Hi,

I am considering the energy suspension Poly bushing kits available for the C5. My car is a 98 and the bushings are probably pretty old and brittle by now. How much did changing out your bushings help your car? Did you notice much of a difference? Would you do it again? How tough is the install? Thanks for any info...

Russ

 

I was thinking about going poly a while back but I remember people talking about the bushings splitting!! So I stopped thinking about it!

Shahram

 

I would love to hear from people about this as well. I am thinking of using the VB&P (Vette Brakes and Products) polyurethane graphite impregnated busings: http://www.vbandp.com/detail.aspx?ID=770

- Max

 

Works great get the VBP poly it is easier to install and you need not save the inner bushings. They won't split.

 

I'm impressed with the quality of the VBP bushing kit. With the right tool and a press you can pop the bushings out of these control arms in seconds. Here is a link to a little write up I did on my bushing swap. I made a simple tool to work with an arbor press and it worked great. Can't comment on how it changed the car, as my car is still in pieces, but I can say the VBP kit is easy to install. If your thinking about VBP kit or any other you will want to take a look at this link.

http://corvetteforum.shelor.net/Bushings

 

Thanks Guys, anybody else with comments? I think it sounds like something I should do, anyone with experience with the energy suspension kits?

Russ

 

DONT GET THE ENERGY SUSPENSION BUSHINGS!!!! My dad and I both had MAJOR problems with them. The front lower A-arm bushings collapsed on the inside and almost started tearing into the k-member. (metal to metal in other words) We both replaced our bushings with the VBP bushings and they are working great.

 

Read your writeup, nice.
You mentioned that the old bushings weren't that hard to press out.
Do they come out easily enough that one might make a jack screw out of threaded rod, hardened washers, nuts and a couple of sockets to save removing the control arm completely from the car?

 

Easy installation... no squeeking...

 

ive got nothing but praise for VBP. Used them on my c3 a few years back and will go back to them when the time comes for replacement parts on my c5

 

We also offer Corvette Forum members a 10% discount .

You might want to get the order in quick, because we just got a price increase on the sleeves (you know the metal prices these days) and we are going to have to raise the price on the kit when the old supply runs out which will be shortly unfortunately (sorry guys).

Call me if you have any questions or would like to place an order.

Pattie Cooke, Sales Mgr.
VBP (Vette Brakes and Products)

 

Now you tell me!

 

I don't think that would work very well. Reason being I don't think you can hold the arm with a socket. If you look at the first photo of the bushing with the press plate bolted on, you can see the bushing is the same size as the control arm. You need something that will clamp into the bushing and come down as small as the control arm. A socket that will fit over the busing won't fit against the arm, it will be too big to support the arm. Now this press plate does have two large threaded holes in it that you could pull against and do what your are talking about. I picked this tool up at Harbor Freight for less than $10, it is a very cheesy tool, but worked great for this job. If you wanted to saw the ends off the bushings like the VBP instructions shows then the socket method should work good. Best I remember the rear lower was the hardest to push out. I'm guessing 600-700 pounds is all it takes to pop them out.

I don't think you will gain anything doing it on the car. These control arms are quite easy to get off the car. And unless you have a spring compressor for these flat springs you just about have to take everything else off anyway just to get the arm loose. You really need to loosen the shock, sway bar, and ball joint to drop the arm low enough to get the pressure off the front spring. By then only thing left holding the arm on is the two mounting bolts.

 

I did the poly bushings about 2 years ago, I have put about 8k miles on it since then, and I honestly would never do it again, ever. I thought it was gonna be this great upgrade for my car but was very dissapointed. Matter of fact, I'm getting ready to take them off and try to find someone with just the regular bushings still in there a-arms and trade them out, even up, a-arms for a-arms. This is just my honest opinion. good luck

 

What brand of bushings did you go with? What are the issues?

 

I installed the VBP kit about a year ago.

The install is a little time consuming if you do a nice job and scrub up and clean all of the dirt and grease off of everything.

Get a ball joint press at Pep Boys or Some other local parts store to press out the bushings. You can get a cheap one from Harbor Freight.

Figure a day to do the front and a day to do the rear for the home DIY guy.

 

I went with the bushings from mid america motorworks. It might just be my taste, but for starters they squeek over every bump,everytime I get in and out of the car, and the squeek is louder than my borlas. This is after I have greased them more than two or three times. Also, riding in my car is like riding in a wheel barrel, every nook and cranny I go over feels like its going to throw me out of the car. This is just my opinion on these bushing, unsure if they are all like that, but just my 2-cents on mine. I am definately taking them off in the next couple of weeks. I would not do them in any case except maybe for track use.

 

Can any of you comment on whether they reduce or eliminate wheel hop?

 

I did not use VBP and it was a terrible job. Getting the old bushings out really requires a press. Forget burning them out. Not having new hardware which IS supplied with VBP was frustrating.
If I ever do it again I would use VBP or not attempt it.