jankyrre

Can anybody give me an advice on which bushings I should use in the rear suspension.I understand there are bushings made of different rubber qualities available on the market.
I have sandblasted and painted all the rear suspension parts and the plan was to replace the bushings while disassembled.

joe_padavano

You have three options, stock rubber, polyurethane, and del-a-lum. The poly bushings are significantly stiffer than stock for improved handling at the expense of ride comfort. The del-a-lum bushings made by Global West are solid aluminum bushings with a thin delrin sleeve for a bearing. These are MUCH stiffer than stock. Both the poly and del-a-lum will require periodic greasing to avoid squeaks.

Also, note that on the triangulated four-bar rear suspension used on Cutlii and Olds full size cars, the upper arms twist somewhat with suspension motion. The stock rubber bushings are compliant enough to absorb this twisting motion, but the poly and del-a-lum are not. The result is binding in the rear suspension. You can solve this by either using stock rubber in the front of the upper rear arms or getting the aftermarket metal bushings with spherical bearings in them for that location.

jankyrre

I think I will go for the original rubber ones.

Fusicks and Supercar unlimited are selling them for about 20 dollars piece.Are these ok?

Then there are Moog,Prothane,Napa.Any experience with these brands?

MDchanic

Moog and NAPA are reliable brands - the odds are that Fusick is selling the equivalent of those for a higher price.

If you are going for regular rubber bushings, there is no need to get anything "fancy" - just regular old auto parts store bushings are all these are, and you won't do any better by paying more.

- Eric

joe_padavano

Can't ever go wrong with Moog or TRW. Prothane sounds like aftermarket polyurethane, not rubber.

Dave Siltman

Listen to what the guys here are telling you------it is sound advice. You will probably end up repainting some items because the bushings need to be pressed in. You might here some "flat-rate" suggestions on installations, but do youself a favor and do it right the first time. One other suggestion, if you are using a rear sway bar and the car didn't originally have one, by the time you "box" the standard lower arms and re-bush them, try pricing new lower control arms that are compatable with the sway bar. They are usually not that expensive and will be ready to install.

brownbomber77

Check speedway motors. They have a set of boxed with poly bushings for $205. I just don't know if they come drilled with the holes for a swaybar. But either way, it's a pretty good price for arms with bushings

jankyrre

A question from a stupid Norwegian,When you say boxed lower arms,do you mean the one on a 442 that are closed on all four sides?
If so there probably is an open version also?

I strongly suspect the bushings on my car is the original ones.The upper ones looks ok,byt the lower ones are getting quite concentric,if you understand my saying.
Anyway the rubber in them probably have seen better days.
I would not be suprised if even the rear shock absorbers are the original ones.

Majic Jack

Muscle Factory, eight rubber bushings for ninty two bucks, not bad, and by the way, Moog, TRW and the like today are pass through brands.

Nasty455

I'll be replacing mine shortly,and will be going with new rubber bushings.
If the factory stock ones lasted 40 years,I see no reason to go with the new stuff.
I tend to stick to factory engineering whenever possible.

pcard

The "boxed" lower control arms are those which have all four sides. Some cars had a lower control arm with only three sides. The control arms with three sides were not good for sway bars. If you want a sway bar you must have a lower control arm with four sides. If you do not want a sway bar then three sides on the lower control arm is OK.