hello,
i recently bought energy suspension RED LCA inner and outer bushing from concept z performance.
The reason i went with red is because coz ceh from concept z told me that there's no difference between the black bushings and the red bushings other than the color.
After installation, i found this thread from Zilvia talking about the difference between the red and black. The black is impregnated with graphite which is newer than red ones.
Some guy with the red bushings had binding issue, and his arm on s13 broke due to that.
Did our 350z members get red or black bushings? any issues if red?

i gotta say that steering is much firmer than before, and cornering has improved a lot. i'm just worried that i'll have the binding issue later on.
Oh, the reason i replaced the bushings is because i had INSANE squeaking noise when braking (right side). This same squeaking noise is still there.

 

I've heard that the red ones are more likely to squeak, sorry I don't have more info for you. You could always call ES tomorrow. I'm interested to know the answer as well because I plan on running ES bushings in a couple spots.

 

i emailed ES already about this.
It sucks that Coz didn't tell me there IS a difference between the two. No one would buy the one that could cause binding and squeaking noise.

 

No binding , just a squeak issue if they are not lubed all the time. If someone broke and arm, it was not due to the color of the bushing.

 

Agreed. If ES told you there's no difference then there is probably no difference... Besides the squeaking issue if the reds aren't greased often enough.

 

concept z is the one that said there's no difference before the purchase.
i asked again after purchasing, he told me about the graphite thing lol
If new a arm doesn't fix the sqeaking then it must be from the new LCA bushings.

 

A bit late, but you are correct, the black ones are Graphite impregnated, so they never require re-lubing after install. The red ones are the same Poly material, without the Graphite. They perform the exact same, but the red ones will eventually start to squeak if they are not lubed from time to time.

If you have the choice, at the same price, always go for the black ones. Install them and forget about it!

 

Im doing a little experiment with these bushings.
I cut channels/slits on the faces of the bushings, then lubed over the faces prior to install.
The idea is that the slits will allow some grease to stay on the face of the bushing, rather than all of it being pushed out when you torque down on the bolt.
Kind of the same idea as what Energy did to the inner diameter of the bushing for the metal sleeve.
If it works, great. If not, nothing lost.

 

you painted your lower control arm didn't you? LOL..looks good..keeps corrosion away

 

we powder coated them