Ring Style Al SFB Testimony

[DHMag]

i know this is an old topic, but ive been urged to post my findings with the rest of the SHO Community.

i installed netvipers Al SFBs (ring style) on my car in mid November 2003. a few days ago, i had the subframe away from the body for some work. while i was there, i took a few pics.

to refresh everyones memory, it was brought up that Bruces SFBs were a poor design because they allowed unibody deformation. without knowing what my unibody looked like, i insisted that with proper torquing, the deformation wouldnt occur.

well.....heres the pics...

Right Front:

and Left Rear:

as you can see, when torqued to 80Ft Lbs, there has been no unibody deformation. at 75Ft Lbs, the bolt started to seat into the aluminum. with this being said, ill still stand behind Bruce and his product.

 

[PROPHET]

I moved thread here.

That's great.

 

[DHMag]

That's great.

D'oh ! i thought about this section after i posted...thanks Tony !

 

[SHO2NV]

I have them on my car and couldn't be happier........and the cost of my life insurance didn't even go up...... :jab:


Thanks again Bruce!

 

[SHOfun 93]

Ditto on the above...I have them on all my shos...

 

[Bizzy]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Sometimess it takes miles driving, to give proof and pictures from people outside a small group to really get the truth out there.

As I so vigerously defended back when the "ring style debate" I knew they were being vilified without any real proof. In every before and after account from the ones leveling the claims, theree were no before pictures just the verbal accounts. Thanks to Dale taking the time to snap some pics I think this finally can put this to bed. Furthermore i think the TQ specs that I had given in the past were way too high because iif they worked this well for Dale at 80lb/ft then that should be the spec.

I'll post some pic's tonight of my 94 Opal that hass had them for 30k and is undergoing a whole heart/driveline/suspension transplant right now

 

[DHMag]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Sometimess it takes miles driving, to give proof and pictures from people outside a small group to really get the truth out there.

As I so vigerously defended back when the "ring style debate" I knew they were being vilified without any real proof. In every before and after account from the ones leveling the claims, theree were no before pictures just the verbal accounts. Thanks to Dale taking the time to snap some pics I think this finally can put this to bed. Furthermore i think the TQ specs that I had given in the past were way too high because iif they worked this well for Dale at 80lb/ft then that should be the spec.

I'll post some pic's tonight of my 94 Opal that hass had them for 30k and is undergoing a whole heart/driveline/suspension transplant right now

honestly, when that debate was going on, i had a little hesitant. i was afraid the same thing had happened to me. but i responded using common sense. just cause you can still turn the bolt, doesnt mean it needs to be tighter.

 

[Yamaha V6]

Bruce, I really don't want to go off on this subject again, and this is in no way an attack of any kind, but yes, there were before & after observations, on 2 cars I worked on & installed your bushings on.

IMO, the ring style has an inherent design flaw, without those spacers used in the previous ring style kits. When torqued to the > rubber bushings torque specs (like you would use when torqueing metal to metal), the unitbody does "volcano" down toward the bushing, fatiguing the metal.

Since no long-term studies have been performed, nobody's in a position to say one's dangerous or anything like that, but as an OPINION after seeing that first-hand, the ring style without spacers is not my choice of bushing design.

 

[Dr. Tweak]

I have these on the Phoenix Project also, in fact I put mine on November of 2003 as well. No problems yet, and this is a Vermont car! I'll snap some pics sometime...

 

[Bizzy]

I have pics of my car after 30k, just have to find my camera to upload the photos. No deformation at all to the area where the bushings are. I'll report again on them next year after another 15k or so. I'll post my pics when I figure out where I left my digital camera. I just hope it's not inside my 3.2's oilpan or something

 

[SHOguy 92]

Interesting I'll have to keep bruce in mind for al sfb's, but dale why does yor tx car seem to hae more rust than my northern car Sorry I had to, I hate getting picked on as a northern and being told our cars are rusty, my turn

 

[Bizzy]

here are some pics after 30k of them being installed

1 rear, 2 front, 3 front with a nearly straightedge device TQ'd to 100 lb/ft for the 30k, and the subframe had been down a little for my sway bars last year.

 

[twr]

I guess my concern with the ring style bushing when this debate was first discussed is as how Fred described above. But to go a little further... I was and still am concerned about the rust belt cars, the ones with a lot more rust that could potentially compromise the mounting points and could be further compromised by the ring style bushing load distribution on the mounting point.

 

[Bizzy]

lol my car is a rust belt car

thats 2 winters of driving with AL SFB's on there TQ'd to 100 lb/ft

Is it possible to have a severely rusted car and have problems with that whole volcano effect theory, yeah sure. But if the SF mounting points are that rusted then perhaps someone needs to get some more metal in there before using any bushing.

 

[DHMag]

Interesting I'll have to keep bruce in mind for al sfb's, but dale why does yor tx car seem to hae more rust than my northern car Sorry I had to, I hate getting picked on as a northern and being told our cars are rusty, my turn

thats only only spot of rust on the car. everything else is pristine. my toolbox contains the proper wrenches to remove bolts. not torches and hacksaws like yours

 

[Bizzy]

Dale, you're forgetting the 6 cans of PB Blaster in a custom made leather holster with quick release snap straps.

 

[DHMag]

Dale, you're forgetting the 6 cans of PB Blaster in a custom made leather holster with quick release snap straps.

and the pen and paper to write down the new words you come up with when you accidently hack thru that brake line....and 2 cases of beer to numb the painful 3 hours youve spent trying to get that one bolt loose.....................all the while, im turning wrenches with only using a little muscle to loosen the same bolt...

 

[Bizzy]

I have to admit that for most northern SHO's that would be the case. Since my car hasn't been driven in the snow but a few times last winter (when I had no other choice) this year when clutch time came around things were a LOT easier to deal with. I was proud to admit for a change that I didn't even have to heat the manifold bolts to get the y-pipe off. Everything was a lot easier.