My front control arm bushings had to be replaced at about 40K miles. Dealer said they were worn out of spec. Replaced with OEM bushings under my extended warranty. No track days, but aggressive daily driving.

 

Dunno what you mean about modular???

I never had to lubricate my poly control arm bushings even after nearly 100,000 miles. The car I installed these in went where I pointed it NOW! These also beat the hell out of me and the car. This was also a daily driver, never again.

Some bushing compliance is good, but obviously not to a point where they wear out quickly.

Really, I would try just the rear bushing and leave the front one stock. you may find that this recues compliance where you need to reduce it while maintaining longer service life.

 

Actually I meant have you tried them on the mini yet. I'd like to know how they felt. By modular I meant three or four pieces that fit together. Again I'm not sure if the picture is actually what they look like.

I'm not bent on going poly, but my car is all over the place and my front tires are wearing into a concave shape. I work at a dealership and see how disposable these bushings really are. I have a feeling these are also responsible for the lurching that follows getting on and off the gas.

I just have to wait until I get them in my hands, but that is turning out to be trouble as well. I'm going to cancle my order and try somewhere else. So it will probably be a couple more weeks befor they are installed.

 

No, I haven't. But most lower control arms work the same way; the rear most bushing is designed to determine compliance...unless it is a single bushing type - ford fiesta for example.

 

I've been looking at rear alignment options for a street driven car with lowering springs. The purpose of these is to correct the camber to -1, -1.5 deg thereabouts. Based on what I've been reading I don't want to use the usual adjustable control arms with poly bushings (certainly not spherical rod ends). The car is an '04.

Options:

1. '05 arms - said to provide 1 degree of adjustment, rubber bushed I presume.

2. K-Mac urethane eccentric bushings in stock arms, they would provide a couple of degrees of adjustment. Installed in only one end of each arm, it could provide a bit of vibration isolation via the one rubber bushed end of each arm.

3. Somewhere I saw rubber bushed adjustable arms but alas, that link has escaped me for now.

Option 2 appears most probable. Does this seem to be a reasonable compromise between the all-rubber bushings and the adjustability provided or will I still get my teeth (and car) rattled apart when driving over road strips and other minor annoyances?