Lance Cheney
SHO Member
Hey guys,
I was home putting my quaife in and of course, since everything else was out I figured I'd check the front bushings. I'd originally gotten ES poly bushings for the front tension rods -- around 6 years ago. The rear of that rod [connects to the lower control arm] have been replaced more recently -- about a year ago, I think, with a Moog part because the ES ones were starting to get stress cracks in them. That Moog part is made by Ramcoa, and the material looks startlingly similar to the HD endlink bushings from ShoNUT for my rear sway bar. Same color material, same manufacturer, etc. It's also the same material as the TPR rear sway bar bushings that I got from ShoNUT, though it seems to be even harder [these bushings are HARD!]. So, my guess is that the Moog kit is TPR, and probably the exact same parts sold with the ShoNUT bushing kit.
However, here's the question/problem:
Has anyone noticed these bushings becoming permanently deformed? These Moog tension rod bushings were shot -- no static compression at all in the front-to-back direction, and the diameter of it (which goes inside the LCA) was permanently smashed to about 80% of its normal size. They pretty much just fall out of the control arm. I never had this problem with the ES bushings. Is this a typical problem with TPR?
Has anyone with the ShoNUT TPR bushings seen the Moog ones to see if they're the same thing?
I have a lot of miscellaneous clunks, even after checking the struts (Konis), replacing the full strut mount assembly, one new control arm, new steering system, etc. [the control arm inner bushing had seperated from the metal, and the steering system had other unrelated problems]. I'd like to find a scapegoat ;-) IT seems to be a lot better since I put the quaife in, but I'm not driving it much because it still needs to be aligned -- but not until after I get the Intrax springs on.
-Lance
PS. I put on a new energy suspension kit instead. I'll have to look at in a year or two and see how it is fairing. The front bushings still looked pretty good, but it seems you can't just buy the rear ones from ES, so...
I was home putting my quaife in and of course, since everything else was out I figured I'd check the front bushings. I'd originally gotten ES poly bushings for the front tension rods -- around 6 years ago. The rear of that rod [connects to the lower control arm] have been replaced more recently -- about a year ago, I think, with a Moog part because the ES ones were starting to get stress cracks in them. That Moog part is made by Ramcoa, and the material looks startlingly similar to the HD endlink bushings from ShoNUT for my rear sway bar. Same color material, same manufacturer, etc. It's also the same material as the TPR rear sway bar bushings that I got from ShoNUT, though it seems to be even harder [these bushings are HARD!]. So, my guess is that the Moog kit is TPR, and probably the exact same parts sold with the ShoNUT bushing kit.
However, here's the question/problem:
Has anyone noticed these bushings becoming permanently deformed? These Moog tension rod bushings were shot -- no static compression at all in the front-to-back direction, and the diameter of it (which goes inside the LCA) was permanently smashed to about 80% of its normal size. They pretty much just fall out of the control arm. I never had this problem with the ES bushings. Is this a typical problem with TPR?
Has anyone with the ShoNUT TPR bushings seen the Moog ones to see if they're the same thing?
I have a lot of miscellaneous clunks, even after checking the struts (Konis), replacing the full strut mount assembly, one new control arm, new steering system, etc. [the control arm inner bushing had seperated from the metal, and the steering system had other unrelated problems]. I'd like to find a scapegoat ;-) IT seems to be a lot better since I put the quaife in, but I'm not driving it much because it still needs to be aligned -- but not until after I get the Intrax springs on.
-Lance
PS. I put on a new energy suspension kit instead. I'll have to look at in a year or two and see how it is fairing. The front bushings still looked pretty good, but it seems you can't just buy the rear ones from ES, so...
