Coilover shock eye bushings..

[Dylan JZ]

I bought a set of Kei Office coilovers in good condition from a friend with the only real issue being two cracked bushings for the front end units.

Anyhow, I was thinking it would not be that big of a deal to find suitable replacements from a company such as energy suspension. However, I may have either been wrong or not searching in the right place.

In any case, I called energy suspension today and they pointed me to a website www.suspension.com and after going through their site I found no alternatives that would work. Honestly if somebody knows where I can just get a rod of urethane, perhaps I can trim it down myself to fit.

[I was going to try a custom order through suspension.com until I read that they need a minimum of a certain amount because its custom and considered a bulk order. Obviously I only need two of these bushings and I dont have time to wait months for them to receive enough orders to satisfy the bulk requirement.]

Maybe if I send them to someone like Wiisass? Any help or input is appreciated.

 

[Zach]

http://tamparally.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.browse/category_id,36/Itemid,30/

Try those guys. Once I ascertain whether or not my shocks are functional I'll be sending any that need rebuilding to them. Cheaper than sending them to JIC and they won't just try to upsell me to a newer model. I'm sure they could point you toward new bushings.

Worst case you can use 6/6 nylon which is readily available and has good properties, just stiffer than urethane.

 

[Poodles]

http://www.energysuspension.com/products/Shock-Bushings.html

They're universal, just have to know the ID, OD, and shape...

 

[Dylan JZ]

http://www.energysuspension.com/products/Shock-Bushings.html

They're universal, just have to know the ID, OD, and shape...

I thought the same thing until I measured the ID, OD and length.. no suitable replacements found apparently.

 

[Poodles]

hmmm, anything close?

 

[Dylan JZ]

http://tamparally.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.browse/category_id,36/Itemid,30/

Try those guys. Once I ascertain whether or not my shocks are functional I'll be sending any that need rebuilding to them. Cheaper than sending them to JIC and they won't just try to upsell me to a newer model. I'm sure they could point you toward new bushings.

Worst case you can use 6/6 nylon which is readily available and has good properties, just stiffer than urethane.

yeah, on that site there was a link to a local place I have been aware of named 1st Place Engineering, so I think I'll try them out and see if they can remedy the issue.

thanks for the link though.

 

[Dylan JZ]

hmmm, anything close?

sadly no.. here are the dimensions of the bushings:

ID- .7874" (20mm)
OD- 1.3386" (34mm)

and shape is that traditional cylinder with the slightly raised portions on either end. I have the other dimensions as well.

 

[RedPhoenix]

Why not find a bushing that is smaller that would work and get a machine shop to make sleeves to fit the bushing in?

 

[Dylan JZ]

Why not find a bushing that is smaller that would work and get a machine shop to make sleeves to fit the bushing in?

that's something I may look into if the suspension shop can't find a direct replacement.. thanks for the input though, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[RedPhoenix]

No problem, thats what I would do...

 

[Dylan JZ]

well, I have an update..

I headed down to 1st Place Engineering today to ask if there were any substitutes available besides having to go another route.. After explaining the situation, he looked at the old bushing/mount for a moment and he ended up settling on Delrin bushings that were a little stiffer than the urethane

The main difference is he is going to utilize 2 half bushings for each coil-over. Anyhow, the guy was awesome and definitely helped me out a bunch.



Thanks for the advice and help fellas..
/thread

 

[gaboonviper85]

Delrin is a much better bushing material as it's self lubricating....good plan!

 

[Wiisass]

Delrin is only a good bushing material when the part rotates about a constant axis. Any misalignment with the shock will result in a bending load that the shock does not want to see and it will greatly decrease the life of the damper and could, in the worst case, result in a failed part.

I would not recommend it for a lower shock mount. Sway bar bushings would be a good application. Subframe mounts would be good too. But thinking about the shock, it looks like it might be alright, but I wouldn't risk it.

If it were me, I see 2 good options. The first would be using a spherical bearing in a sleeve pressed into the bottom of the shock. This would be more expensive and probably overkill for most cars. It would also require machined spacers in addition to the machined sleeve and some kind of positive addition to make sure the bearing stays in the right place.

The second option would be buying polyurethane stock that has good stiffness and decent flexability and taking it to a machine shop. Get that machined down to fit, get steel inserts machined to fit or find something that would work off the shelf and just modify the poly differently, and then press in and install. Based on the way the front control arm is, it's not like the shock can really go anywhere or slide on the bushing from side to side. But if you're worried, a little loctite green will do the trick.

Option 2 would probably be the best for you. The poly is like $20 from mcmaster. The steel is probably a couple bucks. Machine time for that shouldn't be bad as long as the dude doesn't complain that it's soft and harder to machine.

Tim

 

[Asterix]

I second Wiisass. Polyurethane is a much, much choice better than Delrin.

Asterix

 

[Dylan JZ]

well the rears are still urethane as the original bushings are still fine.. the fronts were destroyed through and hence they are now delrin.

so being I paid $100 to get the fronts done will there be much of an issue? we have good roads here and I do not track my car or put stress on the suspension in general.. (if it's just going to crack the delrin then I do not really mind switching back to urethane in the event that happens.) I'm rather worried now because I do not want a set of ruined kei office coilovers due to misuse of bushings.

any further advice is appreciated.

 

[Wiisass]

It's not the delrin that would break, it would be the shock that would see the damage.

The amount of stress on the damper from street driving is still a lot.

I would switch to polyurethane if I were you.

But then again, if the rubber mounts were destroyed from use, then I doubt the seals in the damper are in much better shape. I still wouldn't use delrin though, even if the shocks are already blown.

 

[Dylan JZ]

okay, I am going to revert to polyurethane in that case.. hm, now comes the difficult part I suppose.

I went to the mcmaster website but it is rather vast IMO.. I searched under plastics for raw materials with little luck, perhaps you could again point me in the right direction? it would be much obliged.

 

[Asterix]

McMaster can be very overwhelming...

Start by entering "polyurethane" into the top left search box. Then pick "rods, cords, & disks" from the shape section. Then choose "polyurethane" from the "Polyurethane and Polyurethane Foam Type" section. Then pick "Hard" from the durometer section. Now pick the length and diameter you want.

That gets you 80A durometer, which should be fine.

I don't know what OD you'll need, but pick the smallest since it'll be cheaper. A piece 6" long will do 2 shocks easily.

You may also want a piece of 316 stainless steel to make tubes from. 8936K211 is a good choice since it's already ground to 1.000" OD. Your machinist only needs to drill 9/16" (I think) and cut to length. Double check that hole size.

Asterix