it correctly you should have used wood from the center of the larger logs those branches are like sapwood not Heartwood maybe try some black walnut or Oak wood that is more dense

[@amalfi460]

Can you soak the wood in oil for a month then redo the experiment???

[@lutfullahkarahanli]

Can you make a flying lada?

[@bruh-pn7hn]

perhaps the wood is just too hard for suspension kind of stress hence the cracks

[@aaronhrk]

Love these crazy mods 😆

[@meh-canics9628]

Wood Bushings for the Win to get you home! Or to Garage 54

[@trm4life]

I bet if you put a healthy coating of grease on everything, you may not have heard any noises at all!!

[@JohnDoe-vf2yo]

I think this would've worked had you used wood from the Osage orange tree but I don't think it grows in Siberia, lol.

[@QuintinLourens]

How about a remote controlled lada

[@BeamerTheFox]

they did that years back

[@Nickwillfixit]

Now you should have used bush's not tree's, not sure how well this would translate, a bush is a small shrub so a pun is what I made, hmmmm.

[@salzar4431]

Try putting sawdust in a noisy gearbox to quieten it.

[@daewooparts]

Now we know how the Flintstones made there cars suspension,should make some links out of large bones next