A suspension tale...

[wytbishop]

OK...so here's what's happened in the past couple of weeks.

I got the prototype bushings installed on the car about 2 weeks ago and then promptly went on vacation where I was dragged behind a boat by people pretending to be my friends while secretly laughing at my pathetic inability to either Air Chair or water ski. I drove the car a couple of times before leaving and I've put a couple hundred kms on it since I returned. It felt...different. No more clunking, which I thought was encouraging, but it was pretty loose feeling. I attributed this to the fact that I had not reinstalled the rear Anti-Sway bar (I sold my last set of end links) and the alignment was screwed...to say the least.

The last couple of days have been particularly good though.

Yesterday I dropped the car off at the alignment shop and they said they'd look at if that morning. "Good" I said..."thanks!" They called me yesterday morning at about 10am and told me that they could not align my suspension as the "Pretty Purple Bushings" are so loose there's no point.

I says.."Pardon???"

"Come see for yourself!", says he.

"Oh, I will!!!", says I.

So I go over there and he jacks up the rear of the car and proceeds to wiggle the rear driver's side wheel around like...well...something really wiggly...which we can all agree is really bad. I can see when he manhandles the wheel that the rear lateral link bushings are clearly not doing their job.

"Hmmm", I says.

"There all like that", he says.

So I take the car back. He didn't charge me for the 1/2 hour or so they spent on it which was nice of him. But I'm basically freaking out.

I don't think I need to explain to you all how my butt is well and truly on the line with these bushings. If they don't work I'm likely going to have to change my name and probably my country...no Continent...of residence as well.

I also found out i have an inner ear infection. Result of the previously mentioned Tug O' War with the boat and a gallon or so of lake water in my ear.

The ear thing turns out to be helpful because I was legitimately (sort of) able to call in sick today. I figured I knew what the problem was with the bushings, but I needed to get in there and basically take it all apart again to get it working. So I get the driver's side of the car in the air and the rear is definitely loose. I go to the front and I find that these bushings seem quite tight. I wiggle the wheel and it does move, but its not the bushings that are moving it's the tie rod end. It appears I have been given the wrong tie rod ends and the post is loose in the steering knuckle. That's a relief. I pry on the LCA with various tools to make good and sure that things are as they ought to be and they are. I also take a few minutes to adjust the toe in. It's pretty close now, but the caster and camber are still quite bad. I also tighten the crap out of the tie rod ends.

So the front end is ok. Now to deal with the rear end...which does have a minor problem. See the design requires that the bushings be pre-loaded a certain amount to sort of "squish" the bushings into the pocket of the suspension part it lives in. To accomplish this, the inner sleeve has to be shorter than the assembled bushing. Imagine the rear subframe...you have a bolt passing through the front Lateral Link, the subframe, the rear lateral link, the tie bar and then a nut. As you tighten the nut, all the parts get sucked together until the sleeves of the bushings hit the subframe. If the sleeves are too long, the bushings won't get squished enough before the bolt is tight and that's exactly what happened. I took everything apart, ground off a bit of each sleeve, regreased everything, put it all back together mother tight and installed the rear Anti-Sway bar.

Can i just say...NEW CAR!!!

I actually don't think I could be happier. The 70A bushings are compliant, but precise. The car feels so much smoother and much much tighter. They are quite soft. It's a daily driver for sure...definitely not racy. But that's exactly what I wanted with the 70's. I think the 80's and 90's will be really nice for those that want a razor sharp ride.

I had a right good freak out yesterday, but after doing some fine tuning I'm ecstatic. I can't wait to get them in your hands.

And that is why we test new parts.

[marcdh]

Pretty purple bushings...

That was a unnerving read, I do like the happy ending though I similarly have had a crap tie rod end, it was nowhere near OEM spec, I had to replace it. Hope the ear infection clears up soon, they're not fun. I'm glad it was an easy fix, must have been a relief. What is the current estimate of completion?

[onlytrueromeo]

Take it in to the same guys after you drive around a bit and ask if the pretty purple bushings are better...then procede to say you made them yourself.

[wytbishop]

The last word from the poly guy was that they were working on the last part. The common bushing for the lateral links...of which there are over a hundred and they are all 70A.

I am still working on cutting the sleeves as well. Given this latest issue, it is really important that they are exactly right. That process may take a little longer than expected. On future runs I will have the sleeves made for me, but for now I have to make them myself. My time and my resourses are limited. I expect the finished parts will be delivered to me next week. Then as soon as the sleeves are done I just have to package everything up and send it out.

[onlytrueromeo]

So it was night and day from when they were loose to then you fixed the sleeves? Is the back end tighter then stock w/ the 70A, even though it gives better comfort?

[wytbishop]

Its very responsive. I had a broken end link on my rear sway bar for a long time so I was experiencing a lot of body roll. I test drove the car last night before puttign the sway bar on and it was definitely a lot better than the month or so before. After putting the sway bar on though, it is really sharp. I think that by having them on there loose for a few hundred km I have perminently deformed my rear bushings just a bit. I think they could be a little tighter still. Yours will be tighter than mine are.

When they come in I'm going to try a set of 80's and 90's just for comparison. Now that everything is new back there, it only takes an hour and a half or so to change everything.

[onlytrueromeo]

I'm just very excited. I've got H&R's w/ zx2s, and a brand new whiteline swaybar to put on.

[fowljesse]

I feel like the others; was scared, now excited. Let us know when the alignment is done!