sccaGT1racer

Im going to be changing my control arm bushings on my 2009 z06. Ive been looking a few manufactures of them and cant decide which one is best or are they all the same. So far I've looked at ridetech, borg, van steel or have them custom machined.
For the people who have used them. Any noise concerns, ease of install, life expectancy of these bushings? The car will be driven on the streets, auto crossed,and tracked.

Sox-Fan

I have ridetech in my 2004 z06. not a sound from the bushins. Not bad to put in. I've been trouble free with them and generally satisfied. Two autocrosses on them, so not a lot of history. 5k road miles.

Now, a friend of mine, OharaL on this forum, also did them on his c5 z06. Several of his bushings have broken. Ridetech has supposedly made a change on them which will line them with a steel insert and that is supposed to address the issues that he is having with them. I guess we will know the answer to that by next weekend.

c5racr1

Suscribed

oharal

I've probably got 400 miles on mine and I knew one broke when I installed it and suspected two others broke but wasn't sure until I took the arms off and looked and found the flanges totally broken off. Then putting it back on, a 4th one broke. The engineering team at Ridetech brought their shop car in and they said they replicated my issue but I don't know what they did or why the bushings didn't break the first time they installed them. They told me I'm the second person in the past few weeks to experience this but I don't believe anyone before us has had this issue but I don't know what changed. They are replacing all of my bushings except the front uppers under warranty and they will be machined slightly differently and have a metal sleeve as Dave mentioned.

sccaGT1racer

So far I've talked with ridetech and Van Steel. The ridetech being the cheapest. I'm sure they will get the job done.The van steel have some benefits like the upper mounts being offset ground by 4 degrees or 0. this adds a lot of value when it comes to adjustability. The lowers are sleeved with a 1 inch dia sleeve that the bolt goes through. I still have to talk to borg but they are on vacation.

hungryhippo

Phoenix has them also, they sell them installed.

froggy47

Borg Motorsports

I wish it was vacation. Sadly it's international work assignments which keep me away from the shop more than I would prefer. I was able to get a two week break in that will let me get a run of the offset bushings completed. I have a batch of standard bushings (Delrin and Delrin AF) that are almost complete and will be ready to ship shortly.

We have three versions of the bushings:

• Standard delrin for the budget conscious
• Delrin AF
• Delrin AF Offset

The standard Delrin and Delrin AF are identical except for the type of Delrin used. The standard kit is simply standard Delrin and was created for those that are racing on a budget. This kit may need occasional lubrication added.

Delrin AF is the brown Delrin you see that is impregnated with either Teflon powder or Teflon fiber. We use fiber impregnated Delrin because it has been shown to be stronger and more consistent in material properties than the powder impregnated. Delrin AF is used by the Navy for bearing surfaces and is self lubricating due to the Teflon in the material.

We use US sourced aluminum (Alcoa) and DuPont Delrin (as opposed to generic acetal resin) to help ensure the strength of the bushings and allow us to hold the tight machining and surface finish tolerances we desire. All bushings have a metal sleeve through the middle. The upper control arm bushings are asymmetrically machined to allow more camber in the front without an offset bushing.

The offset bushing kit is the third option and is meant for those looking at a more extreme build. Generally this kit is more favored by autocrossers as cornering is paramount to them even at the expense of tire wear versus road racers who need a good balance between braking grip and cornering grip, but also want more controlled tire wear.

The standard Delrin AF kit is very similar to the other Delrin bushings out there (Van Steel, Phoenix, etc). The alignment adjustment range will likely be similar. I'm not sure if the other kits follow this design philosophy, but I designed this kit to meet SCCA ST and SP rules where the total amount of metal in the bushing (as a percentage of total material) is not higher than stock. I designed them to be right at this limit to maximize stiffness. I have also used high strength aluminum in the necessary components to replace steel and save weight. The offset kit enables the following alignment parameters (which will vary somewhat from car to car):

• Front Camber: Mid -4's
• Front Caster: Low +8's with above camber
• Rear Camber: Mid -3's

There have been no strength issues with any of the kits currently in the field, however there is one customer that is having a small clicking noise from his. I am still working with him to determine if it is something with the kit or if it is something specific to his car. Currently that this the only known issue I have been dealing with. The bushings were never designed for NVH, so please take that into account in your purchasing decision.

Thanks for the interest in the bushings. While I might not always be able to answer as promptly as I would like, you can PM me through the forum or send questions to lane@borgmotorsports.com. Best of luck with your build!

charger21

My opinion is the Vansteel bushings are far superior than the Ridetech bushings. This is not saying the Ridetechs are no good, just all my friends prefer the Vansteel design.

oharal

So that's your opinion or your friends' opinions? Also what qualities make them far superior?

jesup16

I just ordered a set from Borg Motorsport. I'll provide some feedback after I get them installed.

charger21

Read the post....that is my opinion. I run them and my friends run them also. If you have a chance to compare the kits side by side, you will understand the difference.

oharal

For those that won't have the chance to see them side by side it would be helpful to have some description about the differences if people are trying to make a decision between the two.

sccaGT1racer

If you pull up the pictures of the kits you can see why the borg and van steel are a step up. I did hear that ridetech is redesigning with a metal sleeve but there was no mention of that when I talked to them.

blkbrd69

Vansteel and Phoenix both have years and years of happy customers using them on the street and track. I like the idea of not being a beta tester.

oharal

Yes it's true. I will be the first customer to have these new sleeved bushings in the next few days. They're replacing all of my bushings except the front uppers since several bushings cracked or blew the flange totally off when I torqued the bolts down. I'll be sure to post pictures and install experience as well as performance afterward.

NemesisC5

Subscribed...

ageshelin

Corvette engineers have done a good job of minimizing the evils of rubber (or other compliant material) bushings, while maximizing their benefits...

You will not recognize the car, if you threw all that junk out. It is inexpensive and does the job... for a while. Delrin is a good material, because it is slippery, especially when an inner and outer casing is used...

Any non-solid bushing will bind under load! It also introduces nasty compliance (distortion into the suspension). Again, SLA and Corvette design minimize this evil.

Properly designed metal bearing bushings will make the car so much better. I do not find them very loud or unpleasant, no more so than the exhaust note of a powerful V8.

Anton

tmtraylor

I'm the troublesome customer mentioned above and the clicking noise was my error. It was coming from the sway bar end-link and not the Delrin Bushings. Lane is great to work with, takes great pride in what he produces (the packaging for the bushing kit was as nice as the first iPod i bought) and he stands behind his product. I'm pleased with the setup.

SquatchMachining

Delrin is cheap.... I pay $80 for 2"x6' pieces of it. I cant for the life of me understand why these delrin bushing kits are so expensive.