Could a uhmw bushing be utilized in the lower control arm? It seems like I read somewhere a while back that the design of the arm inhibits the use of a plastic bushing, if so, what is it that inhibits the use?

 

I really wouldn't want to use UHMW for a bushing/bearing for any suspension arm, it flows and creeps under load far too much, they go baggy so quickly it's unreal. Also highly moisture and temperature sensitive.

 

But it is claimed to be the most impact resistant thermoplastic available. It also looks like they use them on side by side off-road vehicles

 

Which is meaningless, it just means it doesn't break easily from impacts - it still dents, bends, deforms, etc.

What you need for a bearing type bush is resilience and resistance to creep (which uhmw is terrible at), low friction, wear resistance and resistance to chemical swelling and water absorption (which is where nylon bushes people try to make fall down too)

I race with, against and even have a couple of SxS racers in making in the workshop right now being built up for customers, we don't use UHMWPE for bushes or bearings anywhere, it's only used for light-duty skidpans or wear strips - there are some shops that sell them as an upgrade but that's because it's cheap and they make insane margin on them, and most SxS people are just playing and don't care or notice if the bush is sloppy anyway.

UHMWPE works great for sliding bearings and bushes and wear strips where the loads are low, abrasion is high, you need resistant to high impact peaks and it's well supported and creep isn't an issue. That doesn't really suit a suspension bush.

 

Alright that’s still not really the answer to my question. Materials aside, what in the suspension design inhibits the use of anything other than spherical bearings, rubber, or polyurethane bushings? Seems like I’ve read it’s something to do with the strut fork. But when you tighten the bolt, are you not clamping the inner sleeve down? So why could you not have a delrin, PET, or PBT, or whatever in there, with an outer shell to keep it contained, throw a layer of lube i between the inner and outer and they,bushing.