front suspension bushings, grease or no grease? Options

[jim912928]

About a month agoc I put on my new front suspension (5-lug, turbo tie rods, ball joints, bushings etc.). I only lightly greased the bushing to get them on the arms. Now, the front end just seems too stiff. When I bounce it via pushing on the top of the fenders it's stiff and does some squeeking.

Should I have really greased the inside of the bushings and control arm before slipping them on? Since I'm now putting on the sway bar stuff it's a good time to pull them if I should have.

Oh...they are OEM bushings not Weltmeister.

Thanks,

Jim

[brant]

Jim,

I think true OEM bushings were poured or formed and vulcanized to the arm and are not replaceable...

perhaps you mean the compound you used is a softer than race compound?

regardless... The more grease the better.
I used to have to rebuild (take apart and re-grease) my bushings between each track season.... Finally I gave up.

However I transfered my bushings suspension over to a street car, but installed zerks both front and rear. There are threads and instructions out there, but the train of thought with these bushings is that if you decide to use them then you should create spirals (grease paths) inside and spend the time honing and insuring a very good fit.

brant

[URY914]

The short answer is:

Yes. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Paul

[jim912928]

Thanks all. Tomorrow or thursday (took some time off) I'm going to take my control arms off and grease these things. Brant you are correct, these are not the "racing" bushings but the softer street ones.

I've read a few threads on pelican on zerks...some say yes, others say don't bother as you really want to get the grease on the inside of the bushing. I will definitely cut some grooves in them though.

I've got plenty of Redline CV-2 Grease...I assume this will work ok?

Sean, if you read this I now suspect this is why you said it looked like my front end was "jumpy" as you followed me up to MWC. When I jacked the car up today one side really creaked and the other kind of came down in spurts as weight/gravity overcame the resistance of the bushing.

I really want some of Mueller's roller bearings...but daughter just wrecked the jeep so funds will be going elsewhere (jeep totalled, daughter just fine).

Jim

[Mueller]

tips and tricks for plastic bushings (leave the plastic parts for your kids toys, not for your's (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[jim912928]

I'm SOOOOOO PUMPED UP!!!!!

I took the day off to drop my front suspension and groove and grease the control arm bushings (reason for my soooo stiff ride). I couldn't even move the control arms by hand when I jacked up the car they were so stiff.

Anyway, started at 9:30 this morning and by 12:30 I was done...sway bars disconnected, ball joint disconnected from strut, a-arms totally off, cut out the grooves in the bushing (did them in V's), greased everything up, put everything back together (really smooth movement now!), put tires on and dropped the car. I even took a 30 minute break!

Looks like I have time to install the rear sway bar!...back to the garage!

Cheers,

Jim

[Mueller]

glad it worked out for you....I've got a set of needle bearing with your name on 'em......I can wait a few months until you are ready, LOL

[jim912928]

This, in my view, was a short term fix.....when I'm finished with this car and drive it some....and when they start creaking again...then in go your bearings!

[mike_the_man]

I'm going to be doing this next week. I have the front all ripped apart, and parts on order. Can you explain what exactly you did in a little more detail? What type of grease did you use? Did you grease both inside and outside of the bushing? Did you grove just the inside, or outside also? Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

[jim912928]

No problem, and I'm no expert but learned everything from prior experiences of members on this board! As far as greasing, only grease the insides of the bushings...leave the outside totally alone as you want those to "stick" to their housings...the point is that the control arm moves within the inside of the bushings and the bushings stay stationary. So, insides...groove and grease, outsides...leave alone!

The theory on grooving the insides of the bushings is to be able to put on more grease and retain more grease throughout time. Some have gone so far as to install grease zerks through the retaining housings and the bushings so they can periodically grease the insides. I didn't do that.

I grooved the insides of my bushings using a small dremel tool. I cut grooves in a V shape on the inside of each bushing. \ \ \ \ \
/ / / / /
They are staggered like this (envision that pattern on the inside. I did not cut the grooves clear out to the edges.

Next, I made sure both the a-arms and the inside of the bushings were smooth and fit snuggly dry (with no grease) but moveable. Next I slide on the bushings and WOW what a difference!

Now, since you have your entire suspension out (including the auxilary support bar?) it would be much easier to assemble the a-arms, bushings, auxilary support bar etc off the car and then lift and bolt it in in one piece. If your auxilary is still on (as mine was today). I found it easier to loosen the main body bolt to the auxilary (bolt the bushing case goes through...assuming the bushing case is still on the car), slide the rear bushing in the case, lube the inside of the bushing real good. Then, grease the inside of the front bushing real well, grease both ends of the a-arm that goes into the bushings, place the a-arm in position and just in front of the auxilary support and slide the a-arm into the rear bushing (you'll need to push the auxilary support down alittle...that is why you loosen that bolt). Then bolt everything back up per torque specs!

Shoot me another message if that wasn't clear...good luck!

Jim

[mike_the_man]

I think that all makes sense. Pretty straight forward. What type of grese did you use?

Thanks for the tips!

[jim912928]

I used Redline grease I already had here (just repacked my CV joints and new bearings in my 911 front end i put on this thing..believe it was CV-2 if memory serves). It's all purpose CV, Chassis, bearing grease etc.

I've heard others have used marine axle grease..even had someone say they used brake caliper lube.

[Slowpoke]

Dumb question I guess. .......... But, how come nobody buys and uses the correct grease for polyrethane bushings? Nobody seems to mention it here or on the triumph list I'm on either. Seems like spending $8 to get the right grease from Energy Suspensions or one of the other guys would solve alot of the "my suspension makes noise" issues. I have use this stuff for years on several different cars and I don't remember ever having a suspenison noise issue. I heard people use swimming pool grease, wheel bearing grease, silicon grease, white grease etc. Hell, I wouldn't even know where to find some of that stuff.
Sorry for being off topic.

Peter

[mike_the_man]

Dumb question I guess. .......... But, how come nobody buys and uses the correct grease for polyrethane bushings? Nobody seems to mention it here or on the triumph list I'm on either. Seems like spending $8 to get the right grease from Energy Suspensions or one of the other guys would solve alot of the "my suspension makes noise" issues. I have use this stuff for years on several different cars and I don't remember ever having a suspenison noise issue. I heard people use swimming pool grease, wheel bearing grease, silicon grease, white grease etc. Hell, I wouldn't even know where to find some of that stuff.
Sorry for being off topic.

Peter

I wouldn't say that's off topic at all. So, what type of grease is the, exactly? And where can I find some? Do I have to order it, or will my FLAPS have it?