dsamani

Hey guys, I'm looking at doing bushings on my suspension. I was looking at the Energy Suspension bushings since they're cost-effective and supposedly the black ones contain graphite and are self-lubricating.

Can anyone with the black poly ES bushings chime in? How's the NVH? Do you get squeaks, and is any kind of greasing necessary?

I wanted to go with the IL Motorsport bushings but at 3x the cost I'm not sure if it's worth it, however I also want a hassle-free experience. After all, who wants to lube up bushings every oil change?

Davidss

Get the prothane not energy suspension. Prothane recently updated the miata kit and it is awesome. The new kit has really low stiction and is much closer in performance of higher end delrin kits.

dsamani

Is there anyone here that's used them personally? How's the noise? Any undesirable harshness?

Davidss

I have used both but I am more into noisy race cars so no idea about bushing squeaks.

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

If you're this worried about noise and "harshness" then you should just press in new OEM bushings...

dsamani

Honestly I would if I could find them at a reasonable price. A complete set of stock bushings is like $450, which isn't any different from IL Motorsports bushings and far more expensive than poly bushings.

dsamani

Scraped together the cheapest prices I could find for bushings and ball joints.

Subtract $143.16 if you don't want to do the ball joints for a total of $440.62

$440 for OE bushings vs $200 for Poly bushings. Whether or not it's the "better option" depends on your definition of "better".

Less deflection, but at the compromise of noise and harshness. This is something I would be okay with, but how much am I compromising here is what I'm trying to figure out.

boileralum

iTrader: (8)

You can get the Supermiata UBJs for less than $75 shipped (outside of CA, anyway)

dsamani

For the pair?

deezums

iTrader: (3)

Those lower ball joints are gonna blow up inside three months. OEM or the wheel falls off...

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

All poly will squeak and worse, bind, if you don't retrofit with the SadFAB bearing sleeve kit.

dsamani

Surely they can't be THAT bad, can they?

dsamani

Yeah but then that's another $250 on top of the poly bushings, why not just get the rubber bushings then?

dleavitt

iTrader: (1)

You need to decide what you want. Poly without the bearings will squeak eventually, even with regular greasing which you don't want to do.

If you want zero maintenance you should go with rubber. Why are you doing your bushings anyway? Keeping what you have doesn't squeak and costs $FREE.

dsamani

Because they're more dried out than a poorly cooked Thanksgiving Turkey and I like having fresh stuff, and I'm trying to see if I can do it without blowing $400

boileralum

iTrader: (8)

Yes.

Product Name Part No. Quantity Item Price Total Price

Supermiata Upper Ball Joint 90-05

UBJNB 2 $32.95 $65.90 Subtotal: $65.90 Shipping: $7.75 Tax: $0.00 Order Total: $73.65

Product Information

dsamani

Hey guys check this out. This guy recommend using teflon tape on the bushings to prevent binding.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Give it a try, what's the worst that could happen?

dsamani

Best case scenario: Works like a charm, live happily ever after

Worst case scenario: Doesn't work as advertised, end up with results more disappointing than the GPA of a child that sits at the back of the classroom, end up buying rubber bushings anyway


I'm gonna give it a shot anyway. Got a set of Prothane bushings coming my way.

codrus

Poly are stiffer (better suspension location) and don't result contribute a variable spring rate the way that rubber does. Assuming they don't bind, poly are better from a performance standpoint.

--Ian