Second time in 4 years and 8K miles these "NOS GM" bushings have gone bad. At least that's what the mech who replaced them said he used. "I swear by em. They're the best Steve". I'm swearin now too.






And it's always a wrestlin' match getting the shroud off to get them.



Ah well, keeps me outta the bars I guess.
Steve

 

I installed poly bushings there 12 years ago. Still are fine. No reason not to use them there. Other places, not so much.

 

Hi Steve,
If they were NOS bushings I wonder how old they were and if the rubber that has failed was deteriorated in some way before they were even installed.
We're reading more and more how old tires that appear to be in excellent condition fail during driving…. maybe the same is true for your bushings?
???
Regards,
Alan

 

same experience
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...tegrating.html

 

My poly upper and lower control arm bushings have been on my 78 C3 for about 13 years now and still are perfect....

 

See...... that's just it: The owner of the shop said just the opposite to me! "Polyurethane bushings work loose." he says. And it's a well known Corvette shop in town that's been in business for many many years. I was new at this. What/Who was I to question him? Just tees me off, ya know?

Now I really DO want to use poly.

Thanks men.
Steve

 

He "kinda" wasn't lying. You DO have to use blue locktite on the bolts that hold them in, or they WILL back out. IF you use Locktite, you'll be fine.

 

Yes, that's one thing I didn't do: Loctite.

Thanks my friend.
Steve

 

Cavu2u and big2bird are correct! Loctite should be used on the bolts. I did not use it originally when I installed mine and the drivers upper toward the engine loosened some and I eventually did. I have never used the Loctite on all the others and they did NOT loosen up..not sure why the one required the Loctite. Just put it on all the bolts as mentioned.

BTW-The poly upper and lower control arm bushings rank as one of the cheapest BEST upgrades I have done along with the front spreader bar to tighten up the front suspension. And NO they do not squeak (just grease them with the supplied grease) and NO they do not make the ride rock hard. What ploy control arms do is reduce drastically front upper and lower control arm slop, tighten up the steering response and handling, and make the front end feel firm and connected. The ride is SLIGHTLY firmer but not harsh.

To be honest when I installed the poly control arm bushings in 2005 and started driving the car, it was this upgrade that convinced me that the OEM BFG TA 15 inch tires finally had to go if I was going to take full advantage of my upgraded OEM designed suspension...

 

I installed the poly's last year. Very easy to install on the CA's. Have you long term poly guys ever re-lubricated the bushings?

 

Same failure with moog parts. 12k on these bushings

 

I have heard that you tighten the bolts with full weight on the front so you do not put a bind on them. Is this true?

 

I have heard this also but it's not necessary for poly because they are lubricated and rotate on the shaft rod. Rubber flexes vice rotates. In those pictures the rubber is shearing due to the flexing by the looks of it.

 

Steve,
This may or may not be the cause of the problem. I installed
the new bushings on my control arms and with the full weight on
them, bounced the front end up and down several times to let it
balance out to the normal stance, then I torqued the bushing bolts.
I haven't had any problems with the bushings and the rubber looks like the
day I installed them.
Don't know if this is the problem, but I would think that the experienced
mechanic you used would have done this.
Just a thought.

Donnie

 

I installed my own. Well aware of the need to be on al 4 tires. I even retorqued after a couple hundred miles. Mine still fell apart.
Interesting that I replaced all the rubber bushings, only the uppers seem to fall apart.

 

Donnie,

I was one click away from buyin' polyurethane just now. And now you've changed my mind!
I'll go with the bushings the local pro nixed and won't forget to do the bounce thing before torqueing the end caps down.


Steve

 

Steve,
I hope you have better luck this time.
I got my bushings from Corvette Central. It was the complete
set of upper and lower bushings. These are the upper correct.
http://www.parts123.com/corvettecent...&searchtype=50

I just went out and took this photo of my upper bushing on the driver
and passenger side. I have had these on about 3 years.
Edit: Better photos from this morning.










Like I said, this is just my experience.

Donnie

 

Thanks Donnie.



Just pulled it out, with the forward Cup Washer and it's Bolt falling to the garage floor as the Rod came out and cleared the Radiator Shroud. The aft Bolt was in, but took very little torque to start it out of the Rod.


Steve

 

BBRRRAAAPPPed the old ones out.



Fabricated a 3-piece support structure out of 1-1/4" Sched 40.



Band clamps help hold it all together.



These sockets fit the bushings were well.





And with a sledge, was able to seat everything properly.





Will install tomorrow.
Steve

 

The installation was completed yesterday, with these details.

I removed the Fan Clutch from it's Pulley in order to remove the Radiator Shroud.

I made a larger cutout in the Fan Shroud, in the area of the upper A-Arm Pivot Shaft's End Washer/Bolt area. As mentioned earlier, the Washer/Bolt completely backed out of it's shaft hole and fell to the floor when the Shroud was removed. The bolt can now be observed with the larger cutout.
Clearance of Shroud to Pivot Shaft Bolt is so close on the Driver's side, it makes me wonder if the car might have had an accident there earlier in life.

The removal of the upper A-Arm would have been easier if I had removed the Alternator. All I did was loosen it and removed the belt.

The hardest thing in this whole job was installing and tightening the A-Arm Pivot Shaft's Shim Bolts. The Shims would fall out as the Bolt and self-locking Nut was tightened up. Was able to do this step alone by ratcheting up the bolt to an estimated gap of what the shims would fit into, then snugging the shims in place and then finish the torqueing sequence.

Installed the Pivot Shaft's End Washer/Bolt with "Blue" Loctite, and torqueing them only after lowering the car and bouncing the front bumper up and down a few times.

On the test drive, the car now drove amazingly straight, while before it required a bit of right turn input of the Steering Wheel to maintain a straight track. Also, the Bushing replacement eliminated the left turn "clunk" I was experiencing and couldn't figure out it's source.

Thanks to all who gave suggestions and encouragement. Hopefully my results will be better than those in the past.

Steve