Looking for some suspension bushing suggestions, Which is best? How hard to install? Any recommendations or advice Options

[nsr-jamie]

Hi, just about to pull apart my entire suspension for the big winter project...I have all my suspensions parts ready to go (Koni shocks,Tarret 19mm front bar and 150 pound springs).... the last part I want to replace is the suspension bushings....what I am asking here is what is everybody using for their cars? My car will be a high performance weekend fun car, occasionally driven to work on nice days, mostly weekend mountain driving and occasional autocrossing...looking for a nice sporty ride.

I know Weltmeister makes a complete kit that Automotion sells for around 70 dollars for the set....than I noticed Tangerine has their sets too, and I always hear good things about the Elephant Racing bushings.....I was thinking about going with the Elephant bushings but they are expensive.

Is installing the bushings a major job? I have never done this kind of work before...if any body has any advice or some suggestions or other bushings please feel free to post and thank you

Cheers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[pcar916]

It's a matter of proper handling under heavy turns and severe braking and what that's worth to you. Much of that is related to the stiffness in your spring system, but if we assume the same spring rates in each case, I look at it as an easy decision. Only those I have experience with are listed.

The ones you can do yourself:
1. Stock: more deflection, thus more alignment changes during maneuvers.
2. Delrin: Cheap and very stiff but fine if properly installed. They wear out quickest of all of them.
3. Elephant Polybronze: Fairly easy installation, tiny deflection under stress. They're expensive but possibly the last ones the car needs if they are maintained (lubricated) properly.

Professionally installed into your suspension arms,
1. Roller bearings: Most expensive, essentially no deflection, bolt-up installation by you. Prone to water intrusion if the seals aren't properly designed/installed.

I run Elephant for three reasons.
1. Stiff enough for me.
2. I can install them myself
3. Water sealing issues (i.e. rusty bearings/races) in a place that I can't inspect make me crazy so roller-bearings don't appeal to me in THIS application. The cost-benefit is more than I like since the Elephant solution gives me the ability to lubricate each of them as well, and allows so little deflection that I likely won't be able to tell the difference.

Good luck!

[nsr-jamie]

It's a matter of proper handling under heavy turns and severe braking and what that's worth to you. Much of that is related to the stiffness in your spring system, but if we assume the same spring rates in each case, I look at it as an easy decision. Only those I have experience with are listed.

The ones you can do yourself:
1. Stock: more deflection, thus more alignment changes during maneuvers.
2. Delrin: Cheap and very stiff but fine if properly installed. They wear out quickest of all of them.
3. Elephant Polybronze: Fairly easy installation, tiny deflection under stress. They're expensive but possibly the last ones the car needs if they are maintained (lubricated) properly.

Professionally installed into your suspension arms,
1. Roller bearings: Most expensive, essentially no deflection, bolt-up installation by you. Prone to water intrusion if the seals aren't properly designed/installed.

I run Elephant for three reasons.
1. Stiff enough for me.
2. I can install them myself
3. Water sealing issues (i.e. rusty bearings/races) in a place that I can't inspect make me crazy so roller-bearings don't appeal to me in THIS application. The cost-benefit is more than I like since the Elephant solution gives me the ability to lubricate each of them as well, and allows so little deflection that I likely won't be able to tell the difference.

Good luck!

Thank you for the excellent info...you have the Elephant bushings? These are what I am still thinking about but having problems deciding.... how is the ride? Is your car a pure racer? Or like my car, a weekend fun car that I like to drive and take to the mountains....I don't mind a firm ride....just curious how is your ride and what kind of driving are you doing? (race? DD? fun car? AX?)

[pcar916]

... just curious how is your ride and what kind of driving are you doing? (race? DD? fun car? AX?)

Mine is basically a race car I keep on the street (daily driver) and it's quite stiff, but the stiffness isn't from the bushings. It's from the 23mm front torsion bars, the 22mm front sway-bar, Bilstein sport front inserts, the 200# rear springs, and koni gas adjustable shocks. Road race cars make for the most fun road cars because the elements we face on the road are more like a road-race track than an AX.

My car is built for road-track use and it's not set-up to do AX unless I make big changes to soften the front (sway-bar adjustments) and/or stiffen the rear with a shock adjustment... usually both. Plus the clutch-type 60/40 LSD makes for a push on tight AX elements. But as I said it's a daily driver and I live very close to some great mountain roads.

I like nothing better than to go out into the twisty roads and push the car. Those Elephant bushings made a dramatic difference in the crispness of my turns. Nothing will make you quicker than confidence that when you make a steering input, that you feel the car respond the same way every time, and that it happens RIGHT NOW!

The non-stock bushings don't stiffen the car but they simply do two things:

1. With proper installation they give our swing arms the ability to move freely and NOT become part of the spring equation with drag. That would make them spring-dampeners.
2. They reduce (in directions that steal energy from your steering input) suspension arm movement. The biggest benefit you will get is a crispness in steering that, if you're "tuned" to your car with rubber or old bushings, you will notice immediately.

None of these are going to increase the impact of the road on your butt. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) That's purely a function of your springs, shocks (which are a kind of spring) and the weight of the car.

[nsr-jamie]

... just curious how is your ride and what kind of driving are you doing? (race? DD? fun car? AX?)

Mine is basically a race car I keep on the street (daily driver) and it's quite stiff, but the stiffness isn't from the bushings. It's from the 23mm front torsion bars, the 22mm front sway-bar, Bilstein sport front inserts, the 200# rear springs, and koni gas adjustable shocks. Road race cars make for the most fun road cars because the elements we face on the road are more like a road-race track than an AX.

My car is built for road-track use and it's not set-up to do AX unless I make big changes to soften the front (sway-bar adjustments) and/or stiffen the rear with a shock adjustment... usually both. Plus the clutch-type 60/40 LSD makes for a push on tight AX elements. But as I said it's a daily driver and I live very close to some great mountain roads.

I like nothing better than to go out into the twisty roads and push the car. Those Elephant bushings made a dramatic difference in the crispness of my turns. Nothing will make you quicker than confidence that when you make a steering input, that you feel the car respond the same way every time, and that it happens RIGHT NOW!

The non-stock bushings don't stiffen the car but they simply do two things:

1. With proper installation they give our swing arms the ability to move freely and NOT become part of the spring equation with drag. That would make them spring-dampeners.
2. They reduce (in directions that steal energy from your steering input) suspension arm movement. The biggest benefit you will get is a crispness in steering that, if you're "tuned" to your car with rubber or old bushings, you will notice immediately.

None of these are going to increase the impact of the road on your butt. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) That's purely a function of your springs, shocks (which are a kind of spring) and the weight of the car.

Thank you !! That is exactly what I wanted to hear....I am kind of leaning towards the Elephant bushings now after hearing that, that is basically how my car is used for too, weekend mountain cruising....I don't mind paying a little more for better performance, thank you

Jamie