Control Arm Bushing question

[john31s]

I have a 1970 Pontiac Lemans and I have a question regarding the control arms. I intend on keeping the stock control arms but taking them off and sand blasting them and replacing the ball joints and bushings. What bushings should I get? I heard del-a-lum are good but they cost a ton. As they worth it? What should I run for ball joints? Thanks

[NOT A TA]

I run Del-A-Lums in stock upper and lower arms and Spicer ball joints in my 70 Firebird. Both have worked very well for many years. Car is apart now for upgrades and I checked everything closely, no issues and I run the car pretty hard on track besides street driving. If you decide to go that route PM me and I'll give ya install tips to save ya time on the learning curve, I did mine around the turn of the century so I didn't write a project thread on it.

[UMI Tech]

The correct answer is to follow whatever John says ^.

[astroracer]

The big question is: What are your plans for the car? Street driver? Track? Sounds like a street driver to me with a desire to tighten it up a bit. Del-a-lums are the bushing of choice for a street/track car that doesn't see a lot of rough road driving but you have to realize they will transmit ALL of the road harshness into your car. Polygraphites may be a better choice for a driver. They will still increase the harhness but not as bad as the Del-a-lums and they will improve the suspension feel and response. If you are not going solid or poly body mounts and simply rebuilding your suspension you need to think about what you want it to do... I am just giving you some options here.
Mark

[exwestracer]

A general rule is, the stiffer the bushing, the less "bind" you will have from bushing stiction. There is something to remember about installing them though. The OEM knew the bushings were going to be big hunks of rubber clamped tightly to the mounts, so they didn't worry too much about the mounts being aligned. The stiffer bushing you put in (until you get to a spherical bearing), the tighter the tolerance is for the control arm mounts to be aligned. I've used a lot of steel on steel bushings, and I 've had to ream the mount holes out with a LONG drill bit on several occasions just to get everything bolted back together.

[67gtonut]

Check your lower control arms.... If you have an Oval rear bushing.... your choices will be limited to Rubber or Poly..... for the Lowers...

[BMR Tech]

I like the ProForged line of ball joints and tie rod ends. They have forged and powdercoated bodies, compact boot designs, knurled press portions, and a million mile warranty. They are only slightly more than the stuff you buy from Napa (Spicer) or Moog and you can get tall upper ball joints to help out your camber curve...

[john31s]

I guess what I meant is, for a sprited street car, which bushings and ball joints are the best? I don't want to use stock replacement rubber but del-a-lums seem like they might be a bit extreme. How are polyurethane and polygraphite bushings?

[andrewb70]

I guess what I meant is, for a sprited street car, which bushings and ball joints are the best? I don't want to use stock replacement rubber but del-a-lums seem like they might be a bit extreme. How are polyurethane and polygraphite bushings?

Sounds like poly bushings will work very well for you. Just make sure to lube the snot out of them.



Andrew

[MrQuick]

Sounds like poly bushings will work very well for you. Just make sure to lube the snot out of them.

Andrew

and keep them lubed. I like to modify the lube channel to help retain the grease. I also have a dedicated lube gun with synthetic lube from Energy suspension. Trust us, you are going to need it.

if you really want to go with the delrin try afco, the new line of light weight bushings feature a delrin center and they also have a low friction ball joint.
http://afcoracing.com/2011_DR/ page 69

[SLO_Z28]

Did someone say poly bushings?

[exwestracer]

Did someone say poly bushings?

They say a picture is worth 1000 words...that video pretty much says it all. I do wonder if some of that may come from the bolt alignment issue I mentioned above. (He did say it was OK for awhile, though...)

[John Wright]

^^^ Those squeaks sound like the binding between the sides(ends) of the bushing and the frame brackets. The grease will get squeezed out when you tighten the bolt that goes through the center of the bushing.

[NOT A TA]

To the OP John; You may have noticed that I did not recommend anything in particular in my post above and just offered my previous experience with the Del A Lums in stock arms. I didn't make recommendations because you didn't outline any overall suspension plans or performance expectations. A quick check of your previous posts on the board before I responded indicated your car is all stock with air shocks which gave you the "rake" you liked. As Mark mentioned more information would be helpful if you want people to give you recommendations for components which compliment each other without wasting money on more expensive (than stock) parts you will not notice much benefit from if not used in conjunction with other upgrade components.