Hi All,

I trust you are all well and enjoying the weekend.

Question...

Have any of you used Polybushes on the rear suspension 'A' frames to chassis mountings? Any comments? Pro's and con's? I am about to do the mods for the turnbuckle adjusters to give rear toe setting and was wondering whether to use poly bushes or std type on refitting the wishbones. My existing bushes are in good nick and would not need replacing but if poly produces good/better results I would go that route. I already have poly type on the A frame to suspension strut (outers) and I quite like them. Effortless to fit!

Thanks in advance...

Alex B....

I fitted "Auto Bush" (made in China, inexpensive) poly bushes all around during the recent complete overhaul. I don't think there have been any ill effects (other than to my thumb; I managed to chop 3/8" off the tip while fitting the rears; my own damn' fault). The car seems very stable in spirited on-ramp maneuvers, but I haven't had it on the track (where I used to experience trailing throttle oversteer) so can't say for sure if it's better than before. (Anyway, "before" was 30+ years ago, and who knows what shape the original bushings were in?)

I also haven't experienced any increased harshness attributable to the poly bushings. There has been a lot of debate on this point but the only way to settle it is to install poly bushings on two identical original cars and perform a blind test.

My guess is that if your bushings are in good shape and you have no complaints about the handling, leave 'em as God and Colin Chapman intended.

Thanks Andrew. I ask because I am about to remove the A frames to fit adjusters as I said. The bushes looked in good shape when I fitted the A frames about 18 months ago. I am going to give them a good check when I have them off again. Any doubts will = Autobush.. or similar polybush.

I was unaware Autobush were made in China.

Alex...

Isn't everything, these days?

Hi Alex,

as you are intending to remove your A-Frames anyway, go for it.
I have a whole set of Poly Bushes waiting in a Box for the appropriate moment.
Any Component that spells out "Fit & forget" gets a thumbs up from me
You won't have to worry about the Suspension hanging at "full droop" for any length of time either & no doubt you will be able to tighten all of the Nuts & Bolts whilst the weight is off the Wheels as well.
Plus points all the way, or?

Cheers
John

Hi Guys,
You are right Brian. Nothing made in UK these days.

John, I am going to go this route as you say all these + points and little downsides..I will order a set asap.

Cheers.

Alex....

I also fitted poly bushes on the rear A frames of my Sprint earlier this year. No ill effects whatsoever, and they have made the car much more stable at motorway speeds, which is what I was after.

If you don't know which ones to get, I would recommend the Superflex bushes. I believe Mick Miller worked with the makers on the design of the rear outer units. He wanted to fix the problem of rear suspension changing geometry when accelerating/deccelerating. The 'hat' shape of this re-designed bush is meant to reduce the amount of toe change when the car is moving.


--Antonio

Hi Alex,

Just seen this. There might be some useful info' in this link. You may have already read back?
I like poly bushes. The blue Superflex and Auto bush are not hard in my opinion and improve the rear end. Perhaps I was naughty to mention the A frames but I did lots of filing and measuring. Rubber is very forgiving to alignment issues. Poly is not.

elan-f15/poly-bushes-spyder-bones-t13951.html?hilit= poly bushes

Mike

Hi Mike, All
I had to take a little metal off the ali struts to get the outer polybushes to fit. I took off a little more than required to give me some slight adjustment. I then used stainless shim/washers to position the ally strut where it measured the best. All within a mil or so. Tightning it all up on the bench showed a nice smooth action with no binding etc. All silicone greased up and on the car now and it feels V good. I will only have the inners to do/fit. I managed to knock off the weights when I had my newly refurbed wheels on for the 1st time.Tyre fitter man had positioned the weights just where the clearance was almost nil. I resited the lead further in and cured it. No further clearance issues.

Looking forward to getting started to this now. What am I like!!

Alex...

Hi All,
Thought I would let you know I e mailed Polybush and asked a question re fettling to fit. They replied.. ''as far as we know, and we have sold lots, they do not require any metal removal''. I had stated that I did not want to take any metal off the A frame to fit these.

I now havew a pair on order. Got 30% discount for online and claimed the free postage offered in CL mag.

Anyone else up for thje lemans classic trip (via Goodwood FOS) ? I am about to book up..

Alex B...

Hi All,

I tried fitting a set of Polybushes to some new Spyder 'A' frames but found that there was no way that the upright would slide into the frame with them fitted. I wasn't prepared to remove metal from either so I went back to the OE metalastic bushes.

Mike

I have asked Autobush to confirm they are a more or less straight swop/fit. If this is not the case I will let you all know and I will return them for refund. It is not in their interest to supply non fitting parts.. BUT..I bought a set of steering rack bushes that would not fit and had to return those.

I will assemble them 1st and check the assy will fit in the frame mount lugs.

Keep you all posted

Alex B....

Alex,

When I fitted uprated bushes all round to my Sprint, I had no fitting issues,
no metal to be removed etc.

Pretty certain they were Supaflex from Sue Miller, but I can check my records if needed.

Worst to fit by far were the anti-roll bar bushes on the hangers. Damn near
dislocated my shoulder working them on !

Regards,
Stuart.

I got stuck in today after I had an appointment cancelled. (Supposed to go into Shotts prison) now going tomorrow. I have the bones in the workshop and will take some pics as I do the mods. Turnbuckles and Autobush polly bushes.

I'm off into the workshop now... HEH!.... Kettle is on & beers are in the fridge...

I will post some pics asap... Car not drinks!

Alex....

Hi Stuart,
Yes I think that should be the case here,but as I said The superflex from Susan needed some metal taking off the ali chapman strut to allow them to fit. She to be fair did tell me this and I was happy to do so in that case. But I dont want to take metal off the A frames and certaily wont modify the chassis in any way.

I am looking forward to receiving them.

Alex.....