To those that have replaced their control arm rubber bushes with bearings and strut rods with heim joint/sperical bearings have you noticed any change in harshness of ride or noise levels?
Any comments welcome.
Cheers,
Aaron
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'65 Coupe | Black on Black | 289 | C4 | 16x8 V45's | 300mm Aussie BA Falcon Brakes | OTR Suspension
I didn't really notice much in noise reduction, because even with my polly bushings, my front end was always quiet.
Ride quality, though, is incredible. On my '66, I now have the Opentracker roller upper arms and spring perches, the StreetOrTrack strut rods, and even put in the VarioCamber kit, to eliminate the shims on the upper arms. I'm using this with a 1" Aadco sway bar, 620 1" lowered springs, and KYB GasAjust shocks. Oh, it also has the Arning drop.
The car rides INCREDIBLY smooth. Even SWMBO could tell an incredible difference. I'm going to switch to the roller lower arms next.
I have spherical bearing lca's, roller perches and heim strut rods and don't notice any harshness, but there is a thud only when hitting sharp edged bumps.
Sorry to go off topic here but I noticed in your posts that you have a set of BA brakes on your coupe. Any chance you could tell me a bit about the setup please. Was it a difficult mod to do and do you have any pics.
I have a 66 FB, 302, T5, 17x8 V45's. Unfortunately she still has drums all round, so i am looking to change to front disc, any info would be appreciated.
Cheers Ash
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65 FB, 289, 3 Spd Auto - its gotta go
[color:blue]66 FB, 302, 5 Spd Man[/color]
My rubber-free front end is also nice and quiet. I was really surprised.
After I thought about it some more, it makes sense. Our cars have so little isolation, that there's a lot of noise going on anyway (engine, wind, tires, trans) and there's a lot of other noises to cover up the suspension noises.
If you put all metal suspension bushings/bearings in a new car it would be a whole different ball game.
I seem to be the only one that gets any noise on sharp edge bumps. I find it hard to believe that no noise is heard from y'alls suspension on sharp bumps. Maybe my exhaust is quiet enough I notice it. It goes all the way to the bumper.
I seem to be the only one that gets any noise on sharp edge bumps. I find it hard to believe that no noise is heard from y'alls suspension on sharp bumps. Maybe my exhaust is quiet enough I notice it. It goes all the way to the bumper.
I hear 'thuds' when I crash into a pot hole in any of my cars regardless of what suspension they have. If the hole is big enough, you'll hear it. Living in MI keeps your reflexes sharp! :p
Some bridges and pavement changes or even a manholes cover that is 1' or so low will give me a noise. Not an issue with me, but it is there. Gravel roads make a little extra noise too. I think that expecting a solid busing to be as quiet as rubber is unrealistic.
we might want to get into this noise more because realistically the springs/shock and rubber tires should take most of the front of a pot hole ect you shouldn't hear a clunk noisier any more than the old suspension , actually with roller suspension it should compensate for it more and be less harsh imo!
could be something lose or defective!
i have roller spring perches(stock upepr and lower control arms) stiffer springs and new shocks, sway bar and all poly bushings and have no harshness, however i didnt have 1 sway bar bracket tightened and it would cause a clunk when i hit similar type situations as you described, tightened it up and now have no problems
i have roller spring perches(stock upepr and lower control arms) stiffer springs and new shocks, sway bar and all poly bushings and have no harshness
Do you still have rubber mounted lower control arms and rubber mounted strut rods? The rubber is there to put some cushion in the suspension. The parts are all new on my car. There is no slack. no play, and no looseness. Ride quality is excelent, but solid bushing will make more noise than rubber. It is not loud, but I can hear it.
Sort of on topic, anyone have a website with information on building bearing LCAs? Not where to buy them but different ways to make them? (Suppose I could jsut do some measuring and grab some bearings, but..). Also maybe heim joint strut rods? Thanks guys!
I got my lca bearings from UB machine. They are supposed to press in, but it was not so easy. They are listed as 67 up and press in, but they were loose fit so i welded them in. I think I payed $60 at the local round track store. UB sells direct too I think. I was going to the speed shop anyway to get rod ends and tubes for the strut rods so I had them order the sperical bearing.
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