Suspension Brakes 1st Gen Most liked posts in thread: Front Control Arm Bushing, what brand do you use?

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You know you wouldn't have to worry about any of this grease issue if you got the PF. They come with a tube of grease.

 

Nothing wrong with modding a part to make it better.

 

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Since we seem to somehow hit upon a difference of terms vis-à-vie grease and lubricant and I'm a fan of etymology:

Lubricant - A substance used to reduce friction between objects or surfaces. Lubricants include grease, powders (dry graphite, PTFE, Molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, etc.), teflon tape used in plumbing, air cushion and others.

Grease - A lubricant composed of an oil or oils thickened with a soap, soaps or other thickener to a semisolid or solid consistency.

 

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Some thoughts on sticktion and the like...

Solid race bushings have huge stiction issues (ever been in a race car driven in anger with the sound deadening removed? They groan and creak like crazy!), but really it doesn't matter at all. The lever arm on your typical suspenion component is on the order of feet, and the moment for the bushing surface is on the order of centimeters. To to some extent the stiction does result in a non-linear force, it's so small compared to the rest of the forces at play that you can ignore it in any consideration of driving dynamics. It makes noise that's a pain, but it doesn't effect handling. It can be a sign or indicator of faster wear (Depending on materials), and for a car that doesn't get torn into often, that can be the bigger concern.

One of the dangers of wet lubricants though is that dirt and other crap tend to get burried in them, and this can make a kind of liquid sandpaper that leads to faster wear.

Now Greg did some measurements of the required force to deflect the BavarianAuto units, and found it took about 125 lbs to deflect them to the fullest extent of suspension motion. At first, this seems like a lot, but then, the spring is going to take many times that amount to deflect as far, so it's less than a 10% change in spring rate (even with stock springs). the percentage change is much less when you get stiffer aftermarket springs on them.

Seems to me:

Stock is forgiving and quite, but is prone to failure and alows a lot of motion.
Poly inserts stiffen up the stocker.
Powerflex and the like are stiffer, and need some periodic maintenance.
Alta unit needs welding.
BavAuto units are really stiff (because of the single piece design) and still need some periodic maintenance, but maybe not as often as the Polyflex/MiniMadness style.

None are perfect, and they all have thier issues. No matter what, you'll be under the car taking care of any of the aftermarket (though the Altas seem to do well after welding). Or you'll be under the car changing out the stockers!

Matt

 

Hey Matt,

Instead of the long explanations, how about the auto up/down for the verts? I am just sayn'.

 

Trying to decide which to go with, I know now that I need to replace mine.
Alta PSRS, need to be welded, anyone have pics of where and how much. I have a wire feed MIG, is it just a tack job?
Whats the life expectancy of these various bushing offerings from your experiences.
Guess to I'm looking for the longest lasting, best working, fiddlefree part to install, then again aren't we all... well most of us anyway.

 

Tack the arm to the sleeve

 

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How deep is the hole in the end of the control arm? Why not drill that out a bit larger, tap it, and use a bolt and washer instead of welding? Seems to me that would be a better way to go.

 

All that needs to be done with the sleeve is to hold it in place, no real forces are being applied to the weld. Thus no need to get quite that extreme. Unless of course drilling it is easier than getting access to a welder.

In fact I bet you could get by with nothing more than a cotter pin.