Question about bushing size for front upper links.

[mattd1979]

I want to get a pair of adjustable upper control arms so that I can have the wheel camber positioned back into the factory position. I was looking at some upper links for a Z32 and most all of the adjustable upper links use roller bearings in place of the bushings. If I were to use that type of setup, I would also have to replace the tension rods with a set of solid versions to prevent twist stress on the upper links. I decided that what I could do is get a pair that have the bearings and swap out the bearings for polyurethane bushings. Does anybody here know what the inner diameter hole size is where the bushings would go and if they are the same as the factory upper link hole size?

Thanks,
Matt

[SanCarlosQ45]

If your worried about change in ride comfort, its not really that different. Right now I have megan Z32 FUCAs and Z1 motorsports solid tension rod bushings. These bushings use the original tension rod with a hemispherical bushing + aluminium bushing.

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=5579

There are other options as well:

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=6190

This has the option of either poly bushings or bearings.

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=7126

This uses the original upper links, allows +/-0.5 degrees.

If you just need camber adjustment then why not put spacers behind the upper link mount and chassis?

[mattd1979]

A friend of ours has a 1991 Q45 that I installed the solid adjustable upper control arms and tension rods. I have driven the car and just afraid that it won't be as forgiving as the one's with polyurethane bushings on our rough roads here in Jacksonville. I'm afraid that it will start to stress other parts of the car that wouldn't normally be stressed. His car is now developing a popping sound that we can't seem to pinpoint. I thought about using spacers behind the brackets but the alignment tech advised against it stating that it will stress the bolts and adjust-ability just isn't there. The thing is that I bought the lifetime alignment and I don't want to do anything that will cause me to lose it. I appreciate the links you posted. I have already seen all but the one that you list that takes advantage of the stock upper links. The problem though with those is that I don't think there is enough adjustment to make up for it. Unless I was to use the washer spacer method. Currently my alignment specs are:

LF Caster: 5.3
RF Caster: 5.3
LF Camber: -1.5
RF Camber: -2.0
LF Toe: -0.05
RF Toe: 0.05
Total Toe: 0.00
LR Camber: -1.8
RR Camber: -1.5
LR Toe: 0.10
RR Toe: 0.15
Thrust Angle: -0.0

How do they read to you?

Thanks,
Matt

[SanCarlosQ45]

I understand, depending on your mileage most of the components need to be changed anyways. I have run into this, I also had a popping noise which turned out to be a combination of lower front ball joints and sway bar end links not being tightened properly. I am using Z32 front ball joints with the Z32 ball joint seats; so far I have about 10k miles with no problems.

Your alignment tech shouldn't worry that much, those bolts are the least of his worries. If you use an aluminium spacer that goes between both bolts then there is really no worries about the sheet metal being stressed. You can calculate the exact spacer you need using geometry..

I don't have any measurements at the moment but if you're willing to wait about a week max I can get them when I'm doing my brake swap. From what I remember it may be difficult to remove the bearings because there is a rod that runs down the ID from one end to the other.

Those numbers are about what mine were, I adjusted the arms myself and had the alignment checked. Right now my fronts are right around -1degree, I'll probably have a drift shop do the alignment to my specs once I take care of the rear camber issues. The problem is my car is lowered so it throws it off a little. Is you car lowered or stock?

[mattd1979]

My ride height is stock but with 257k+ on them, they may have sagged slightly over the years. I never was good with math, let alone geometry...lol. I'm not sure what the correct reading should be for the camber to off-set the wear.

[OwnerCS]

Thanks to all for posting on this thread. I think this is helpful information. Eventually I would like to harvest a set of used control arms from a salvage yard Q then replace all bushings (basically rebuild) to keep them on hand for when I will need to replace the originals. I can see the bushing set may be something to use for that purpose.

I did replace the original silicone filled control arm (a.k.a. dog bone) bushings with ES poly bushings below when I noticed some silicone had leaked on the garage floor from the OEM bushings. So far so good, the suspension is tight and responsive.

[mattd1979]

Thanks for that info with the tension rods. That will be one less thing that I have to research.

[mattd1979]

SanCarlosQ45, did you get a chance to measure your upper link inner diameter prior to the bushing install? Didn't you say that you have upper adjustable control arms, or are they OEM with aftermarket bushings? If that is the case then it won't help me much I don't think unless the aftermarket adjustable upper arms share the same size hole diameter.