After 38K total and a lot of track miles, the bushings are pushing out of the A Arms on my Z06. Both top and bottom are pushing through. The A Arm is not yet contacting the frame cradle. Is it replacement time or can I drive them a while longer ?? Any advice is appreciated.

 

I would go ahead and replace over the winter. As the A-arms move relative to the rest of the car your caster and toe get out of whack. I had VB&Ps on my old car and Pfadts on the current race car. The Pfadt kit is nicer.

 

But...to answer your question, yes you can continue to drive it the way it is. Keep an eye on it though as you don't want the arm itself to start rubbing on the cradle. It's a common problem with the Corvette and why folks replace them with aftermarket parts.

 

Unfortunately we can't run poly bushings in T1. My control arms looked the same as I am using a 2nd hand T1 kit that's probably 10 years old. I took the upper control arms and put them in my shop press which helped push the bushings back in place. I didn't do anything with the lowers.

 

Bottom looks ok, top is pushed. You can still drive it that way, fix is poly bushings.

T1 bushing rubber is higher durometer but it still moves.

BTW I can put a brand new arm in & move the bushing with ONE EVENT with slicks, street/track pads & stock calipers. BTDT.

 

Those don't look any more pushed out than normal. As mentioned before, mine look like that way after a couple of events and still do. JD

 

You can use washers also.

I like the VB&P bushings better.

 

Pushing them back in won't fix anything. The OEM rubber bushing's outer-diameter is bonded to the inner-diameter of the control arm. Movement means it's ripping the two apart. You can push them back with a press and they'll look ok, but the first hard stop they'll go right back to where they were.

 

Before I pressed the mounting arm and bushings back into the control arm I couldn't even see the bushing on one side. After 3 races it still looks good. Results may vary.

 

Good info... mine was just an assumption! I've always swapped to poly when they go bad.

 

Well I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they slide back forward. It probably doesn't really make any difference in handling but it makes me feel better when I can see the bushing on both sides. Out of all the T1 rules, the use of rubber bushings bugs me the most. Probably because I've run poly's before and know what I'm missing...

 

The problem is that the bushing isn't bonded in, it's just pressed in. You can take new ones apart easily by just clamping the upper busing in a vise and twisting the A arm off if it. The bushing pops out easily and the A arm is clean, there isn't an bonding agent in there, that's the problem.

You can bond the bushings in and they will last a bit longer, but it isn't a long term fix, but it's a lot better than nothing.

I used found an epoxy that bonded to rubber and aluminum called Aladrite 2010. It is good to 175 degrees F and bonds well to both rubber and aluminum. The trick is to make sure you have the stuff on both parts and it is starting to set up on the rubber before you try to put it together. If you try to do it too soon the epoxy will just squeege off and you will have to start over. I put a coating on both the inside of the A arm and on the outside of the bushing and then let them start to get well set. Then I lubed it with a fresh second coat of epoxy and pressed the bushing in. Other than making a bit of mess with the softer fresh coat of epoxy, it worked pretty well. The bushing pressed in very easily when lubed with the epoxy.

There was a thread that pretty much beat the subject to death, here is fix that you can do in about an hour that costs nothing and will get your caster back too. Look at the last few posts on the bottom of the first page of this thread.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...s-options.html

 

I have taken many of these apart. The bushing appears to be "formed" to the pin/dogbone. That assembly is then "pressed" into the arm. There never appeared to be any bonding/glue or other material (except maybe some liquid or paste to slip the bushing in (which dries up) during manufacture.

The bushing pushes in/out easily with a shop press or like arangement, harder to do by "hand" of course.

It's a stupid design for a capable car like a Vette but works for drives to the country club. Fails almost immediately with sticky tires on a track.

 

I've taken a few sets apart too... when you clamp the "dogbone" in a vice and start rotating the A-arm around you can hear the bond ripping... now it may not be atually glued, but every single one I've taken apart you hear a ripping noise and there is residual rubber insie of the A-arm. Yes they're relatively clean but I still have to and on them a smidge to get them 100% ready for the polys. It could just be a friction/time thing making them stick together... never taken a new A-arm apart.

 

I think maybe it's just material transfer of the rubber to the aluminum over time that leaves the residue. They're definitely not bonded like the pins inside bushings. You can't even cut them off - and to think some kits require you to burn them out and reuse them.
The uppers in my car were so bad that I just pulled them out by hand - didn't even need a vise or a pair of pliers.

 

But you have man hands...

 

The ones I have done were pretty new & there was no residual at all, I may have posted pics in my thread about changing to poly. They came out in one piece & could even be pressed back in if it were desired.

The whole process and/or vendor could have changed over the production years of those arms, who knows?



I was thinking, I pressed mine out. If one were to PULL it out there may be more chance for ripping the bush apart / damage I would think.

Maybe the difference.

 

I pressed them all out except for the upper front ones that have the "dog bones". Those I did with the vice.

 

we have been replacing the rubber bushings with Delrin. Impreganted with teflon to cut down the noise of the poly urethane, plus harder, last longer and more heat resistant.

Call if interested.

610-482-0141 or e,ail jfaphoenix32@aol.com