JiminVirginia

The time has come, but some questions for you guys who've been through this...

As near as I can tell, the only place where my control arms are walking off the bushings is the upper front left/driver's side control arm.

1. Is THIS main place this usually happens (upper front arms)? Or are there other bushing issues lurking around the car that I can't see or in my near term future? What should I expect based on your experience?

2. I assume it's a good practice to replace both right and left sides, even though the right/passenger side shows no stress just yet. Correct? It seems that if the left side had issues, the right side will, too, in time, since it experiences the same stresses (autocross).

3. Are the various aftermarket sources for control arms and their bushings (they come as a unit) reliable? That is, are these parts as good as OEM or even the same as OEM? (The dealer would be the more expensive route.)

Thanks for any input, gentlemen.

Jim

RaleighSS

I just ran into same problem with my bushings. I was not able to find a reliable source for rubber replacements so went with poly and added zurks to each arm. Only real rubber replacement I found was a complete arm. So I bit the bullet and full kit including sway arms. Truley a much better ride now..... I had my shop do mine and total cost was about 1k

sothpaw2

Not much to add but how did you know they were bad--what did the bad bushing look like from under the car?

gtpvette

Jim,,,
I just ordered (today) a set of the VBP poly busings for my GTM. That said,,, I won't need the front uppers as I run a custom front upper a-arm. I could let you have them for $125 shipped.

Thanks!

gkmccready

Probably look something like:

C5ZEE06

thats exactly how my right upper (rear most) bush looks like in my T1 a-arms. Im not ready to replace tho. All others still look good.

sothpaw2

Sounds like a great mod!! In terms of lap times, how many sec per lap did you lose with this--1-2 at VIR?

RX-Ben

You can probably put the upper arm mounting tab in a vice and twist it a few times (takes some force) to get the bushing back into its original position.
When installing poly bushings, you just need to do the reverse to remove the stock rubber, so I assume this shouldn't be too difficult.

naschmitz

That fix lasts about a day.

Bill Dearborn

Check your lower control arm bushings. They usually go before the uppers and can cause metal to metal contact between the LCA and the cradle. The LCA slides backwards to the point the bushing disappears into the LCA and the rear edge of the LCA is then left rubbing against the cradle.

The picture above showing the upper rear most bushing really isn't that much different than new stock.

If you can still get the alignment settings you want for your car you probably don't have to worry about replacing the bushings yet.

By the way I have two T1 upper control arms that have never been mounted on a car. These have stiffer bushings than the stock C5 control arms have. If anybody is interested I will sell them for $150 each plus shipping. PNs are 12480072 and 12480073. Send me a PM.

Bill

RaleighSS

Actually have not been back to vir been focusing on cmp all summer but will be there in nov

Good deal above in the t1 arms these things never pop up when I need them though lol

JiminVirginia

Thanks for the replies.

Bill, I PMed you about the T1 arms/bushings.

I checked the car again yesterday. Front driver's side Upper CA bushings definitely have had it. Passenger side looks OK but probably will replace it anyway.

It's harder to tell with the Lower CA bushings. I think I'm going to replace the uppers first and see what's what.

(The rears are solid all the way around.)

Jim

2K3Z06

And when you replace the control arm, the install is a snap.

Be careful to NOT crossthread the nut serts in the frame.

sothpaw2

ttt

Does anyone know if the upper control arms are the same left and right?
I received my T1 arms and they are different but only in the placement of hole feature in the middle of the arm that I can't see the function for (nothing attacheds there on my stockers). One of the part numbers are mislabled so I'm just trying to see if I have a right & left or 2 lefts.

Thanks,

Andy

froggy47

+1

froggy47

The xx72 is a left, the xx73 is a right. Not the same.

The little bump with a hole goes on the leading (front) edge when installed.

They will have "luggage" tags labeled left and right unless Bubba the parts guy goofed it up.

fatbillybob

+1 In my case the uppers were fine