How much would upgrading the bushings to poly. help me?
02-06-2006, 10:34 PM
#1
How much would upgrading the bushings to poly. help me? i want to keep the stock sway bars and possibly panhard bar (see my other thread) would upgrading the rubber factory bushings help me THAT much? i only 1/4 mile race and dont autocross and its mostly a daily driver for occasional track trips, thanks!
02-07-2006, 08:21 AM
#5
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Depends on where the application is. For swaybar endlinks and bushings, not a problem. For the control arms (front upper, front lower, and rear) and PHB, they will be a PIA, as you either have to use a torch to dissolve the rubber then push everything else out, or just simply use a hydraulic arbour press for less mess and wait.
My advice? Be careful where you put poly, because it's harmful for certain dynamics of certain parts of the suspension. For the rear LCA's and PHB, you'll think you'll notice improvement with handling when you're on stock shocks and springs, but as soon as you upgrade, the binding of the poly will greatly affect the cornering performance as the combination of the springs and LCA bushings will affect the overall rear spring rate, and factoring the super hard bushings will frustrate you when you leave the drag strip for daily driving. There is going to be someone who will say, "just keep them lubed and you won't have any problems." Don't believe the hype. If it's a harder bushing you desire without too much loss in performance, then go for Moog Problem solver bushings in the rear LCA's and PHB.
AFA the tranny mount goes, you might have to modify the aftermarket poly mount in order to retain a proper forward pinion angle. When I installed mine, I had problems with extreme vibration, because I installed it according to the instruction sheet. After removing the plate and shaving the "bumps" flat I was back to a proper (at least more desirable) forward pinion angle.
FWIW, real noticable improvements will be realised with upgraded sway bars themselves and/or a set of springs with properly valved shocks. Spending lots of money on changing most of the materials of the suspension really won't create highly measureable differences. Reasons for getting these mods (and I have some poly as well) is to remove some of the tiny bits of factory "slop", and possbily create better adjustment as well, but again the differences will not necessarily be dramatic.
My advice? Be careful where you put poly, because it's harmful for certain dynamics of certain parts of the suspension. For the rear LCA's and PHB, you'll think you'll notice improvement with handling when you're on stock shocks and springs, but as soon as you upgrade, the binding of the poly will greatly affect the cornering performance as the combination of the springs and LCA bushings will affect the overall rear spring rate, and factoring the super hard bushings will frustrate you when you leave the drag strip for daily driving. There is going to be someone who will say, "just keep them lubed and you won't have any problems." Don't believe the hype. If it's a harder bushing you desire without too much loss in performance, then go for Moog Problem solver bushings in the rear LCA's and PHB.
AFA the tranny mount goes, you might have to modify the aftermarket poly mount in order to retain a proper forward pinion angle. When I installed mine, I had problems with extreme vibration, because I installed it according to the instruction sheet. After removing the plate and shaving the "bumps" flat I was back to a proper (at least more desirable) forward pinion angle.
FWIW, real noticable improvements will be realised with upgraded sway bars themselves and/or a set of springs with properly valved shocks. Spending lots of money on changing most of the materials of the suspension really won't create highly measureable differences. Reasons for getting these mods (and I have some poly as well) is to remove some of the tiny bits of factory "slop", and possbily create better adjustment as well, but again the differences will not necessarily be dramatic.
Last edited by Foxxton; 02-07-2006 at 08:26 AM.
02-07-2006, 08:25 AM
#6
Originally Posted by Foxxton
Depends on where the application is. For swaybar endlinks and bushings, not a problem. For the control arms (front upper, front lower, and rear) and PHB, they will be a PIA, as you either have to use a torch to dissolve the rubber then push everything else out, or just simply use a hydraulic arbour press for less mess and wait.
My advice? Be careful where you put poly, because it's harmful for certain dynamics of certain parts of the suspension. For the rear LCA's and PHB, you'll think you'll notice improvement with handling when you're on stock shocks and springs, but as soon as you upgrade, the binding of the poly will greatly affect the cornering performance as the combination of the springs and LCA bushings will affect the overall rear spring rate, and factoring the super hard bushings will frustrate you when you leave the drag strip for daily driving. There is going to be someone who will say, "just keep them lubed and you won't have any problems." Don't believe the hype. If it's a harder bushing you desire without too much loss in performance, then go for Moog Problem solver bushings in the rear LCA's and PHB.
AFA the tranny mount goes, you might have to modify the aftermarket poly mount in order to retain a proper forward pinion angle. When I installed mine, I had problems with extreme vibration, because I installed it according to the instruction sheet. After removing the plate and shaving the "bumps" flat I was back to a proper (at least more desirable) forward pinion angle.
My advice? Be careful where you put poly, because it's harmful for certain dynamics of certain parts of the suspension. For the rear LCA's and PHB, you'll think you'll notice improvement with handling when you're on stock shocks and springs, but as soon as you upgrade, the binding of the poly will greatly affect the cornering performance as the combination of the springs and LCA bushings will affect the overall rear spring rate, and factoring the super hard bushings will frustrate you when you leave the drag strip for daily driving. There is going to be someone who will say, "just keep them lubed and you won't have any problems." Don't believe the hype. If it's a harder bushing you desire without too much loss in performance, then go for Moog Problem solver bushings in the rear LCA's and PHB.
AFA the tranny mount goes, you might have to modify the aftermarket poly mount in order to retain a proper forward pinion angle. When I installed mine, I had problems with extreme vibration, because I installed it according to the instruction sheet. After removing the plate and shaving the "bumps" flat I was back to a proper (at least more desirable) forward pinion angle.