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Installed new bushings on my Steeda upper control arm what a PITA!

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After trying out the drag strip with Hoosier street slicks my 2012 developed a little clunk at low speeds. sometimes at high speeds also just caused by small sharp bumps. when I pulled apart the rear suspension the upper link jam nuts were loose. the bushing was in good shape but I decided to swap with the new Steeda stiffer one.

I read a lot about the red poly binding up hoping this new super hard plastic / elastomer fixes that.

hard part? clearances on the garage floor. bolting it all back up evenly and using extensions everywhere. that big bolt under the back seat is like 200+ ft/lbs torque. needed a 3 foot extension for the rear axle bolt and that helped a lot.

looks like Steeda re-designed the jam nuts to eliminate this issue now. I coated mine with red Loctite and torqued them as much as possible w/o a vice. What did you make of it when you swapped it out?
 
1,022
99
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Texas
You should have just gone with their spherical bearing UCA. If you track your car you'll be changing out that bushing frequently, at least once a year. Don't ask me how I know this but I have a thread on here with a video showing you what happens when those bushings fail.

Adam
 
Flyboygsxr said:
You should have just gone with their spherical bearing UCA. If you track your car you'll be changing out that bushing frequently, at least once a year. Don't ask me how I know this but I have a thread on here with a video showing you what happens when those bushings fail.

Adam

I agree Adam.. Next time i will. Now that I know how to swap it.

When I replaced the red rubber bushing w the new stiffer black one I noticed the red bushing of polymer was slipping against the inside of the hoop. I also saw evidence of major slip stick on that inner steel pin of where it contacts that same bushing. The sides of the red rubber where it rides against the aluminum plates was also slipping. All of these interfaces were squeaking due to typical slip stick.

My solution was to use a lube that was silicone based but with a min 49% Teflon by weight.. That should alleviate the excess wear.
I also red loctite to keep the jam nuts in place.. Those are very prone to work loose. My rear was loose causing a clunk.
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
These poly UCA bushing do required lots of lubrication. I use something call "Super Lube". This is a multi purpose synthetic grease with a great temp range.

It is kind to rubber and poly materials and is also an excellent dielectric, impervious to salt water. It's great for my Boat as well.

Good stuff and is seen in the MGW video as a preferred lubricant for their shifter bushing applications.

Ripp'in and Shift'in,
Dave
2HP
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Probably not what you want to hear, but I think the stiffer bushing is the wrong way to go for handling applications. The stiffer bushing will cause MORE bind, and that eventually you're going to find more clunking and loose parts back there. :(
 
Grant 302 said:
Probably not what you want to hear, but I think the stiffer bushing is the wrong way to go for handling applications. The stiffer bushing will cause MORE bind, and that eventually you're going to find more clunking and loose parts back there. :(

Steeda told me this was the improved bushing due to lessons learned w the red bushing I had before. The nye 880 lube I'm using is the king of all lubes. Its the ultimate. If it lasts a year ill be satisfied. Next one will be spherical bearing.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
twistedneck said:
Steeda told me this was the improved bushing due to lessons learned w the red bushing I had before. The nye 880 lube I'm using is the king of all lubes. Its the ultimate. If it lasts a year ill be satisfied. Next one will be spherical bearing.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about any issues with lack of lubrication or the rotation about the axis of the front bolt due to compression or droop of the rear suspension. The bind I'm talking about is from the resistance to twisting at a poly bushing due to roll of the chassis with respect to the rear axle, like when turning.

Odds are that with the stiffer bushing you're going to undo lock nuts like you did before or destroy the rear bushing since it's the only place remaining that's designed to allow the body roll.
 
1,022
99
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Texas
Grant,

That is basically what happened to mine except it was the poly bushings that failed. The bushing was squished out the side of the the control arm like you squeeze tooth paste out of a tube. Once it finally gave out half of it was actually out of the control arm hanging on by only a small piece of polyurethane still attached to the other half inside the control arm. Poly is bad in both ways, binds on longitudinal and lateral movement…at least mine did. As long as you change out the bushings often you will be fine though.

Adam
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
Flyboygsxr said:
Grant,

That is basically what happened to mine except it was the poly bushings that failed. The bushing was squished out the side of the the control arm like you squeeze tooth paste out of a tube. Once it finally gave out half of it was actually out of the control arm hanging on by only a small piece of polyurethane still attached to the other half inside the control arm. Poly is bad in both ways, binds on longitudinal and lateral movement…at least mine did. As long as you change out the bushings often you will be fine though.

Adam

Here is a pic of Adam's failure:

image.jpg6_zpstzs3m6h8.jpg

Then as removed:

image.jpg7_zpsbudjazfr.jpg

I hope to get a season out of my same Steeda Bushing, but will have to upgrade it to the bearing type next time I service and inspect the rear suspension. Like having a ticking time bomb under there!
Regards,
Dave
302 Hi Pro
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Flyboygsxr said:
Grant,

That is basically what happened to mine except it was the poly bushings that failed. The bushing was squished out the side of the the control arm like you squeeze tooth paste out of a tube. Once it finally gave out half of it was actually out of the control arm hanging on by only a small piece of polyurethane still attached to the other half inside the control arm. Poly is bad in both ways, binds on longitudinal and lateral movement…at least mine did. As long as you change out the bushings often you will be fine though.

Adam

Understood, Adam! That's been my primary concern about failure using poly UCAs. I was saying that an even harder bushing up front would also risk breaking/loosening other parts.
 
898
544
That is about what I would expect with poly in our application without a bearing on one end or the other. I suspect that for 90% of the board, if you combined a bearing on one end of the UCA with a poly bushing on the other there would be no issues with failures. For the diehards with dedicated track cars, bearings on both ends is probably the way to go.
 

BMRTech

Supporting Vendor
32
11
twistedneck (and anyone else using Poly)

I highly recommend using a bearing on the diff mount, if you are using a poly bushing on the forward end of the UCA.

This will perform very well, while still maintaining realistic NVH levels.

Bearing on both ends will perform best, but it is extremely annoying in terms of obnoxious NVH.
 

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