After the SPL ones started making noise after about a year I put in OEM ones only to have the driver side rip apart literally the first week and immediately started getting severe uneven tire wear. I installed the ES ones just now and they feel just as the SPL ones did but I expect these to last a very long time. I pressed them in by hand and I let them sit in the freezer before installing them.

One thing that I didn't know installing these is where to apply the grease/silicone I got with them so I only applied some to the inside of the bushing and on the metal sleeve that goes inside.

Does anyone know if I am suppose to apply the grease on the inside of the compression rod and on the outside area of the bushings that goes inside the compression rod? I didn't do that because I thought that it has to be solid in there and not move at all. But I see that as the arm flexes the bushing comes in and out of the compression rod slightly, so I don't know what to think... Figured I could leave it and just spray some silicone in there if it makes noise? Maybe that attracts dirt?

Pics.

 

Those look very nice. Are they polyurethane or a harder rubber? How is NVH?

 

Polyurethane. They are the same as the SPL ones. I run high pressure in the tires so that probably contributes to it.

 

There is supposed to be grease anywhere the polyurethane touches metal.

 

I sprayed them with silicone, even though it would have been ideal to put the grease in between the bushings inside the compression rod and the grease would protrude outward lubricating without attracting much dirt.

They should have included that in some instructions.

 

Why do you run higher tire pressure? Running higher than recommended tire pressure will cause uneven wear.

 

I max it out. I don't go over. I get better MPG w/ less rolling resistance. I cruise in neutral down hill. The kind of wear I got was on the inside of the tires, down to the steel. Higher pressure would usually result in tire wear down the middle of the tire.

 

Tire Pressue: Normally that is ture, a higher pressure will wear the center out faster, but in the case of Z/G cars they seem to wear the inner tire out much faster for unknown reasons...

Sucks that the bushing failed. Who pressed it in? That looks like it was pressed in by the center bushing, but maybe that was made worse during removal. Seems odd that it would fail at that point in the rubber. I can't tell if the crack started at the top near the edge of the bushing or if it started from the rod side and worked it's way out.

Either way, I'm planning on ES CR bushings when they either fail or I reach another 15-20k on mine.

 

It wears out the inner tire faster because the car has some negative camber stock. But my tires wore out severely in a very short time ever since that bushing failed, especially on that side which was down to the metal on the last set of tires. It's also the only reason I did this, so I don't have to buy 3-4 sets of tires for the front before next year, when I can spend $72 on bushings to keep the current front set until next year. More than likely I wont have this car come next year.

It didn't fail because of the method it was pressed in. It was pressed in with the proper receiver socket and pressing socket and the metal rod was never pressed against. A friend of mine pressed them in because I didn't have a press at the shop at the time. I installed them and there was no cracks and I flexed the bushing during installation to check.

 

Andrei, how's the NVH? Same kind of behavior as the SPL ones, or is it running quiet?

 

I'll also be interested to see if these contribute to ball joint failure like at least one guy is saying the SPL ones do.

 

It is more quiet then the SPL ones. I don't see how it would damage the ball joint. The only way to damage the ball joint I guess would be if the ball joint somehow already reached the end of travel to pivot and it's constantly resting or hitting the end of travel.
I would say that being lowered by a lot with lots of negative camber could do that.

 

Can you do a write up on how to press out and install these bushings aswell as what would be a good comparable way. I have full access to 20 ton brake presses to install these but whats an easy way to remove, where those hub nut removers and what size?

 

Here's a write-up...

http://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-s...g-install.html