I am stocking up on whatever I may need to redo all my suspension rubber. In the PPI for my car last year, my guy noted the following: "Needs new rear inner sway bar bushings and brackets, rear outer sway bar links, right and left bushings kit, front right and left sway bar inner bushing, right and left front outer sway bar links, right and left front and rear upper and lower control arm bushings are dried out." I'm planning to go with energy suspension poly bushings, mainly because I trust my skills popping in/out and lubing up bushings, but NOT grinding out and tack welding them correctly. Here's my question: I see on eBay that there are suspension "mega kits" for like $3100 that supposedly include everything needed. But then I read everyones' posts about changing out bushings, and follow their links to ES bushings suppliers, and the packages cost a few hundred bucks. Can someone just distill down exactly what I need, and let me know what it SHOULD cost? I want to get everything I need, but nothing I don't. Many thanks, as always, gang.
I just completed doing mine about a month ago. I went the Energy Suspension route.It was only a few hundred dollars. The "Mega" suspension kits include bushings that have to be tack welded in place, shocks, shock bushings and the teflon washers/bushings as well as the rubber seals for the outer rear suspension. You won't know the condition of some of these parts until you take it all apart. I didn't do my shock bushings because I am planning on having them all rebuilt in the near future......but you will probably want to do them while you are in there. Also, there are bushings on the steering rack that may be aging, as well as the rack itself. I only point this out because you will already have most of the stuff apart that is required to do the shocks and steering rack.
At David Feinberg's specific suggestion, I'm sending out the steering rack to be professionally rebuilt, rather than do it myself. New one will have a delrin bushing (instead of OEM nylon or Pantera brass, which supposedly is too hard a metal and wear the rack down). I'm also not gonna worry about the shocks upfront, because I'm either going to rebuild/replace them OR go the QA1 route, but at any rate that's another project entirely.
The kits you see for a few hundred dollars are just the Energy Suspension bushings which covers basically the interface between the suspension arms and the chassis (16 pieces). Some kits also include bushings for the sway bars which is another 4 or 12 pieces (just swaybar bushings vs. swaybar and swaybar endlink bushings). If all your car needs are suspension arm bushings then this is the kit for you. The 'mega kits' include some much more pricey parts like the outer ball joints for the front suspension arms, new shock absorber bushings (not cheap), the outer pivot bushings for the rear, and some kits even include new shock absorbers. These kits cater to those who just want to start from a clean slate and give the suspension a full do over. Realistically you should inspect your car and replace those parts that are worn (in pairs of course). Start with a full inspection of the suspension and look for play in the ball joints. If one is bad change the other on the other side. These are expensive so there is no point changing them if they are tight and show no play. Once you have a good inspection done on the full assembly put the car on jack stands and remove all 4 corners. With all the parts on the table make the following checks: - Suspension wishbones. Look for cracks om the arms and replace the bushings - Sway bars. Make sure they lay flat and are not bent and replace all bushings in the sway bar and end links - Ball joints. Replace in pairs if they showed play in the assembled test. - Rear suspension end bushings. Replace if they show play otherwise just clean and re-pack them using new teflon coated thrust washers - Check the rear wheel bearings and replace if they make noise - Check and replace the front wheel bearings if they make noise - Separate the shocks from the springs and look for broken or sagging springs. Check the shocks for stiffness and inspect and replace the shock bushings as needed. - Check your flexible brake lines and replace if they have old date codes and or show cracks. Of course if anything else is found deal with it accordingly. Most part suppliers have everything in stock and this is not a huge job either. I recommend on one weekend strip the car, order your parts on Monday, prep anything during the week, and re-build the following weekend. With proper planning there is no reason your car needs to be apart for months on end. Good luck with your project.
Correct....I am planning on doing the steering rack rebuild and shocks as a future project, it just seemed a shame for me because I already had everything apart. But it is never ending when you get into these projects, and you could spend a lifetime on "by the ways".
Dave did the refurb on my GT/4. Replaced the bushings and had the steering rack rebuilt. Made a huge difference. If there's anyone who hasn't had their bushings replaced I'd suggest giving them a good look. If they're original they're probably trashed.
Having just rebuilt mine be careful of a couple items Make sure you label exactly where the shims on the upper and lower A Arms / ball joints are located. They are different sizes. Make sure you label exactly where the A Arms to Chassis shims are located. They are different thickness. Get the whole car laser aligned afterwards. Well worth it and makes a huge difference. Tony
I picked up a 308 last year with a friend at the shop after it had a total 100% suspension redo with all stock parts. It was unbelievable. I put about 50 miles on it straight out of the shop on the way back to Birmingham (it was with Ron Reineke in Atlanta) and I was sold forever It made me change my mind about using anything except the stock bushing material. In fact, I just had Ron do my Alfa with stock bushings. You like what you like but the stock feel, when new, is impressive. It is quiet and comfortable.
When you are doing the initial inspection: Look at the ball joint rubber boots for tears, checking or any sign of failure. Ditto with the steering rack "gaiters" and the rubber rack mounts. Look for cracking, displacement or looseness in the shock mounting rubber bushings (the entire weight of the car is resting on those bushings). And while you are in there: Look at the brake pads and measure the discs for spec. Look closely at the front A arm forks for cracking at the corners. Look for any sign of fluids leaking - Look at the CV boots for dryness and condition, (With the suspension out of the way, rebooting, cleaning and repacking is just a quick clean half hour of fun chris
Absolutely. There are reasons why Ferrari (and other manufacturers) use expensive bonded-rubber bushes when they could have used cheap poly ones. The reasons are: They dont wear out and become noisy They insulate the suspension parts against shocks which can cause cracking in extreme cases, in this respect they perform like cartilage in a human joint. They form part of the springing and add a rising-rate resistance as they go into bind condition. The suspension designers use this property to advantage and might use a lower spring rate than they otherwise would. Poly bushes belong on race cars which have therm regularly replaced and the suspension inspected for cracks. Some suspensions can become dangerous when fitted with poly bushes, for example early Lotus Esprits because they flex in other directions besides rotationally. Alternative bushes should be approved by the factory.
#@$! I wonder, if I can carefully grind off the welds, maybe I can get our local dealer or independent shop to properly tack weld them back on. I've just never welded anything before, and this is too mission/safety-critical to get wrong. Really, my only reason for going poly was that I didn't want to have to weld.
Whatever you decide make sure you clean everything till it's spotless so you can inspect. I'm completely rebuilding my suspension and in the process of cleaning/replating the rear hubs this is what I found. Thirty years of dirt and grime hides alot. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Im going poly but if you decide not to know that it is very, very simple. If you aren't comfortable grinding and welding a local shop should do it in an hour easy. I have all the equipment and can weld up a storm but I'm still going with the poly bushings.
I suppose, in consideration of keeping my options open, WHERE does one source OEM replacements? I see nothing but ES bushings everywhere, and few sources for rubber. Also - and I apologize if this is a stupid question - are Ferrari bushes still manufactured new, because I would hate to purchase a NOS rubber part from 30 years ago and put freshly-intact-but-OLD rubber back on. Just asking...
