Suspension Bushes for Motorsport

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:55 pm

I'm using the Energy suspension grease - as anyone who has used it will tell you, it's sticky as glue and very slippery. It's interesting stuff.

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:53 pm

madjak wrote:The solution I'm making is going to work very well, which is a rotation bearing inside the urethane bushing. Check out my thread here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=68537&start=82

Very nice! I like your style. I have thought about doing a similar thing myself, but I am long way from getting a round tuit. http://www.quantumenterprises.co.uk/roundtuit/

If there was enough interest from others, I wonder how difficult it would be to 'tool up' to produce these bush/bearings in significant volume? You mentioned 1.8m of drilling, which might be OK for one set, but I don't think this method would allow one to keep one's sanity for 2 or more sets. Is there not a bearing that could fit directly on the through bolts, which could then have moulds for PU bushes made to suit the OD of the bearing?? Or is the through bolt a 'real bolt' with a smaller diameter than the threaded section?

madjak · Postby **madjak** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:11 pm

You still need the solid sleeve as it takes the crush load from tightening the concentric bolts... which on my car is about as much as I can get on it with a big breaker. These are pushing against slotted holes on the chassis mounts which is why they are made from 4140 bar and then have solid washers on each end to distribute the load. I think a tooling shop could make these sleeves with a CNC lathe very rapidly as it's just a center drill and then part off. You'd need to make 10 sets though to make it cost effective.

The plastic bearing sleeves are very cost effective at around $100 for 40 including shipping from Germany and would be cheaper with more. They have another composition that has lower friction and higher wear resistance but the price was nearly double. The 4140 was around $25 for a 3m length and the only other cost so far has been a drill bit, lots of WD40 and a few hours on the lathe.

If it works on my car, then maybe its a real good option for anyone wanting higher performance bushes for a reasonable cost. I'm not 100% sure that the exotic plastic bearing surface is going to wear well once grime and grit get in there but given it's a track car I expect it to last long enough. There are bronze versions that would last much longer but the cost is also higher.

I'll get my act together soon and finish this project off... I've started a few too many DIY projects on my car and they all need time to finish properly!