I am looking at upgrading to the urethane bushings and was wondering how those would affect my vehicle. My car has ground controls and is lowered about 3 inches right now. Are there any problems that people have run into when driving a car lowered this far and using the bushings in unison? They seemed like a decent upgrade for under 40 bucks and funds are starting to dissipate fast. Any help is appreciated. Once again, thanks in advance.
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If your funds are dissapting, you may want to think about rasing your vehicle up about an inch. Riding that low can cause your CV joints to wear out much faster. I'm not trying to tell you what to do so don't start a $#@% tossing contest.
The urethane bushings are mainly used to help control wheel hop. They also help the car corner better. For $40 they are supposed to be well worth it. I just need to find some time to put mine in and I could give you a better opinion, but thats what I have heard after researching them.
Thanks for the info Zach. Anyone else?
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Thanks for the comments peeps!!! Keep'em coming!!
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These are definitely worth the $35. ( carcustoms.net has them for $35 with free shipping). I had these on my old cavy. Made a really noticeable difference in the handling and helped out with the wheel hop also (not that it was really a problem in a 2.2 OHV auto). They are time consuming to install---buy a Hanes manual and a ball joint seperator---life will be much easier for you.
Yea they suck very much to do. I found it was impossible to push them out so i burned them out. U dont nessisarily need a ball join seperator either. A big flat head screwdriver and a mallet will do fine to seperate it. They are worth it tho. I found the car stays a little more planted around turns during hard cornering, and they also help elliminate wheel hop. Make sure u grease them all over, or they will squeek on u. If u need any help with them i can help. Also Steve Cote has a exellent write up on them.
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I would... Especially if you disconnect the strut or tie rod end from the spindle.
they do kill ride quality though, my car ride harder now, and i still have stock springs and struts, but they do take more roll out of the car, works well with my sways.
Its not how fast your car goes....its how much nerve the driver has to push it that fast.
I wouldn't say "kill" i dont mind them much at all. But yes get an alingment. I didnt think i needed one and now the inside part of both my front tires are gone. *slaps forehead*
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i'm gonna be doing my suspension and handling mods at school
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MY 2003 SUNFIRE
are these the a-arm bushings, i found out i needed them today, mine are wore out, just curious on wheter i should buy good ones or oem ones?
Carcustoms has them for 35 shipped. Thats probably cheaper than you can pick OEM ones up for.
are control arms the same thing as A-arms, just my back bushings on the a arm are bad,
and also what would a shop generally charge to install these?
They are the same as the A-arms. Not sure what a shop would charge you though. Probably 2-3 hours labor.
cchevyboy1986 wrote:what would a shop generally charge to install these?
This is what a GM tech told me;
"According to book time. Which for C/Arm bushings is about 3.6 Hours for both sides + both bushings. (rear bushing alone is a 1.6 hour retail labour time)"
So, about 2 hr book time, and that's exactly how long it took us. If I had it done in house, it woulda been about a $100CDN install fee.
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If you install them yourself you can save some money just be sure to get everything torqued back down the way it should be. Yes they will make the front of your car sound like one of those plastic egg cartons if you dont grease them. Also your toe will be off thats the way mine was and it sounds like Greenfire had the same problem.
Blackcav.... I agree with Zach: raise your car a little. It makes no sense to drop 3" unless your car is a show car. It also makes no sense to add poly bushings unless your car is a performance car. It makes even less sense to do both...wear out CV-joints by lowering a performance car too much and spending money on poly bushings that no one will see on a show car.
No offense
- Ken
'99 Z24, Manual
ordered my poly bushings today!
I Installed mine last week. The fronts where easy to push out. I used a tool I made out of a really big socket, 4 washers, 9" threaded rod (3/8" diameter), 2 nuts, & smaller socket.
The rears, which are a major pain, I used a drill and perforated all the way around the bushing. Then cut it out with a small saw. Don't forget to cut out the metal ring around the stock bushing, I used a hack saw to cut it, then a screw driver and hammer to tap it out. To get the big on in I used a "C" clap, 2 pieces of wood, and oil strap wrench (to give the back side space for the bushing to move in to hole) Be sure to push the bushing through the tapered end of the control arm hole.
Ride quality is not a problem, had a problem with bounce, not anymore. The cornering is little better, but without a front stabilizer bar... Which i have just trying to figure out poly end-links kits and sway bar bushings.
Absolutely get an alignment done after. Pretty sure, your gonna have to unbolt the strut to the knuckle to get the ball joint back in. The bushings are so firm that the arm as no play for any adjusting to get ball joint back in.
