Replaced rubber bushings with pillowballs.. AWESOME!
Replaced rubber bushings with pillowballs.. AWESOME!
My car has been FIed for 2 years with 6 piston brembo brake in the front... No wonder my bushings were all shot to hell...
I replaced the front lower bushings with nismo hard rubber bushings, but didn't help much.. So, this is my solution...
Handling has dramatically improved over stock! Handling became more responsive. I should have done this earlier...
I replaced the front lower bushings with nismo hard rubber bushings, but didn't help much.. So, this is my solution...
Handling has dramatically improved over stock! Handling became more responsive. I should have done this earlier...
Last edited by leeboyNY; Jun 24, 2009 at 07:48 PM.
Mine is quiet as stock.
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6 of them cost me $680. I can have them make more if people are interested, I'm sure I can haggle the price if we can put in multiple orders.
Unfortunately, I'm not a vendor here, so I might be asking for a perma ban if I start up a group buy or something... I wouldn't be making any profit out of this (I don't need to sell these to make money, since I make plenty with my own business).
Unfortunately, I'm not a vendor here, so I might be asking for a perma ban if I start up a group buy or something... I wouldn't be making any profit out of this (I don't need to sell these to make money, since I make plenty with my own business).
The tension/compression rod bushing is an odd one, if we replace that bushing with a spherical bearing, the arm will be free to "flop around". Given the shape, I have not yet figured out if that creates problems with the alignment of the steering stop, or if it causes any interference with other parts of the car. I need to do a little more R&D.
From what I can tell your on stock spring rates and shock's. And according to your sig, a different country that likely would have road's in far better condition then here. I guarantee this sort of mod has a price to pay here in the states, Noise, Vibration and Harshness wise. Yes the oem bushings you killed have compliance, a fair amount in some location's according to Bj from 350EVO. No one should do this sort of mod with the feeling it's likely to not have any impact, NVH wise.
How many miles or kilometer's is your comment drawn apon?
From what I can tell your on stock spring rates and shock's. And according to your sig, a different country that likely would have road's in far better condition then here. I guarantee this sort of mod has a price to pay here in the states, Noise, Vibration and Harshness wise. Yes the oem bushings you killed have compliance, a fair amount in some location's according to Bj from 350EVO. No one should do this sort of mod with the feeling it's likely to not have any impact, NVH wise.
From what I can tell your on stock spring rates and shock's. And according to your sig, a different country that likely would have road's in far better condition then here. I guarantee this sort of mod has a price to pay here in the states, Noise, Vibration and Harshness wise. Yes the oem bushings you killed have compliance, a fair amount in some location's according to Bj from 350EVO. No one should do this sort of mod with the feeling it's likely to not have any impact, NVH wise.
Far better road condition in South Korea? HAHA~ NOPE! US is 100 times better. I lived in the states for 15 years and been to many states, so I think I know what I'm talking about. BTW I have Aragosta suspension. I actually rode in one of their cars with pillow ***** installed. It had about 60,000miles with the pillow ***** and couldn't hear any noises. Also, with any tuning, you are bound to loose some stock quality. I did notice a harshier ride for obvious reason, so I softened my suspension setting.
Last edited by leeboyNY; Jun 27, 2009 at 02:47 AM.
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From: Inland Empire
I am so glad i found this post....and just today i realised my problem on my car....I have had chitty handling for the past 40k miles and have thrown 3 sets of struts at my car as well as 4 sets of springs hotchkis sways and upper tubular A-arms with adjustable camber.....
EVERY time i thought i fixed my problem the sloppy handling came back.....
when i finally got hotchkis sways i thought my problems were gone, but all this did was put more pressure on the already blown bushings and work for a minute and then further damage the bushings until i was right back where i left off with sloppy handling once again....first i bought KYB struts which was a mistake cause they were weaker than factory....then i got tokico blues but they weren't up to the UNKNOWN task that they were compensating for bad bushings and a sway bar that was almost barely working cause of the bushings....enter the d-spec and it is drivable now.....but the bushings are so bad now that the one that connects to the chassis SEEMS to the eye to be fine but once you tear apart the suspension it has seperated......
To sum things up.
My lower control arm has 2 bad bushings.....the bushing that the strut attaches to is cracked on the bottom and sagging (WHY couldn't the nissan tech see that?????)
also the main bushing on the inner part of the lower control arm that connects to the chassis is separated and basically is in the same condition as a blown motor mount......but it is still in place.....i can literally twist the lower control arm left and right with little effort as if i was grabbing the end of a pipe and twisting it. The same exact problem on both sides of the car.
So HOW you may ask would this affect handling????? well the swaybar is connected directly to the lower control arm by an endlink, and the swaybar is NOT working because of this....and even if it is it is TOO LATE.....I need to replace these bushings in order to fix my problem.....
by the way...I pulled the d-specs and tested them and the are strong as hell on the stiffest setting.....i had them set to full stiff to overcompensate the front swaybar not operating correctly.....
i don't have 700.00 for articulating bushings....so i am going to need to get some from one of the vendors here and have these 2 pressed in somewhere else cause my Nissan dealer wont do it....
this problem showed up at 50kmiles and now i have 100k miles....
if you have weird swaybar problems or are confusing it with struts being blown just remember that in order for the sways to work....the bushings on the lower control arms need to be in good condition or replaced with something better in order for the swaybars to work correctly...
I believe my rear control arm bushings are just fine...and i replaced my endlinks 9 months ago.....GLAD i don't have to purchase a full blown coil over kit now only to be disappointed.....
I just swapped back in my tanabe gf210 springs and had it aligned today and told the tech what happened just so that he knows....
i plan on getting whiteline linear springs and swapping them in since they lowered the Z EXACTLY the same as the tanabe's i have now.
WHEW!
this thread should be a sticky or a new one called the lower control arm thread should be made to help people solve this problem....ESPECIALLY if they are buying a used Z.
I was at the dealer today and saw a BUNCH of 05 used Z's and they were all going for 13k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and i payed 24k for a used one that had 3kmiles on it sitting on the lot for a year....while others payed 27k to almost 35k for theirs....
makes me want to buy a spare Z hehehe.
Now i have to formally apologize on a few threads about the tanabe gf210 sucking as a spring.......................
EVERY time i thought i fixed my problem the sloppy handling came back.....
when i finally got hotchkis sways i thought my problems were gone, but all this did was put more pressure on the already blown bushings and work for a minute and then further damage the bushings until i was right back where i left off with sloppy handling once again....first i bought KYB struts which was a mistake cause they were weaker than factory....then i got tokico blues but they weren't up to the UNKNOWN task that they were compensating for bad bushings and a sway bar that was almost barely working cause of the bushings....enter the d-spec and it is drivable now.....but the bushings are so bad now that the one that connects to the chassis SEEMS to the eye to be fine but once you tear apart the suspension it has seperated......
To sum things up.
My lower control arm has 2 bad bushings.....the bushing that the strut attaches to is cracked on the bottom and sagging (WHY couldn't the nissan tech see that?????)
also the main bushing on the inner part of the lower control arm that connects to the chassis is separated and basically is in the same condition as a blown motor mount......but it is still in place.....i can literally twist the lower control arm left and right with little effort as if i was grabbing the end of a pipe and twisting it. The same exact problem on both sides of the car.
So HOW you may ask would this affect handling????? well the swaybar is connected directly to the lower control arm by an endlink, and the swaybar is NOT working because of this....and even if it is it is TOO LATE.....I need to replace these bushings in order to fix my problem.....
by the way...I pulled the d-specs and tested them and the are strong as hell on the stiffest setting.....i had them set to full stiff to overcompensate the front swaybar not operating correctly.....
i don't have 700.00 for articulating bushings....so i am going to need to get some from one of the vendors here and have these 2 pressed in somewhere else cause my Nissan dealer wont do it....
this problem showed up at 50kmiles and now i have 100k miles....
if you have weird swaybar problems or are confusing it with struts being blown just remember that in order for the sways to work....the bushings on the lower control arms need to be in good condition or replaced with something better in order for the swaybars to work correctly...
I believe my rear control arm bushings are just fine...and i replaced my endlinks 9 months ago.....GLAD i don't have to purchase a full blown coil over kit now only to be disappointed.....
I just swapped back in my tanabe gf210 springs and had it aligned today and told the tech what happened just so that he knows....
i plan on getting whiteline linear springs and swapping them in since they lowered the Z EXACTLY the same as the tanabe's i have now.
WHEW!
this thread should be a sticky or a new one called the lower control arm thread should be made to help people solve this problem....ESPECIALLY if they are buying a used Z.
I was at the dealer today and saw a BUNCH of 05 used Z's and they were all going for 13k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and i payed 24k for a used one that had 3kmiles on it sitting on the lot for a year....while others payed 27k to almost 35k for theirs....
makes me want to buy a spare Z hehehe.
Now i have to formally apologize on a few threads about the tanabe gf210 sucking as a spring.......................
