Hi

Guys I am new here, and I just found out from my husban that also own a G coupe that both my lower control arm brushing has broken off and which made both the L/C arms slid rearward! My question is there are a aftermarket company that make good L/C arm bushings? because the OEM (with his discount) is about 170 each!

I found a company that sells the bushing on EBAY

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/350Z-...spagenameZWD1V

has anyone try them before? or know any company that makes good bushings?

 

I have not used Noltec's bushings myself, but I have seen and heard good feedback on their products.

Any chance of getting some pictures of what happened to your car? That is crazy!

 

I will get pic when my husban put it in the air this weekend, We order some Nismo bushings!

but I did not hit anything, I guess it just worn out from being 90K on Ga road!

 

Mine are bad as well...those seem a bit pricey to me, but might be worth looking into.

 

Same thing happened to my drivers side, only mine went forward! it clunks so bad when i take off.

Anyone know how hard it is to change the bushings? i was just gonna get a whole new arm!!!

 

Both mine did it too. My dealer said you had to get the whole arm so I just did it. I never looked to see if they were full of crap or not.

 

Should be able to change just the bushing w/ a press.

 

I replaced my inner lower control arm bushings two weeks ago.

I considered the Nismo hard rubber part. But after reading the Noltech product discription I went them them instead.

oem bushing and arm


oem bushing out of arm


Noltec bushing


Noltech bushing pressed into arm


Note to self,......replacing the oem front lower shock mount bushing that was 100% OK with the Noltech part was NOT a good idea. Thought I had a a good idea to go ahead and replace it since I had the arm out and off the car,...WRONG! Too much impact harshness, uhg lesson learned.

 

Thanks Gsedan for the info. Obviously it's just one bushing, but any change in NVH as a result of the Noltec inner control arm bushing by itself? Also, what sort of labor cost was it to have the bushing swapped and what sort of shop does this kind of work?

 

I did both the inner bushing and the lower shock mount at the same time. I'm more inclined to blame my increase in NHV on the lower shock mount then the inner control arm bushing.

I removed the control arms myself, having air tools is a must to get the nut and bolt off at the inner contrl arm. Where the arm attaches to the hub wasn't all that accessable, it may or may or not have come off easily by hand, I dunno. Overall once you get past the two nuts and bolts and simply pull the lower shock mount bolt out, the arm is straight foreward to remove and reinstall.

To get the bushings pressed in, I went to the only place I could find at the time, Pep boy's. They charged me $40 for the first bushing done and $10 for every other bushing after that.

I did my compression arm bushings last week and Pep boy's said they could not do a bushing that large. I found a local machine shop that did those for $20 per.

 

Nice! I always wondering how poly bushings would work. On your lca, how did you get the bushing on the far right out? Is the cap on the other end removable?

 

Well they aren't polyurathane, here's a cut and paste from their web site.

POLYESTER SUSPENSION BUSHINGS
Noltec has revolutionized the suspension control by developing an advanced polyester complex branded 'Softride' which combines the durability & geometry control of a polyester bush combined with the soft, absorbent qualities of rubber. There is no opportunity cost, 'Softride' is the perfect medium delivering enhanced handling and vehicle stability with minimal ride comfort trade off. Backing this unique material is an extensive range, covering 60 manufacturers and over 1500 models. All Noltec products are covered for 2 years/ 40,000km and are proudly Australian Made!

BENEFITS:
Up to 25% softer in certain applications compared to competitor products
Long lasting durability
Improved geometry control
Resistence to: Chemicals Oils Weathering
Enhanced braking, handling & vehicle stability
Improves wear on surrounding
suspension components
Increases tyre life
Australian Made

The empty spot on the far right is where the ball joint attaches at the hub. It has the same plastic bushing that the upper control arm ball joint has where it attaches to the upright. And like that ball joint this one become free with the the help of a few taps from a rubber mallet (after you've removed the nut that bolts it in place of course).

 

if you dont mind me asking where did you order your noltec 's from ..??

and are there any other alternatives as far as bushings go .. besides noltec ??

 

I read that thread on the Z forum about that guy who went with delrin bushings and both control arms snapped!? What was up with that?!

 

http://performanceshock.com/index.ph...ain_page=index

As Jeff mentioned you do have the Nismo hard rubber bushings.

You also have poly bushings from Whileline Plus, contact Adam at www.Z1auto.com they will be adding them to their web site.

At one time 350EVO have a sperical bearing and derlin bushing kit, it was priced to high I don't think anyone but Grand AM teams racing the Z ever bought them.