Thanks for the review! I'm also currently deciding on SPL or Whiteline for compression rod bushings for the same exact reasons you did.

Is your car lowered? Mine is and from what I've read, you don't necessarily want a polyurethane bushing for the compression rod on a lowered car because they may go bad as well.

I don't track my car but I think I would want a bushing that will last even if I have to deal with an occasional clunking.

I think I'm leaning towards SPL at the moment and I've read that they revised the bushing to include an o-ring to help with the clunking and you can replace just the o-ring if it wears resulting in clunking again.

Thoughts?

 

Yes, mine is lowered. I have seen a post of a person who had Energy Suspension bushings and those tore after a while. Nothing about Whiteline failing yet based on my search. I have heard that SPL includes an o-ring now that gets rid of the clunking noise, but I have not stumbled upon reviews of anyone who has gotten the newer version and if there are any complaints. My understanding is that if you are more of a person who tracks their car, SPL is the way to go. However, if you are just daily driving, poly is the way to go.

 

I have also not read anything yet about Whiteline compression rod bushing failures on a lowered car. Nor have I read any reviews on SPL's revised compression rod bushings with an o-ring and how it affects the clunking noises. It seems like this data is lacking a bit.

I agree, my understanding is that if you track your car then go with SPL and if you don't, then stick with polyurethane. Therefore, since I don't track my car, and don't know if I ever will, I ended up going with the Whiteline compression rod bushings W83389. I'm going to install them along with all the other Whiteline bushings this next week and see how long they last. If the CR bushings fail prematurely, I'll have to go with SPL's.

 

Let me know how it feels after your installation. Are your bushings bad enough right now that you're hearing squeals and feeling the bumps more on the road?

 

I just discovered I have this problem (failed bushings), but I was actually afraid of whether or not my ball joints were bad. I didn't want to pay ~$600 for the parts + labor to press the OEM bushings out and press aftermarket bushings in and then possibly still have a ball joint problem, when I could just replace both control arms with OEM for slightly less than that and make sure everything was fixed at once, so I've got OEM control arms on order.

What I didn't realize until I just saw this thread, however, was that there was a question of whether or not polyurethane vs. OEM rubber bushings are better when your car is lowered and/or if you track the car. Considering that I suspect that I BROKE my current OEM control arms while tracking my modestly lowered car (there was a loud CLUNK going around a turn and then I had some difficulty steering after that--had thought it was the brakes/ABS engaging but now it looks like both control arm bushings failed), does that mean that I should NOT track a lowered car with OEM control arms? My shop told me that there are real racing aftermarket control arms but the entire set is approximately $1000 + labor, and I thought this was overkill for me considering I track the car ~1-2x per year. I didn't think I was low enough to need any type of camber adjustment, either, since every time I bring the car in for alignment, the shop is able to bring me within factory specs.

Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated, because I'm pretty confused! :P

 

Have you checked your endlinks? The clunk and steering problem sounds more like a endlink/sway bar problem, but failed bushings can contribute to it as well.

 

I had occasional clunks from the rear going over speed bumps sideways but no squeals. The way I really noticed it was I started feeling my car unstable at high speeds whenever I would hit potholes or make quick maneuvers. It was like the car would dance around or feel like it wanted to slide out underneath me. I have coilovers on my car and the stiffness is there, but it started to become very noticeable to the point where my car feels a little unsafe at high speeds. Recently I started hearing more clunks in the front and rear too.

I got underneath my car and sure enough the upper control arm bushings are torn (the oem washer looking part of the bushing was torn and just twirling around), shock mount bushing on the lower control arm shows a tear, compression rod bushings are torn as well (although difficult to see completely), and the rear bushings were also showing tears.

I wouldn't say the bushings were really bad, but with coilovers, I imagine they were bad enough to be causing the instability and unsafe feel of the suspension. I'm looking forward to seeing how the new bushings feel.

 

Compression Rod: W83389

Lower Front Control Arm:
You need to buy both the Inner and Outer bushing
W52991 and W52992

did each package come with the appropriate hardware for both passanger and driver side?

 

Yes. Each one comes as a pair for both driver and passenger side.

 

thanks. i just recently purchased some PIAA Super Rossa rims, but i want to get the suspension tight before i put them on. and if the bushings make the difference that you say it does, them im pretty excited to get the bushings done.

 

Do you know if yours are torn or showing any signs of being torn? The difference really does depend on how much quality you have lost over the years of driving your car. If the bushings are currently torn, you will certainly feel the difference when you replace them. If your bushings are still OK right now, it may not make a big difference... but, it may provide a slight improvement to the current OEM ones. However, I do know a lot of people have changed them out before they are even torn just for their own safe peace of mind.

 

Don't get SPL compression rod bushings if you plan to mainly use your car as a DD.. it's a huge pain in the *** to deal with. I've had mine for awhile now.. definitely around several months. There's a lot of benefits from using SPL, but the downside is that they're really harsh on a bumpy road or bumps in general and you have to constantly keep them lubricated and clean unless you want even more noise.

If I had to go back in time then I definitely would have stuck with the poly instead of SPL's metal bushings.

 

I took my car to the Infiniti dealer for service, and the technician said the compression rod bushing are worn out, but he did not mention anything about the other bushings. my car has 112000 miles on it so im thinking of redoing the bushing for peace of mind and the hopes of getting a better ride quality with the bigger wheels that i am going to install.

 

Thanks for the info. I was actually thinking of those bushings, since they look pretty high tech, but since my G is my daily driver, im gonna go for the poly.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, with 112000 miles I'm sure your bushings are torn or worn out like the dealer described. Please update this thread when you get yours changed out and hopefully it will help improve your ride! Thanks.