Suspension bushings?

Comments

• Haydz Moderator

  November 2009

  If you want longevity then i would say stick with rubber as long as you are sitting on or reasonably close (within 1.5") of the standard height.
  
  Lowering the car puts stress on parts of the bushes that they were not designed for.
  
  On my Shuttle RTi i put Noltec blue urethane RTAs. Worked awesome, kept the car flatter etc.. Previous ones were poked as though.
• quarters Council Member

  November 2009

  I live where the roads are terrible and would not recommend poly bushings (with the exception of radius rod & shifter bushings, i like poly there).
  
  So mainly i say if you live where the roads are like glass then go for it, poly on. Otherwise i say go rubber/oe.
• 89ac_EE2 Wagonist

  November 2009

  i don't like the energy suspension shifter bushing at all.......prothane is the way to go there....oem feel
• bam-bam Council Member

  November 2009

  quarters wrote:

  I live where the roads are terrible and would not recommend poly bushings (with the exception of radius rod & shifter bushings, i like poly there).
  
  So mainly i say if you live where the roads are like glass then go for it, poly on. Otherwise i say go rubber/oe.

  
  Why, because of the squeaky poly noise? The roads here are fair, but I regularly go to the mountains to play. It's not at all unusual for me to get airborne on the fire roads.
  
  I read somewhere about some of the polyurethane RTA inserts "walking" out. Anybody seen that?
• Jaker familEE

  November 2009

  It's been suggested many times that the Energy Suspension and the Prothane Urethane RTA bushings are not correctly designed and lead to some binding in the rear suspension that leads to unpredictable handling in a performance driving situation like autocross or road racing. This could also be the case for someone that partakes in spirited driving on the street. I personally experienced it on my 1989 Civic Hatch autocross car. When I went back to OEM, I regained the stable predictable handling that was present before I switched to Poly.
  
  With regard to the lowering and OEM rubber bushings, if you leave the fasteners loose when you install the bushings, and then put the weight of the car on the suspension at your expected ride height, and then as a last step tighten the bolts, you'll have the rubber in the bushings in a relaxed state at your set ride height, and this will cause no undue stress on the bushings. When it some to the RTA bushings, you need to predict or measure what angle the center steel bar needs to sit at before you press it into the arm so that it is very close to the correct position in the arm for your ride height, or you will be stressing the rubber in the relaxed state, and this will lead to premature failure of the rubber.