Hey gang, I didn't want to hijack the front control arm bushing thread but I'm having a clutch replacement soon and need to replace the front "castor" bushes and want to replace them with powerflex.

Just to clear up any confusion, are the front castor bushes the same as front control arm bushings? I want to have these replaced at the same time as the clutch job since the shop is going to have to drop the subframe anyway and it'll save me some cash.

I want to do the front castor bushes, rear control arm bushes, engine mount bushings and gearbox bushings. Which powerflext parts do I need so I can arrange to get the parts for the shop?

Are these the same as front "Castor bushes"?

 

Well the fcabs need to be eccentric to affect caster.

Might I recommend the super pro eccentric versions

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...obalID=EBAY-US

 

Help me out with the acronyms, what are fcabs? We have super pro here in Australia. I want to keep all the suspension upgraded with the same brand so should I get the powerflex front and rears or super pro?

What's the difference with the super pro eccentric? You guys have to treat me like a noob and explain to me.

 

I just discovered super pro myself. I use to always turn to powerflex but I found super pro to be more cost effective.

I have a mix of poly bushings depending on which design or which one seems to be the most cost effective situation. Don't be married to one of the other. Sometimes a particular company will have an advantage due to a better mouse trap design over another.

Fcab = front control arm bushing.
Rtab = rear trailing arm bushing.

 

I have a little bit of camber on the rear wheels after lowering but nothing extreme.

Is the front control arm bushing the same as "Castor bushes"? That's the question. That's what's making the squeaking and I want to change out both 4 corners at the same time as well as the engine and gearbox mount.

Does super pro do engine and gearbox mounts or can I mix and match without any problems?

 

Yes Front control arm bushing or FCAB is the point of caster of adjustment. Alta replaces this bushing with its PSRS system.

http://www.superpro.com.au/find/supe.../cid-999500738

Super Pro makes an assortment of bushing replacements for the mini

Looks like for more caster you will want the SPF2550k Double offset version which will add up to 2 degrees of caster.

Super pro does make engine and gearbox mounts as well.

 

What's PSRS? Again, treat me like a noob. Are you in Australia?

Maybe we can chat and you can provide some advice first hand. Don't I want the rears to be straight with 0 camber for a daily driver? I'm not going to drive this car hard I think. I haven't thought about going to the track with this car. I don't want to blow anything out and incur more cost.

 

I'm in california

alta's PSRS is the acronym for Positive Steering Response system. It'a fancy way of saying improved steering feel.

Caster has the effect of increasing steering feel - to a limit. More importantly increased caster has a self centering effect and makes a car handle more stable through corners.

I bought the PSRS before but once I found out it had to be welded into the carrier to prevent it from moving; I sold it.

The Super Pro bushing is offset (not centered) in the bushing carrier allowing it to be rotated to various positions for increased available caster.

IMHO, if you don't track your car the caster increase has negligible benefits and will cost you more to align as it's another adjustment your alignment will have to deal with.

Regarding camber:
it's a myth that increased camber increases tire wear (significantly); toe (in or out) will cause more tire wear than anything. The benefit of increased camber is increased corner grip; but nothing is gained free. If you increase camber you will decrease initial straight-line grip as well as braking. Now I will temper that with the fact that the mini cooper and almost every bmw in existence uses a macpherson front strut design which loses camber as the suspension compresses unlike a Double a-arm setup which gains negative camber as the suspension is increased. Generally, in a high performance application for a macpherson setup a person will want to set the maximum available negative static camber to start with because of the camber loss through suspension compression.

If it's a daily driver; I would say go with the power flex or super pro front control arm bushing is fine; but don't bother with the double offset or PSRS style of caster increasing bushings. It's not worth the marginal benefit.

If you are planning to track; you need a good solid simple setup. I always prefer as little adjustment as possible for new track drivers so you have less to worry about; if you can't adjust, you can only drive.

 

I haven't received mine yet, but I ordered a set of the Whiteline offset bushings. While they are offset, they are not likely to be adjustable. They should simply add some caster, which would be good.