h rocks

Mine is a '90 FX3, with major re-valving and a couple of one-off PROMs.

vetracer

I had problems on my street car with the rear trailing arms squeaking where they connect to the car body. No amount of the special grease would cure it. I replaced them with GM (you have to buy the whole trailing arm) and it went away. Also had problems with the front A-arms squeaking, but I fixed that by drilling a hole in the A-arm where the busing is and threading in a zerk fitting so I could grease them with a grease gun. Worked great.

My race car is completely heim-jointed in the rear which means NO play whatsoever. The front is poly with a camber brace. At the track, you can feel the road as if you were sliding the palm of your hand across it. Great for the track, but I don't think you'd want that on the street.



[Modified by vetracer, 5:22 PM 12/14/2002]

n1kki6

poly. i'll be doing mine this winter.

fnseeker

I did my front and rear (bought from summit ) along with new replacement bilstiens from ecklers. The car is incredable on handling. I might recommend a lighter shock though. It's over 6000 mile now and the gas filler cap still opens and closes on an average street. Don't even think about a street in poor condition. But on the highway over 50. The car is flat and absolutley predictable. Not going to change a thing, unless I go to coil overs.

h rocks

Yeah, made up my own heimed trailing arms, camber rods etc. Big difference. But still pretty compliant as track cars go.

JasonL

The "polygraphite" bushings are just normal poly with a bit of graphite added to the mix, which supposedly reduces squeaking. All the black Energy Suspension bushings have the graphite. ES doesn't use graphite in the color bushings because they will look dull-colored. Learned this when I was buying from http://www.suspension.com HTH.


[Modified by JasonL, 8:08 PM 12/15/2002]

fullboogie

Yeah, mine's a 96, and it's otherwise stock (with 11K miles on it). It rides like a fully loaded dumptruck as it is, pretty dang harsh. I feel every pebble in the road, even on the softest suspension setting. I can live with it, but any increase in harshness would drive me crazy.


[Modified by fullboogie, 2:21 PM 12/16/2002]

h rocks

Not to be a super wiseguy, but why are you driving a C4 then?

Ken Lanham

Someone mentioned the Global West bushings. I have run these in cars before and they do wonders for handling. They also DO NOT squeak. But, I think that they transmit alot of noise to the chassis. Suddenly you can hear your tires making noises over every pebble, and you can feel everything in the pavement. Just like Vetracers description of heim jointed components. Its like running your hand over the rough pavement. The car will ride soft as long as the springs and shocks are setup properly, but the noise level goes up alot. And I don't mean squaking noises.

-Ken

fullboogie

Well, if you went out and bought an '03 Cobra, I'd bet that you're not familiar with all the little idiosyncracies of that chassis/engine. Same here. I've always been a Mustang fan, but really admired Vettes. The time came to trade up, and here I am. Doesn't mean I don't like my car, it's just an issue I'll have to address. Kinda like the perpetually leaking intake end gaskets. Every car has its own little flaws, and I'm starting to find the ones on this car. All in all, though, it's far superior to any car I've driven. I'm also wondering if the ride will improve when I ditch the factory run flat tires. Hmmm......

bill mcdonald

H Rocks and Ken.

With those Aluminum and Delrin bushings, how much louder is the tire noise?
Something the stereo can cover up?

And does it sounds like it is comming through the frame?

h rocks

Bill, I'm the wrong one to ask. I run the GW bushings for performance above all else. My car is 99% tracktime. Still street legal, but mainly to do shakedown runs and brake pad bedding at nights in the local industrial park.

Fullboogie, ok now I get it. As far as the ride characteristics, if your main interest is dialing out the "harshness" there's only so much you can do. Consider some of the following:

Run the minimum recommended air pressure noted on your door sticker.
Go to a "cruiser" shock like the Edlebrock IAS. Should be real cushy.
If you need tires, try a non super performance, stiff sidwall tire. Something more akin to a GY, Michelin, or BFG relatively high perf. sedan tire with a higher numerical aspect ratio.


[Modified by h rocks, 11:31 PM 12/17/2002]

fullboogie

hrocks-

Thanks for the tips. I think different tires are a good place to start.

Shriker

fullboogie, is your car a Z51 car? I thought I rememebered it was....anyway, I have a F45 car and it is extremely comfy- I was very surprised when I bought the car. These are softer springs and ride very well. I actually want to go to a more stiff spring, I do less drag racing (which these springs are AWESOME for - talk about rear weight transfer ) and more autoXing and open tracking.....dont know if you would be up for a trade? Anyway, your ride will improve slightly getting away from the runflats as mentioned above. I would also stay away from anything other than stock rubber bushings if ride is what you are after.

I previously had a 97 Cobra and stock it rode very well but was much too soft to seriously autoX or open track. I lowered it and changed springs and shocks/struts and bushings, big improvement in handling , ride did suffer to some degree.
:seeya

fullboogie

Shriker-

I just looked at my codes, and it's an F45, which I gather is softer than a Z51. Still, the car bangs and jumps all over the place on any kind of pothole, and rides just like my old 93 stang with stiff lowering springs, Konis set on full hard, poly throughout, and solid bushing rear control arms. I didn't like that ride, and this car feels just like it. I'm pretty confident, after seeing the construction of the runflats, that new tires will make a big difference. Thanks for the offer for the swap, though.

jwade91

QUOTE: Are there any lubricants (wet or dry) that provide squeak relief?


My former :cry vette had the poly bushings. It was a base 1991 that I upgraded to poly bushings and Z51 Bilsteins. They did squeak if not lubed. I used a wet graphite spray I found at NAPA that worked really well. It would last about 6-8 weeks of daily driving. For best coverage, I would raise the car on jack stands and shoot some on each of the bushings, front and rear.

I was a good trade-off, the car handled much better. It was not harsh, good balance. However, one of the reasons I changed was because the car was sounding like a creaky rocking chair going over speed bumps. You trade one set of noises for another. After being lubed though, no noises whatsoever. It just becomes a new maintenance routine.

sraft

Was the graphite spray the type that dries to a dry film, or was it a graphie/oil combo.

no_radio

I just installed poly bushings in the rear of my '96 F45, finished yesterday morning and got it aligned in the afternoon.
I LOVE the poly bushings! The rear feels solid and predictable, nice and tight around corners. Yes, I feel bumps, but before they would make the car feel like it was uncontrolled, now you feel the bump but then it's gone. I also installed poly-adjustable camber rods (Smart Struts) and Heavy Duty Toe Rods (all parts were from Vette Brakes).
I plan to do the fronts some time in the next year or so, and upgrade to Z51 swaybars.
Jeff