Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby Shaheenis » Mon Mar 12, 2018 4:08 pm

Any vendors on here sell Superpro?
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby TFish » Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:50 pm

bigBADbenny wrote:In practice, oem bushes are preferred for cost, durability and yes handling; the very notable exceptions being the locations where you want or need to add adjustability or performance as regards your handling.


Yep so with regard to what is included in the superpro kit - Superpro $612.76, Nothalane $410.98, Whiteline Ebay prices $521.51, Febest/OEM $262.60
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby Shaheenis » Sun Mar 18, 2018 7:41 pm

Went to a suspension specialist (starts with F) on Friday to get a quote on Superpro control arm bushes and Roll Control Roll Centre Kit (ball joints and tie-rod ends). Quote was $1200 inc labour which is really expensive for what you get . $120p/hr labour.

When I asked these 'suspension specialists' what benefit I would get from either of the modifications they were lost for words. No idea. ' They will make things firmer' is all they had to offer. They also told me Whiteline and Superpro are basically the same thing and only difference is that Superpro have a lifetime warranty (like sure your going to claim it) and are apparently known to be a bit firmer than Whiteline. Not sure what to do now as I feel I was unsold on these upgrades.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby TFish » Sun Mar 18, 2018 8:05 pm

From my spreadsheet superpro are the most expensive, more so than whiteline retail and (even cheaper) whiteline ebay. thanks for the info on those F'ers though :assassin: I think they probably do offer a fair bit more precise setup then regular mechanics, and that would get more important the stiffer the bushes. 10hrs probably includes everything for alignment, balancing and corner weights.

I might look into hiring a workshop with a press and hoist and do it myself. It's dirty but easy. The best advice I know is to use a big hammer to free everything up (eg. tie rod ends to hubs).

Whiteline were the cheapest 'upgrades' in fact and probs better than nothalene from what I have seen. I believe I would appreciate aftermarket over oem but haven't got quotes for the work as yet. My problem was that every bush is cracked or split so I want them all changed out in the end. I find my liberty to be perfectly balanced and not in need of sway bar changes etc. as compared to my old 02 STi and 99 Forester which had terrible front understeer.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby Shaheenis » Sun Mar 18, 2018 8:26 pm

Sorry dude the $1200 included parts so labour inc wheel alignment was around $500 but we are just talking a couple of bushes and tie-rod ends and ball joints. The time estimate is fair but $120p/hr is a bit rich.

Whiteline have never let me down so I will seriously consider going the whiteline route. I would like to replace the LCAs with Group-N but I don't think they would alter the geometry so you would not benefit from anti-lift and +caster.

I would love an honest appraisel of the roll control roll centre kit kit as I have lowed the front by 30mm but ball joints and tierod ends don't tend to wear out that easily so unless they offered something magic in the way of handling improvements the $500-$600 fitted would be a waste.

From what I have read a lot of the other bushes don't tend to wear much and replacing them will just tighten everything up (think less comfortable and more sporty). The F guys did say the rear trailing arm bushes are a bit soft but I really had no faith at that point whether they were just spinning it to sound like they knew something or actually knew.

I have no doubt F would do a good job of the install and setup but it would be nice if they could also consult on worthy upgrades for different vehicles. Maybe I ask too much.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Mar 18, 2018 9:34 pm

The rca kit is also meant to negate bump steer by making the tie rods more parallel to the lower control arms after significant lowering, iirc.
I guess if you aren’t noticing bump steer you may not need it...
As for the roll centre bit, I’d have to revisit the diagrams :)
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby JB25 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:47 pm

Hi guys, this is my first post on here after having been reading a bit on different threads. This site has been very useful so far

I have been considering my options for replacing the Bushes on my MY07 GT-B I just purchased and have decided to go down the Route of using Superpro this time myself.
I am purchasing the Enhancement kit (KIT209K), which covers all the major bushes front and rear, other than interestingly the inner rear tow-control bushes. For some reason Superpro do not supply these which I find a bit odd...
For the remaining bushes I am buying Whitelines.

I have a Mazda 323, which I put Nolathane gear on about a year ago & while it definately made the car handle better, I did notice that these bushes suffer from a condition called 'stick & shift', which basically means the arms they are fitted to will stick in one place, but then suddenly slide/shift position they are sticking in when moved a fair way through their travel. I was a bit disappointed with this & knowing that Whiteline & Nolathane are the same company (I confirmed with with the local Repco) I am dubious about using their product again.

Conversely I have seen good things about the quality of Superpro bushes & they are not meant to suffer such issues. I am willing to suffer a little bit more NVH, especially since the GT's are so quiet/soft in the first place.
I will post up details of how it all goes once I get the parts & install them, I currently have to wait another week before they will come in.

For those interested I ordered them from my local Supercheap for about $500.

Jared
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:49 pm

TFish wrote: I believe I would appreciate aftermarket over oem but haven't got quotes for the work as yet.
My problem was that every bush is cracked or split so I want them all changed out in the end.


Maybe, but every bushing? Got pics?
As I mentioned poly bushes are a great idea to replace the worn out relieved stock bushes, but not necessarily every bushing.
Do some research before committing :)
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=poly ... ent=safari

...
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:00 pm

JB25 wrote:I am purchasing the Enhancement kit (KIT209K), which covers all the major bushes front and rear, other than interestingly the inner rear tow-control bushes. For some reason Superpro do not supply these which I find a bit odd...
For the remaining bushes I am buying Whitelines.
For those interested I ordered them from my local Supercheap for about $500.
Jared


Interesting! Googling that right now :)
The reason the toe position doesn’t require a bushing is that it’s a hard adjustment point.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby TFish » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:23 pm

bigBADbenny wrote:
TFish wrote: I believe I would appreciate aftermarket over oem but haven't got quotes for the work as yet.
My problem was that every bush is cracked or split so I want them all changed out in the end.


Maybe, but every bushing? Got pics?
As I mentioned poly bushes are a great idea to replace the worn out relieved stock bushes, but not necessarily every bushing.
Do some research before committing :)
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=poly ... ent=safari

...

Nah no pics, I was under there doing the front drive shafts and every one I could see had cracks front and rear, I didn't look too closely at all more hidden ones being on my back on the driveway but I didn't see one that I could inspect with my light that didn't have a flaw. I think the sway bar mounts might have been alright but they looked thinned out
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby JB25 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:53 pm

bigBADbenny wrote:
JB25 wrote:I am purchasing the Enhancement kit (KIT209K), which covers all the major bushes front and rear, other than interestingly the inner rear tow-control bushes. For some reason Superpro do not supply these which I find a bit odd...
For the remaining bushes I am buying Whitelines.
For those interested I ordered them from my local Supercheap for about $500.
Jared


Interesting! Googling that right now :)
The reason the toe position doesn’t require a bushing is that it’s a hard adjustment point.


Well after reading you're post you had me doubting myself. However after crawling under the car I can confirm there is definitely a pair of bushes in there.
Whiteline sells them, Superpro doesn't
http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_det ... 5&sq=24037

Are you perhaps confusing Toe-control arm with Trailing-arm?
Toe control arms are lateral, where as Trailing arms are longitudinal on the rear suspension.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby bigBADbenny » Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:46 am

Totally:)
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby JB25 » Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:03 pm

Well my Superpro bush kit has arrived so time to stick the Subie on blocks and rip some arms off. I intend to do most of it this weekend, but won't finish due to the missing parts I need from Whiteline. Still if I can get 16 of the 18 bushes done I'll be pretty happy. I am also going to be installing replacement out-rigger bushings and cradle insert bushings on the rear diff when I get the Whiteline parts.
Looking forward to when it's all done. I will try and take some pictures and post them up for people on here.

Also I'm interested to know if anyone has ever done the steering rack bushes and whether or not there was any reasonable gain from it. I do find the steering a bit numb so interested to see if this gains any feel for the road too.
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby bigBADbenny » Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:16 am

The numb steering can be addressed with caster offset lca’s.
If you’re running tall tyres they may rub the forward inner wheel well, but my current setup is fine 18 235 40 +35...
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Re: Bushing Refresh on Gen 4 GT Wagon

Postby Shaheenis » Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:17 pm

Sounds like a big job on your hands Jared, interested to see how you go. I have booked mine into the workshop on Wednesday next week to have the Superpro +1 Caster double offset LCAs and inner front control arm bushed done. $300 labour includes full wheel alignment plus $300 on parts makes it an expensive upgrade for a couple of bushes so hope it is worth it. They are going to check out the other bushes to see if anything else is shagged. Apparently rear trailing arms go soft.

Ben do you think I will rub with the double offset kit on +1 caster, 30mm lower on Swifts and 235 tyres? Stock rims. I don't have rolled guards.
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