Poly replacement for the upper shock bushing?
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From: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Poly replacement for the upper shock bushing?
I'm about to install a set of KYB AGX's into my '90 Civic DX, and I've been wondering if anyone makes a poly bushing replacement for the upper shock bushings.
I don't see anything on the Energy Suspension website, except maybe something in the "universal" section: http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/sk_bsp1.html
Has anyone done this before and happen to know the part number? Or maybe someone has a spare bushing they can measure?
I don't see anything on the Energy Suspension website, except maybe something in the "universal" section: http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/sk_bsp1.html
Has anyone done this before and happen to know the part number? Or maybe someone has a spare bushing they can measure?
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From: strathcedar, nsw, australia
Re: Poly replacement for the upper shock bushing? (ZAKU)
I'm sure there would be something that will fit, even if it may not be specifically intended for your application.
The stock rubber bushes are very soft, and in effect behave like a short stroke undamped spring connecting the damper to the chassis. All loads pasing between the chassis and the damper must pass through this 'spring', which adversely affects the damping properties of the damper, especially over smaller bumps etc. The chassis doesn't 'see' the damper until this 'spring' has been compressed to X degree (or at least 'sees' the the damper in a less defined and somewhat delayed manner).
You can easily see this bushing softness if you push sharply down on the fender while observing the top of the damper shaft, it moves relative to the chassis with the bushes visibly compressing / decompressing.
This also means that the damper is less 'responsive' to loads that accur when weight transfer is occurring, making the chassis less responsive to steering inputs and also for handling response in general to be affected.
What I did with my car was to 'pre-load' the stock rubber upper damper mounts by placing spacers under the top bush retaining washers. At each damper, I fitted a 'spacer' that is 5mm thick, about the same OD as the bush retaining washer, but with the ID drilled out so that it fits over the crush tube. The spacer is placed under the retaining washer so that when the nut is tightened down the spacer squashes the the rubber bushes, thus pre-loading the bushes. The retaining washer still bears directly against the crush tube, but the spacer washer bears directly against the rubber bush itself.
Now when I push down on the fender the damper shaft moves very little in response to the load, whereas before it would move quite substantially. On the road this results in a slightly harsher ride, but improved steering and handling response.
The stock rubber bushes are very soft, and in effect behave like a short stroke undamped spring connecting the damper to the chassis. All loads pasing between the chassis and the damper must pass through this 'spring', which adversely affects the damping properties of the damper, especially over smaller bumps etc. The chassis doesn't 'see' the damper until this 'spring' has been compressed to X degree (or at least 'sees' the the damper in a less defined and somewhat delayed manner).
You can easily see this bushing softness if you push sharply down on the fender while observing the top of the damper shaft, it moves relative to the chassis with the bushes visibly compressing / decompressing.
This also means that the damper is less 'responsive' to loads that accur when weight transfer is occurring, making the chassis less responsive to steering inputs and also for handling response in general to be affected.
What I did with my car was to 'pre-load' the stock rubber upper damper mounts by placing spacers under the top bush retaining washers. At each damper, I fitted a 'spacer' that is 5mm thick, about the same OD as the bush retaining washer, but with the ID drilled out so that it fits over the crush tube. The spacer is placed under the retaining washer so that when the nut is tightened down the spacer squashes the the rubber bushes, thus pre-loading the bushes. The retaining washer still bears directly against the crush tube, but the spacer washer bears directly against the rubber bush itself.
Now when I push down on the fender the damper shaft moves very little in response to the load, whereas before it would move quite substantially. On the road this results in a slightly harsher ride, but improved steering and handling response.
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