The bushings on the AWRs will last far longer than the stock pile of junk designed Mazdacomps.

 

Yeah, but if you pack that bitch full of gummy bears how long would we expect the bushing to last? I'm sure there is a middle ground somewhere.

 

Do the poly bushings in the awr mounts ever need to be replaced? A rubber bushing would absorb more of the smaller vibes that most complain about. I wouldnt run softer than the 70 duro in a racecar. But an option for the high power street miatas that lasts longer than 100 miles would be nice.

The stock style rubber fail so fast because its literally pulling the rubber apart everything the motor moves.

 

And that's exactly what will open up your market to more street users. The problem is that if they don't outlast the MazdaComps, the wine n cheese set will decry them en masse

 

There's no way they WON'T outlast the MazdaComps. It's a design thing, not a bushing composition thing.

 

Just shot him off an email. His shop is only maybe 5-10 min from my appt.

 

And if AWR was smart, and they are, these poly bushings are something right out of the ES or prothane catalog which probably means there's a stock rubber bushing from some random car that already drops into their mounts. By virtue of the design of these mounts there's really no way that a rubber mount wouldnt last 20 years in it and it would die from heat and age rather than the mechanical forces involved.

 

I had just done some ES polly suspension bushings on a different car the weekend before I did the mounts and thought the same thing. Someone who has a set sitting around measure the bushings and fire off an email to ES and find out if they will tell us what kits it cross references over to. Unfortunately its probably something that uses a bonded bushing like the Miata, so that may not be practical.

 

Shouldnt be anything wrong with using a bonded rubber bushing.

 

Other than ease of install or possibly the overall length? I can grease up a bushing and hammer it in with the best of them, but the length might get tricky. I guess I should have clarified, IIRC on the Miata 2 piece ES bushings we installed, there were a few where the 2 halves were not the same length past the shoulder. It may be the same for whatever bushing half they used. Just a random thought.

 

You'll want a manly press if you want to swap out your poly bushings for a sleeved bonded rubber bushing in those mounts.


Source: Just installed Whiteline sleeved poly bushings in the control arms of the MXFail. Had to press out factory sleeved rubber bushings.


Terrifying.

 

The miata rubber ones come out fairly easily depending on age. $5 tool FTW.

 

This is exactly what I am thinking.

I think going to a lower durometer will not cure the NVH "issue" (It's not really an issue, this product was designed for racing). Decreasing the durometer of the bushing, eventually a point will be met where durability will be an issue. I think it will reach this point before the average person would consider this an acceptable street mount.

I think there is a way to reduce NVH, while keeping the same style mount which eliminates almost all engine movement. If the O.D. of the bushing and chassis-side mount(The part that houses the bushings) is increased, it will increase the amount of bushing material between the engine side and chassis side of the mount. This would decrease NVH to an extent, and only introduce a very small amount of extra deflection.

Then again, rubber may be the answer, because this will likely result in custom bushings(not that big of a deal, but just something to consider, as the AWRs probably use some bushing off the shelf from ES/Prothane/whatever)

 

They're also tiny.

These were brand new arms i was ******* with. These bitches were in there for everything they had.

 

Tony actually already got back to me. Seems like a really nice guy. He said they looked into the idea of using a softer material, but decided against it. He also informed me of the dimensions of the bushing they use.

"If you can find a bushing that has a 1.5" barrel with a .750 bore and a .250 flange in a softer durometer from someone other than energy suspension, then you might be able to do this."


I italicized that part so anyone reading this later would see that. Anyone got any ideas now?

 

Prothane? SuperPro also springs to mind, but I believe they are Australian?

 

You're looking in the wrong areas. You don't want to be looking at aftermarket performance companies, they won't have what you're looking for.

And yes, SuperPro is Australian.

 

I dont think its all that possible to get a poly bushing softer than 70 duro. So what you need is a 2" long 3/4" diameter rubber bushing with a 5/8" ID (IIRC from the bolt). The rubber bushing isnt going to have flanges like a poly bushing because it doesnt need them.

 

Just installed some used supermiata (AWR) mounts with 70 durometer bushings. It's the older 1.5 inch style btw. Im not sure how I feel yet. Its a good bump in NVH, but I want to give it a bit. Still, I did a bit of research and it looks like the leaf-spring shackle bushings from older domestics (YJ, early 70s Chevys, etc) might be able to fit instead of the poly. Just thinking for now ... I'll update if I do it. Figured I would put it out there in case others might be interested to look into it further.

 

Ordered this, which looks like it will work well, perhaps needing trimming. Part is HB-902 leaf spring bushing:

https://www.generalspringkc.com/hb90...uired-per-eye/

I'll update when I install