thoughts on upper and lower a arms
12-01-2010, 05:22 AM
#4
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
What is your objective with replacing the A-arms? .... weight reduction? ...... replacing worn bushings? ..... appearance?
What else has been done to the car? What mods - engine, suspension and chassis?
What else has been done to the car? What mods - engine, suspension and chassis?
12-01-2010, 02:36 PM
#5
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
stock engine. out back I have umi lca's and panhard bar. poly sway bar bushing and end links. new kyb gas adjust shocks all the way around. in the front I have poly sway bar bushings and end links. I have 126,000 miles on the car and figure the bushings must be toast by now. I dont race at all so thats not a concern for me. just exploring my options since i will have to tear in to the front end.
12-01-2010, 04:36 PM
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
Its a bit of a chore to replace the A-arm bushings, but you can do it yourself. I installed the Energy Suspension poly bushings in the front A-arms - with the revised vertical bushing design to eliminate "bind". A lot cheaper than buying new A-arms that will offer no real advantage other than saving a few pounds.
12-01-2010, 11:12 PM
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
I suspect "they" prefer rubber over poly because the aded stiffness of the poly bushings can cause bind in the articulation of the opposing horizontal and vertical pivots on the lower A-arm. The ES poly design for the vertical pivot eliminates that issue.
You could also just replace the bushings with rubber.... you don't have to use poly.
You could also just replace the bushings with rubber.... you don't have to use poly.
01-27-2011, 06:50 PM
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
I installed the Energy Suspension poly bushings in the front A-arms - with the revised vertical bushing design to eliminate "bind".
01-28-2011, 06:50 PM
#11
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
It's a pretty expensive mod for a street-only car, but after replacing the upper A-arm bushings with poly in my old 95, I'd be half tempted to get the tubular stuff. That was the most miserable experience of my car-modding life. Then again, I did it the hard way and dug and scraped em out in little pieces; if I ever do it again, I'm taking a torch to them and melting them out.
Ricardo, the vertical bushing in that picture looks more rounded than the set I have sitting in my garage. Not sure which is the revised set, but I bought mine in early 2007.
Ricardo, the vertical bushing in that picture looks more rounded than the set I have sitting in my garage. Not sure which is the revised set, but I bought mine in early 2007.
Last edited by TD95Z; 01-28-2011 at 06:53 PM.
01-29-2011, 12:08 AM
#12
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
I installed my ES set 13 years ago. I think the vertical bushing was like the two parts in the center of the center row. I don't even recall the more pronounced curved piece on the left side of the center row. But then it was a longggggg time ago.
01-29-2011, 06:53 AM
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Re: thoughts on upper and lower a arms
Appears you are talking about the FRONT lower control arm. The design of the vertical/rear bushing is completely different than that of the horizontal/front bushing. The vertical one is also different than the factory design, and requires that the "can" for the vertical bushing be removed from the A-arm. The new ES bushing is in 3 parts, including an upper and lower "1/2", with a red nylon ring that goes in between them. As I recall the ES instructions were fairly complete for those parts.
I've had the complete ES poly front end in my car for more than 5 years with no problems.
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Fred
I've had the complete ES poly front end in my car for more than 5 years with no problems.
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Fred
After doing a ton of searching I found this post by Injuneer back from 2004 describing the 3 components of the vertical bushing. These are the components shown in the picture above in the center and lower row. Center row shows the upper and lower halves (shown from both sides) and the bottom row shows the ring (im a slighly darker red) that is inserted in the control arm between them.
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