Vette_Fan

Hey guys,

I have a BASE 2008, A6, Vette. I am doing some suspension upgrades soon. Question is should I use the Poly bushings or leave it the way it is? Who is using these and your experience with these? NOT looking for a harsh/bumpy ride at all, but trying to improve better control over curves and flats and dips in the roads.

- I am wondering it's worth getting Poly bushings for the front control arm (and maybe rear also/or not).

- Also considering Poly bushings for Z51 (upgraded) sway bars. If yes, got idea where I can order one in the Z51 sway bar's size?

Thanks in Advance!

silverbullet132

quite interested in this for myself

Kenny94945

You really open this conversation for opinions.

Well, since you have and are used to driving a base car, I would upgrade to the Z51 front & rear sway bars and go ahead and place
poly bushings into the swaybar mounts. You can easily revert back to rubber bushings if anything bothers you.

See if you like that change.

Where to buy? I am unsure. Yet I believe there are 3 different sizes of bushing so measure your sway bar and then the bushing to confirm before ordering and insulation.

The rest is opened for further comment.
FWIW a 1/2 lowing and awesome 4 wheel alignment may also bring you positive driving feelings.

Good luck!

windyC6

Would poly bushings react differently in a "Base" car as they would in say a GS ??.......:

corvette312

I thought that the only difference in poly bushing from rubber bushing was that poly will last longer.

BadAV

They are a much higher durometer than rubber and therefore deflect much less.

I moved from rubber bushings to polyurethane on a 2006 CTS I owned, which I also lowered 2". My recommendation, if you decide to do this, is to also add a zerk fitting to the hold-down strap so you can keep the bushings greased. Poly bushings are known to squeak if they aren't kept greased.

cmonkey713

Poly bushing will not give you any noticeable differences you are using the car for street or the occasional autocross. They have less compression than the OEM units which provide a more precise alignment under a severe load when performance driving. The polly bushings will squeak if not lubed in almost all cases which can be annoying. The cost is not much but If you are not using the car for frequent performance purposes , I would stay with the OEM bushings provided they are in good condition.

windyC6

Don't they make a pretty good quality spray lubricant just for bushings that works fairly well therefore removing the need for the grease mess ?

Vette_Fan

So I do have the Z51 sway bars installed already (bought it that way).

Soon I am upgrading to:
- Bilstein B8 shocks (front & rear)
- Front Z06 spring
- Moog end-links (with grease fittings).

I figured if the suspension is already gonna be taken off, why not upgrade the bushings as well? That was my thought. But if Poly bushings aren't a good idea then how about some aftermarket strong rubber bushings?

I'm not sure how to add the Zerk fittings into the control arm bushing, or even sway bar bushings. I think bushings are inserted or clamped onto....so I don't see where/how the Zerk fittings would go. Besides, how often do you grease them?

Mostly, my car will be driven on the streets, highways, and yes, mountains, sometimes track (in that order). While driving in the mountains, track, or sharp turns/ramps, I would want the car to show its "performance side." Other times on street/highway a comfy & controlled (but not floaty) ride. That's why I'm asking the question. If Poly doesn't fit my requirement then how about some "performance rubber" bushings that would be better than the OEM? Any ideas?

FAUEE

The main benefit of poly bushings is longevity. The stock rubber ones don't deflect much on The street. If the car sees a lot of track use it may be worth it but otherwise, not so much.

They don't really make performance rubber bushings. They make replacements, but they're not designed to improve performance. If ypu have worn out bushings, then sure why not? I am doing them on my c4 cuz the some of the original ones are cracked after 25 years.

cmonkey713

In the end it makes no difference either way concerning the sway bar bushings. You will not notice a difference, however the new bushings may look better if you crawl under the car to look at them.

Vette_Fan

Mine is a 2008, with 35K miles. I don't think it has too many miles, but is still 10 yrs old. Rubber bushings with oil & grime tend to break down in time. So I'm not sure if I need to change mine. We'll see when the suspension is down.

I guess so...

FAUEE

My c4 is 25 years old with 140k miles on it. The only bushings that really needed replaced were the control arm to sway bar and links. And even those weren't too bad. With your age and mileage, your bushings are all fine I'd bet

Dano523

Yes, poly bushing are better/will allow for more road feed back, but the down fall is they will squeak if not re-greased yearly.

Truth is, on the Vet, it the rear lower arm rubber bushings that are the worse, since they allow a lot of forward/rear movement. So here, if the car is street driving, you still need a bushing that will allow some shock absorption, but still way less defection that the rubber bushing instead.


So for a race track car that is going to be run on a smooth track, the bushings are replaced with solid spherical bearings.
For a car that is going to be run on the street, then poly bushings, and the lower rear A ram bushing changed to something that will still allow some absorption, but way less deflection instead.

So when looking at poly bushing kits, take a good look on how the bushings are designed to installed, what is keeping the bushings in the channels/not allowing the arms to slide off the bushings, and focus hard on the lower A arm bushings as well. If it just a huge chunk of poly like the oem rubber bushings, it really going to be no better than the rubber bushing as instead.

And again, if you go to spherical bushings, instead of pulling the bushing to re-grease them yearly on street driven car, you will be pulling them to replace them yearly instead.

AORoads

Somehow, I doubt you will be pulling any bushings to grease or replace them yearly. Mainly because you have an '08 with relatively small mileage and haven't pulled them yet. That being said, for your use it seems to me you're looking at upgrades that won't cause problems. To me, that sounds like rubber---and while FAuee is probably correct, if you want another 8 or more years, put in new rubber, stock bushings all around. I also hope you have a good idea as to what to expect from replacing the stock front spring w. a Z06 spring. Good luck.

Sox-Fan

Don't do poly. It's outdated and never worked great when it wasn't. It squeeks, binds, wears, transfers vibration and just isn't all that great. Put it o and you'll be very disappointed.

*IF* you really are convinced that you need to upgrade from rubber go straight to Delrin. Delrin is quiet, it doesn't wear, doesn't deform, and is self lubricating so it lasts far longer than your car will and is no maintenance. delrin is harder than poly and but doesn't transfer much more vibration. And with your suspension moving in true arc as it was designed delrin doesn't ride as bad on the street as you might think. In the road racing forum there are a number of discussions comparing poly to delrin. Pricing is comparable when you consider that poly deforms or wears and delrin doesn't. There are several forum vendors selling several different delrin kits. Read the different threads in the road racing forum, and make an informed decision from there.

hydrasport

Does your car have the Z51 option? That is the biggest improvement that will improve handling and performance. I had a base C6 and a C6 with the Z51 option. Big difference in handling.
The posted video of the Z06 suspension is interesting. I had the same concern as you when looking to upgrade my C6 -Z51 handling - rubber bushings. If you have a chance to set your car on four jack stands and have someone get the rear tires rolling forward at about 10 MPH then hit the brakes hard while you watch the rear A-arms, you may be surprised how much the A-arms move around because of the rubber bushings, and there is not a lot of options to stop that motion. New performance sway bar bushings will do little for street performance while other items such as better shocks and correct wheel alignment will be the most cost effective improvement.

HOXXOH

Strictly talking sway bar bushings, the switch from OEM rubber to poly improves the cornering. The sway bar is simply a torque tube to transfer some of the forces on one side of the car to other side. Picture a lager letter "H" with the bottom legs cut off. Put bushings around the horizontal bar near the ends and tie them to the frame. Now push down on the top end of one of the vertical bars and it'll put an equal force on the opposite one. If the bushings are soft, some of the forces deflect the bushings and reduce the forces going to the opposite side to aid in keeping the car level. The harder the bushings, the less forces being absorbed by the bushings, resulting in more forces going towards keeping the car level in turns. Since sways do nothing when going straight, they don't affect the ride. I've been using poly for about the last 135K miles. Prior to the initial install, I cut an internal circumferential groove with a couple horizontal stringers to hold grease. No squeaks and I've only cleaned and relubed a couple times.

Vette_Fan

As mentioned in post # 9, I am going to be doing B8 shocks, and front Z06 spring installed. (I already have Z51 sways installed).

Vette_Fan

HOXXOH : Thanks for that explanation. My main question is should I change the Poly bushings in the control arms & sway bars while I am doing the mentioned Suspension upgrades?

Since your explanation is mainly focused on the sway bars bushings - I presume you're advocating that it's a good idea to get the Poly bushing for the Z51 sway bars. And since the sways don't play a role in straights, the Poly bushing in the sways won't have any negative ride affects - sways and poly bushings will come in play only during the cornering. Having said that, even if I do go with the poly bushings....what's the process of greasing it? I don't want to take them off or deal with the greasing every year Not to mention the longevity over the OEM, is hopefully better???

Thanks!