jseremba

Hello Everybody,

I am moving forward with my 1985 Corvette project. All of the suspension parts are NFG. I want to replace them. I just saw a video on sunpro bushings. Has anyone used these bushings? I went to the website but could not find the pricing. Are there any videos on how to remove the upper control arms?

Thank you
Joe

drcook

Do you mean Superpro ? Summit Racing carries a lot of them, just not the ones for the C4 Corvette.

For the most part (repeat for the most part) Summit tends to not carry junk, but even they can get bit sometimes. Go to Summit Racing's site and do a lookup on Superpro and you will see the nbr of vehicles they carry them for.

On Summit's site, use Super Pro (two words) as the search even though SuperPro has their name as SuperPro (one word)

There are only 2 suppliers in the country at this time. The prices are the same at each place, along with free shipping. The 2 suppliers are actually acquaintances.

https://corvettesalvage.com/product/...set-1984-1996/

https://corvettesalvage.com/product/...kit-1984-1996/

If I hadn't already purchased a complete Banski rear suspension, I would have bought these. They are superior (in my opinion) to poly bushings because of their compliance. Notice that they are all 1 pc instead of 2. The compliance/flexibility allows them to be pushed through a suspension component as opposed to poly bushings being 2 pcs for the most part.

jseremba

drcook,

Thank you. I went to the website.and sent them an email.

Thank you for the ehlp

cdm747

Dino's is about 30 miles from me. He has a great selection of used parts as well. If you need something send him an email or call as he has much more than will show up in the search box.

jseremba

cdm747,


Dino's is 11,000 miles from me. I live on Guam. That makes this rebuild a very big challenge. I would really like to order a kit like Prothane in Superpro so that I can replace all the rubber in one shot brand new. Thank you for the help.

best regards

MatthewMiller

Any options for front bushings are okay. I do not recommend standard poly bushings in the rear, since they add bind. However, the Super Pro bushings seem like they might be a much better option - closer in durometer to the stock rubber. You can't get new rubber bushings, btw.

jseremba

Hello Matthew,

I think that you are correct. I am very excited about the Super Pro product

VikingTrad3r

I have a prothane busing kit on the shelf and i havn't installed it because of the weirdness that i read (from matt actually) in the rear end.

so this comment from matt caught my eye.

matt i went to the website and i cannot find the durometer specs on the site. maybe i am blind.

what is the difference between these two ? the superpro and the prothane./energy suspension ones?
i can't find any hard numbers on the web showing durometer difference and it sounds like you did.

you really think these would be a good solution as opposed to banski?

VT.

MatthewMiller

I haven't seen any hard numbers for them, either. What I have seen is that they are clearly more flexible than normal poly, because they come as one-piece bushings that you can just push into the shells, whereas normal poly has to be made in two halves because it's too stiff to push through. So I'm basing my predictions off of that.

In terms of the best location control and least bind, rod-end links are still the best for the rear suspension. But for quiet and comfort and long durability without ever having to replace a sloppy heim joint, the Super Pro bushings might be better. Ditto for anyone racing in a class the does not allow rod-end suspension links.

drcook

EXACTLY !!!

If you watch how a Corvette rear suspension articulates, you will see a little arc in the movement. The OEM rubber allowed this small amount of movement to take place, and as they age and get hard, they can get a bit "ovalized" in the through holes.

The poly type bushings don't have this type of give. When I found the Super Pro bushings and let you all know about them a few months (weeks) ago, I was really impressed with how they flex and are able to be pushed through the components.

It is the "cushioning" effect that OEM bushings when fresh that people identify as "the new car feel". You can take a 20 year old car/truck and rebush it, along with rebuilding the rest of the suspension (and body mounts if so equipped) and it will ride like a new car.

It could have holes through the floorboards and be a Fred Flintstone mobile, have cracked glass and flapping fenders, but as long as the frame is solid, it will ride like a new car.

VikingTrad3r

keep in mind that the kit does not appear to include rear sway bar bushings or the batwing.

it looks like it does include the front sway bar bushing pair.

there is no reference to either front or rear sway bar bushings in the description for the kit on the website. the rear sway bar bushings i found on the ozzy site.

i emailed to ask.

the kit is twice as expensive as prothane but i suspect worth it! ill know soon!

VikingTrad3r

well this is a dissapointment. it actually really picks my hole.

both c and s corvette and the above linked vendor call thier superpro kit the total suspension bushing kit...and come on...$300 aint cheap....then i get a response saying NO the sway bar bushings are not included in thier total suspension bushing kit. here it is.

""Hi Ryan!
We do not include the sway bar bushings with our kit, as there were several sizes used over the years of C4 production. ProThane makes all of those versions of the sway bar mount bushings, and as they aren't parts that experience much movement, poly urethane is acceptable in those locations. hope this helps. Lyle ""


-----so sounds like we must build our own kit. im going to contact the manufacturer directly to see if they will sell me a true complete kit and i will just pay for shipping from oz land. kinda dissapointed. why not just offer us the option of. iying everything all in one spot!

drcook

If you look at the links above, I put the link to the batwing bushings which are sold separately.

a company finally steps up to the plate and makes some replacement bushings and you still aren't happy

the clock could be rolled back to 2017 and there wouldn't even be this option to talk about. we are fortunate to at least have an option besides poly. if these had been out at the time I bought the Banski suspension (as good as it is) I would have gone with these due to price

VikingTrad3r

and swaybar too by the sound of it. im looking for solutions to problems not more problems and complexity. i love amazon for this reason. so easy.

VikingTrad3r

id like to buy the full kit. thats all i ask.

VikingTrad3r

ive also replied asking the vendor for a price on a true full kit. in the vodeos he shows polyurethane crunbling and refers to it as inferior. why would i want any of it on the car.

to the contrary cook. i think id be quite satisfied with this product.

MatthewMiller

In their defense, the D-bushings on the swaybars really did come in a variety of sizes for the different swaybar sizes. So those would not come in any full suspension kit that I know of. And they are correct: the swaybar bushings only need to be compliant one plane of movement, so poly works just fine in those. Also, if someone wants softer rubber bushings, I am pretty sure the D-bushings are still available in OE rubber because they are fairly universal for lots of cars - only the swaybar diameter changes.

I'm not sure if the batwing bushings come in most kits. But those are really not suspensions bushings, but rather they are subframe bushings. Every unibody car I know of has rubber subframe bushings, but I'm not sure any suspension bushing kits come with replacement subframe bushings.

ADDENDUM:

It's hard to find a listing of the Energy Suspension kit contents, but here is what their C4 kit includes:So no sway bar bushings or batwing* bushings in their kit, either.

They also have the following alert in their catalog:
*I wonder if the "differential pinion bushing is really the batwing bushing? While C3s have an actual pinion bushing (I believe it's really a snubber), the C4s don't.

VikingTrad3r

so then you guys dont think it would be a problem having multiple types of bushings with different durometer values on the car?

If its not a problem ill order the superpro kit and keep my prothane kit and pull from it.

The thing is, as a consumer and diy'er, i only have so much time. and i really want to do this right the first time. i dont want to hodge podge it together with components that have different hardness or compliance or durometer and end up with this jacking or strange vibrations due to me mix and matching different materials when the factory had the same material, rubber throughout.

if it doesnt matter, ill just get the rear bushings, and keep my prothane kit for the front and save money. but id be happy to spend the extra mo ey to have all the same material.

Also, Lyle did respond. He says he understands the desire to keep the same material and he is working on developing the sway bar bushings.

i asked him about the sway bar bushings already on the superpro website. maybe they are not the same material.

in any case, i am craving a complete solution/kit for stock suspension and ill pay for it. VT.

MatthewMiller

It won't hurt anything to have different materials in different locations. It especially won't hurt for the swaybar bushings.

VikingTrad3r

10-4, i will proceed with these then.

Here is a list of all the parts that superpro lists for the c4.

Lyle did say that he was directly involved with development of these busings. Kudos to him!!


https://superpro.com.au/find/superpr...999501505/vid-