I recently purchased new OEM style trailing arm bushings for my C3 and after installing one side I am not that thrilled with the fit. The basic issue is that the aftermarket bushing I received is slightly wider than stock. This makes it so that the bushing does not seat fully against the trailing arm and when staking the center tube it does not have enough material to cover the whole bevel of the washer. The parts vendor contacted the manufacturer and despite other similar inquiries the part is still made in this oversize dimension. Although it may be satisfactory I would really like a better fitting part.

And to answer the inevitable questions:
The trailing arm is not bent.
The bushing is properly compressed.
I am not interesting in using poly bushings.

Anyone else with a similar experience? Is there a better fitting part out there?

 

I buy all my bushings from Bairs

 

I called Bairs and the tech guy said he had never heard of an issue like that and that his bushings would fit correctly. I ordered a set and will see how it goes.

 

I used plenty of the bushings from Bairs without a problem. I have also been sent bushings with arms that were purchased from other sources. I have found the sleeves wrong, sleeve flare cracks, bushings with the wrong ID so the sleeve wouldn't fit, bushings with larger or smaller OD's so they wouldn't fit the arm.

 

Any contact details, web address etc, for Bairs, please?

Ta!

 

Google Bair's Corvette . They're in Linesville Pa. I think.

 

I used poly. Install is way, way easier of the bushing. No difference in handling as far as I can tell.

 

Do the poly bushings need to be lubed periodically?

 

If the lubricant washes off I would say yes. I liberally applied the supplied lubricant as per instructions two years ago. Not sure how long it will last but I only put on a 1K a year or so in nice weather. Mine are made by Energy Suspension.

 

Thanks!

On the other hand, and at risk of upsetting Gary, why are poly bushes easier to install? What are the downsides of poly bushes. I've actually had poly bushes in the strut rods for about 20 years, apparently with no issues, so interested in thoughts.

 

Stephen- you're not going to upset me at all. Would I use Poly in a TA- no but many do so who am I to argue the point, especially after all these years discussing these cars. I reached the point where I will instruct people how to build the best out there but whether or not they follow my advice I can't control so I no longer worry about it. Now with that said all the offset arms come with poly and I have built plenty of those over the years without issue.

 

Stephen Irons , Some brands of the poly bushes seemed to crumble into powder after a relatively short time in the car . I have helped change out some poly trailing bushes that were only months old and had literally fallen apart while the owner was driving. Scared the h**l out of the guy .

Having said that , its always been mentioned that Energy Suspension (ES)(brand) poly seems to be the good quality. I run the ES black poly (no squeaks or any dramas ) in the front of my 77 , my trailing arms have the rubber bushes .

Also its been a long time since there's been a thread on here about poly failures. Maybe now everybody is buying the ES pieces !!

 

@StephenIrons. The poly TA bushing is simple to assemble. You do not need to flare anything or buy a special flaring tool or send it out to a shop. No special tools required for the poly. The poly bushing is lubed, pushed into the ta by your fingers, steel sleeve the same way and the collar is simply pressed into the end of the metal sleeve by use of a vice. Too easy. Then lube the TA bolt and put back on the car and shim as needed.

 

I was advised to stay with rubber for this reason.
My trailing arms will also have bushings from Bairs.

 

And do you think rubber is without problems?

 

For what this is worth:

I have been installing the trailing arm bushing for very very long time also ...so you can do as you wish. But here are some things I have encountered and seen.

I have installed the Vette Brakes and Products designed poly bushings, and I have installed the Street Products design poly bushings and I have also installed the rubber design.

The VB and P bushings do not take any special tools..actually they give you the 'tool' to use to stake the assembly after you have proper set it up with the correct amount of space that you check with a feeler gauge. The 'problem;' with these..and I have run into it many times....is that these bushings are much wider than the stock design when compressed. So that means that you do not use as many shims for an alignment...but that really does not matter. But what happens is that due to it being wider...it is now taking away any possible movement of the trailing arm when you are setting up your 'toe' for the alignment, I have had many Corvettes that had slightly 'tweaked' trailing arms that when it went to get the alignment..the trailing arm was pushed against the frame of the car and it still needed to go further...but could not due the this added width of the new trailing arm bushing. So the car goes back to the shop....teh trialing arm comes out and put into a press to 'tweak' it and go back and hope that was enough to get the toe correct for the rear alignment.

The Street Products design poly bushings.... which I believe are no longer being produced used the same staking fixture tool that I use for rubber trailing arm bushing to stake the sleeve. So they looked just like stock rubber bushing but were polyurethane.

I am no longer a fan of the poly bushings. I know on a street driven car that is not driven hard/aggressively they work and no excessive 'popping' sounds come from that area. But I have seen the VB and P bushing fail either due to whoever put them in did not get them set-up correctly...or the X,Y Z action of the trialing arm is causing for added stress and wear at the point where the sleeve and bushings meet. And can get some what sloppy.

The rubber bushings can also have issues in the same area....but I ahve seen them hold up rather well and not be something that needs to be changed out often.

I do know and have heard about crappy rubber and it failing...so buying a good product is important. I have also run into many polyurethane parts falling apart also. This problem seems to be more recent and has not happened to poly parts from decades ago...due to those cars come in for service and it is all holding up well. And I have also run into my fair share of sleeves that would not allow the trailing arm bolt to slide through it. But I have not yet come across any sleeve that did not allow me to stake it correctly in the special washer for the trailing arm bushing.

I am sticking with rubber due to I can not trust the polyurethane. And with knowing that 90%+ of my customers drive them on the street...using polyurethane trailing arm bushing is not going to give them such a dramatic improvement that they are actually going to feel it when driving.

And when it comes to the upper and lower control arm bushings. I either stick with rubber or I use the Global West 'Del-A-Lum' design bushings that are regrease-able.

DUB

 

What Dub described is exactly what was relayed to me. The best any of us can do is do our homework and pick the best set up for what we are trying to accomplish. I have learned the hard way to listen to the pros with decades of experience. We should also be open to new ideas and methods but they must be verified by real time data. FWIW I sincerely hope you have the good ones and that they serve you well for years to come.

 

I did talk to the guys at Bairs and they were very helpful. As it turns out they even measured the bushings they had in stock and the measurements come up the same as the parts that I have. I am still searching for a rubber bushing that is sized correctly.

I am not going with poly for reasons already mentioned. The aftermarket strut rods I have had poly and the bushings just crumbled. They were 20 years old but the car is hardly driven. The rubber front control arm bushings I replaced back then are just like the day I installed them.

 

After some more research I find that the original bushing is GM part number 88912798. The current AC Delco part is 45G11051. I can find sources for these parts from many online suppliers but all of the pictures show the bushing only, no washers or center tube. Sent some emails to various locations to see if there is an official GM kit to be bought.

 

Willcox or Bairs should have this.

Knowing that Bairs makes trailing arms with the bushing already installed. I am trying to wonder why you are still looking for bushings.

You are ware that there is a special staking fixture tool that actually compresses the rubber so the sleeve can be staked?

DUB