I'm sure someone asked this before but i'm looking at replacing all my suspension EPDM (rubber) bushing on my '91 ZR1 for poly type material bushings (sway & diff. carrier included). My goal is to improve the endling while keeping the rest of the suspension stock (except for the 30mm lowering kit & a new more agreesive alignment!).
But! One of the guy from Energy Suspension told me on the phone Friday that the ZR1 might have some variation regarding the size of the C4 bushing sizes that might cause fit issues due to the special "ZR1 RPO" suspension option! Did one of you made the switch with out any fit issues & mods and if so which brand and part # of poly bushing did you use?
There is nothing ZR-1 specific as far as suspension bushings go. That said, poly is not a great material for a long-lived, low-maintenance bushing. It is however what's readily available.
Enjoy,
- Jeff
__________________ Just an old Ford guy surrounded by c4s and trying to make them work.
There is nothing ZR-1 specific as far as suspension bushings go. That said, poly is not a great material for a long-lived, low-maintenance bushing. It is however what's readily available.
Enjoy,
- Jeff
Your not the first guy that said this about poly bushing. Of course i'm looking to imrpove the handling when I go to the track but I don't want to create other issues. Though, on the other end, some people say that poly is the best durable bushing money can buy and the handling will be much improve!
I'm not in a hurry here because the car will be in my garage until April and the rear end is already apart, so I'll to see if someone did try them and get their input too.
Thanks for the comment!
PS: I which I could get Dick Guldstrand to do my suspension!
I offer this fwiw. My front end was a bit ragged so I took the corvetterecycling.com way out. I bought the full set of A-arms from them. They come ready to bolt in place, fully assembled and you reuse only the swaybar end link assemblies.
I then went to VB&P and bought the sway bar end link kits and sway bar to frame mount kit. That stuff is poly, but the A-arms are all OE rubber. The only special operation that I had to do was press out the bushing on the lower A-arms so I could press in the VB&P bushings that came with the swaybar end link kit.
I drove the car all summer and I have to say that I am very happy in the handling with the mixture of bushings....and the quietness....no squeaks.
I have yet to install the new shock bushings that I bought from DRM, and as of now I doubt that I will be in a hurry to do so.
I offer this fwiw. My front end was a bit ragged so I took the corvetterecycling.com way out. I bought the full set of A-arms from them. They come ready to bolt in place, fully assembled and you reuse only the swaybar end link assemblies.
I then went to VB&P and bought the sway bar end link kits and sway bar to frame mount kit. That stuff is poly, but the A-arms are all OE rubber. The only special operation that I had to do was press out the bushing on the lower A-arms so I could press in the VB&P bushings that came with the swaybar end link kit.
I drove the car all summer and I have to say that I am very happy in the handling with the mixture of bushings....and the quietness....no squeaks.
I have yet to install the new shock bushings that I bought from DRM, and as of now I doubt that I will be in a hurry to do so.
Just a fwiw.
Tom
Just went and look at this corvetterecycling.com site and their pricing is dead on! I will probably purchase some stuff from them on day!
I'm waiting for some feedback from Energy Suspension and I'll make my move sometime this week. Your combination is quite logical and interesting to me. But I'm an agressif driver on the track (2003 Master T.A.G. 125cc go-kart Montreal Champion) so I want the car to feel a bit more solid than the OEM rubber bushings.
Martin, yes for the track I doubt that my compromise would be of any use to you. I should go get my reading retention checked out!
The one thing that I will say for the all poly method is that for the street I doubt that I would go that way as my front end feels like it has less give than before. I should also say that I did the A-arms because the boots on my ball joints had been blown off of their seats by over greasing before I bought the car. I felt that I was taking chances with the boots not sealing, and it was a matter of time as to when the dirt would cause the ball joints to fail. I'll say that after 19 yrs & 32k miles the original bushings showed very little cracking and the front end was not sloppy, for the street.
I was too cheap to go the Gulstrand Heim-joint route though which I'm sure would have been waaay sweet!
Martin, yes for the track I doubt that my compromise would be of any use to you. I should go get my reading retention checked out!
The one thing that I will say for the all poly method is that for the street I doubt that I would go that way as my front end feels like it has less give than before. I should also say that I did the A-arms because the boots on my ball joints had been blown off of their seats by over greasing before I bought the car. I felt that I was taking chances with the boots not sealing, and it was a matter of time as to when the dirt would cause the ball joints to fail. I'll say that after 19 yrs & 32k miles the original bushings showed very little cracking and the front end was not sloppy, for the street.
I was too cheap to go the Gulstrand Heim-joint route though which I'm sure would have been waaay sweet!
Tom
Tom,
I think your set up is quite cool for street use. Money is also driving my decisions regarding the up-grades I'm doing to my car.
But so you know how my brain function regarding sport cars behavior, I've been driving one of my best friends Lotus Elise for quite a while with 325HP and a racing suspension (600lbs springs on a 1950lbs car)! And it felt acceptable for me, borderline but acceptable. So to me the ZR1 feels more like a tank right now then a sport car!
I think the Energy kit will give me the compromise I'm looking for.
Martin, same back at you, a real pleasure exchanging ideas & thoughts.
I now fully understand you thought train! The lotus must feel like a slot car!
However, I would offer this about a C4.....3400 lbs is not going to be fleet of foot so to speak...my impression of my Z is that it is a bit ponderous, heavy, but responsive....though not prone to allow one to change one's mind in the middle of of corner.
I wish you good fortune in your quest for suspension acumen!
We stock and sell all of the energy suspension bushings. We have installed them, we raced on them and know which bushing is which. We can sell you the stuff you need. Not just a complete kit.
We stock and sell all of the energy suspension bushings. We have installed them, we raced on them and know which bushing is which. We can sell you the stuff you need. Not just a complete kit.
Thanks Randy!
I know that DRM is a world class company and I which I lived next door to you guys. Then again maybe not because my wife would probably tell me to move my bed in you garage!
I will certainly call for some guidance and parts.
I went with energy bushings, it was pain to install. Make sure you use the very very best synthetic grease you can find when you install them to prevent squeeks. My car is tighter but it seems to want to dart a little now but I'm thinking my alignment wasnt done right afterwards...its on the old "to do" list to have alignment rechecked.
.....for DRM, but Those guys are the great to deal with and they will share any tech info that they think you need to get the correct results! Oh, and for rookies like me, they have the patience to put up with and answer all my stupid Q's.
Your not the first guy that said this about poly bushing. Of course I'm looking to improve the handling when I go to the track but I don't want to create other issues. Though, on the other end, some people say that poly is the best durable bushing money can buy and the handling will be much improve!
I'm not in a hurry here because the car will be in my garage until April and the rear end is already apart, so I'll to see if someone did try them and get their input too.
Thanks for the comment!
PS: I which I could get Dick Guldstrand to do my suspension!
I did this upgrade on my '92 this spring. I was going to do the Heim Joint upgrade but money got a little tight, with the brake upgrade et al, so opted to use Energy Suspension Polyurethane bushings. I bought a full set of CorvetteRecycler Control Arms, giving me new ball joints, then removed the rubber bushings from them and installed the polly's. Everything went fine, you will definitely need a hydraulic press. I doubt that it's doable without one. My wife and I put 12,000 miles on the car this summer and I couldn't be happier. The car had 82,000 miles on it and you could tell it. The change made a world of difference in handling.
I did this upgrade on my '92 this spring. I was going to do the Heim Joint upgrade but money got a little tight, with the brake upgrade et al, so opted to use Energy Suspension Polyurethane bushings. I bought a full set of CorvetteRecycler Control Arms, giving me new ball joints, then removed the rubber bushings from them and installed the polly's. Everything went fine, you will definitely need a hydraulic press. I doubt that it's doable without one. My wife and I put 12,000 miles on the car this summer and I couldn't be happier. The car had 82,000 miles on it and you could tell it. The change made a world of difference in handling.
Rich
'92 Yellow/Black ZR-1 #031
That's what I wanted too, Heim joint but same as you, I'm on a budjet here.
What kit did you installed? Energy suspension, Prothane, etc...?
That's what I wanted too, Heim joint but same as you, I'm on a budjet here.
What kit did you installed? Energy suspension, Prothane, etc...?
Thanks!
Martin
Well gentlemen! I got my Energy Suspension kit yesterday and the tech guy from Energy was right, there is a difference between the standard vette and the ZR1 camber strut inner bushings (the ones under the diff carrier)! I think that our cars have a bigger steel bushing to help reduce the wheel camber movement due to our tire size and probably the extra weight our cars carry? The camber bolt size sleeve is different too!
But no big deal, I'll get my budy to make me a sleeve that will fit et voilą! Or then again, I might get my self the heim joint kit? I will keep anylizing the situation for a few days!
Well gentlemen! I got my Energy Suspension kit yesterday and the tech guy from Energy was right, there is a difference between the standard vette and the ZR1 camber strut inner bushings (the ones under the diff carrier)! I think that our cars have a bigger steel bushing to help reduce the wheel camber movement due to our tire size and probably the extra weight our cars carry? The camber bolt size sleeve is different too!
But no big deal, I'll get my budy to make me a sleeve that will fit et voilą! Or then again, I might get my self the heim joint kit? I will keep anylizing the situation for a few days!
Too all, have a great day!
What was the part number on the bushing bag??? I have never heard of this before. What year car?
What was the part number on the bushing bag??? I have never heard of this before. What year car?
Randy
Like I mention in my PM to you Randy, thanks for asking!.
(Energy Suspension Master set #3-18122)
So! It's lunch time for me therefore I had a few minutes to look at the part list supplied in the box and I've noticed that there's to different combination for the camber strut. One for the strut # 14048947/8 and the other one for the # 10098131/2. Correct me if I'm wrong (Randy), the kit supplied 8 smaller bushings and 4 big ones with 2 different sleeve sizes x2 each.
My guess (I'm at my desk not in my garage with the kit and the parts so...) my guess is that the kit supply's bushings for both cars and depending an which part number your struts are you use the bushing combination mentioned on the Energy part list. If so sorry for my mistake and for sure I will confirm my thoughts this evening. But last night the big bushing seamed a couple of mils bigger then my differential end sleeves, so that's why I'm still not 100% sure.
Sorry for my ignorance here, but maybe my experience will help someone take the right decisions or better understand the bushing kit right of the bat.
Like I mention in my PM to you Randy, thanks for asking!.
(Energy Suspension Master set #3-18122)
So! It's lunch time for me therefore I had a few minutes to look at the part list supplied in the box and I've noticed that there's to different combination for the camber strut. One for the strut # 14048947/8 and the other one for the # 10098131/2. Correct me if I'm wrong (Randy), the kit supplied 8 smaller bushings and 4 big ones with 2 different sleeve sizes x2 each.
My guess (I'm at my desk not in my garage with the kit and the parts so...) my guess is that the kit supply's bushings for both cars and depending an which part number your struts are you use the bushing combination mentioned on the Energy part list. If so sorry for my mistake and for sure I will confirm my thoughts this evening. But last night the big bushing seamed a couple of mils bigger then my differential end sleeves, so that's why I'm still not 100% sure.
Sorry for my ignorance here, but maybe my experience will help someone take the right decisions or better understand the bushing kit right of the bat.
So! Check my kit and confirmed my thoughts regarding my before comments! The kit is actually a no brainer when you take 5 minutes to read the parts list including the camber strut bushing set-up options.
It should be all good to go now! But I have to admit that the OIS (instructions) are not to my liking. They refer to a sway bar instruction for the camber strut bushing replacement!?
I would like to thanks Randy for questioning my comments and get me to look more in to it. Next time I'll make sure that I'm really sure before I post something that could give a bad rap about a product or something else.
Happy thanks giving dinner to all of the ZR1 lovers...ok base C4s too...C1,2,3,5&6s too!
Corvette Store
Polyurethane Bushing For C4 ZR1
Did one of you made the switch with out any fit issues & mods and if so which brand and part # of poly bushing did you use?
I was too cheap to go the Gulstrand Heim-joint route though which I'm sure would have been waaay sweet!
And it felt acceptable for me, borderline but acceptable. So to me the ZR1 feels more like a tank right now then a sport car! 
