FWIW, I run poly or nylatron bushings everywhere on Peyote. I'm reasonably
careful about installation and making sure that the right part is turning,
etc. I tear down everything yearly to crack check the important bits, and
the bushings are generally OK looking, but get replaced anyway. So I really
have no idea about bushing life. On my cheater, before it was a race car I
ran nylatron on the lower arms, rubber on the uppers. I don't remember why.
In fact I pretty much thought that was the stock setup. I also installed the
BFE brass and nylon steering bits, mostly because I thought the stock stuff
looked scary. The car was a little harsh, and remained twitchy until I
turned it into a race car, but most of that twitch comes from the large
amount of bump steer and the imprecision of the steering (I suspect).
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert M. Lang [mailto:lang@isis.mit.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 7:40 AM
To: Bill Babcock
Cc: 'Gerald M Van Vlack'; FOT; Triumphs
Subject: RE: Rear Trailing arm bushes IRS cars
On Wed, 5 Oct 2005, Bill Babcock wrote:
> I would think poly mounts on a street car would be hideous. I guess
> people always think stiffer is better for the same reason they think
> bigger is better. A certain Freudian sense of longing perhaps? In a
> race car we're looking for precision and don't mind replacing bits that
wear out in a year.
Seeing that everyone is "lining up" behind one camp, I figured that I might
as well respond to this one...
1. I have been running poly rear bushing on my street TR6 for about 10
years. I have had the suspension apart for varying reasons on a couple of
occasions... everything looks okay, no cracks or distorted/broken parts.
2. no matter what you think about poly bushings, I tell everyone to replace
the upper A-arm bushings with poly unless they like replacing the upper
bushings every couple of years.
3. I LOVE the ride in my street car with the all poly bushings. It's nice
and tight and there are no suspension rattles or squeaks or anything like
that.
4. Data point - I've driven about 40k miles with this setup. It is so much
nicer than the stock setup, I've never been "surprised" with how the
suspension works since the upgrade. Note: no "Triumph Twitch".
5. The rubber on the new bushings appears to be not the same as the rubber
on the original bushings... the new parts come apart faster than the
original - this is why I went to poly. I had replaced the rear bushings and
the "new" bushings were cracked and falling apart after two years.
Always the contrarian...
regards,
rml
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