whats the best place to get upper wishbone bushes for a R32?

[undertoe]

Hi guys,

I need the following to get a RWC to finally get my car on the road. What are the most likely places to find the suspension gear I need if I cant locate via the forums

Car is 1990 R32 GTST type M , coupe

Full set of front upper wishbone-bushes

Right-Hand inner rack end/inner tie-rod end

Exhaust and rear section

If you can help , please PM or email at [removed by admin at poster's request]

Thanks

[Sydneykid]

Hi guys,

I need the following to get a RWC to finally get my car on the road. What are the most likely places to find the suspension gear I need if I cant locate via the forums

Car is 1990 R32 GTST type M , coupe

Full set of upper wishbone-bushes

Right-Hand inner rack end/inner tie-rod end

Exhaust and rear section

If you can help , please PM or email at [removed by admin at poster's request]

Thanks

www.whiteline.com.au

[undertoe]

Thanks, anyone used the Nolathane upper control arm bush kits? If so what did they cost and where did you get them?

[gts4diehard]

hi, regarding the front upper arms -

save yourself the squeaks and just get the factory ones, make sure they're torqued up with the cars weight on the wheels.Most people with aftermarket bushes I know complain about the squeaks. Maybe if whiteline fit them they will be ok, but I know of a guy who has had the suspension guys fit greas nipples so they can lubricate the bushes! - and they are one of the better ones in Brisi.

I got a pair of arms from nissan for $380, a/mkt bushes were going to cost nearly that. I doubt they are any better than the stock ones unless you go to the trouble of the 'better' quality adj. upper arms.

[undertoe]

thanks for the reply mate

[undertoe]

BTW when did you get the pair of arms from nissan for $380 ? are they still that much?

[undertoe]

Thanks for the info I can get the stock arms for $390 from nissan. The car has rose jointed castor rods on it, will it kill the rubber bushes? Anyway i think the Nolathane ones may make it a little to harsh? Im new to this

[gts4diehard]

hi Undertoe, I dont think it will effect the upper arms too much although it will transfer the vibrations from the castor rods to the rest of the car which may wear the rubber bushes a bit faster.

It all depends what you want to do with the car, SK goes racing in his so his recommendations are prob the best here to follow if you want to do the same. My car goes out for the occasional trackday where it gets a good workout. I am onto my 3rd set of upper arms, probably could of made the last set last longer but the squeaking got a bit annoying. The first set showed wear by squeaking then developed a clunking sound when the bush was moving around the bolt. Up here in QLD we have some killer curbs, real steep angled ones and not many driveways are ramped - just using the curb as the entry point, this means some extreme suspension movement going in and out of driveways and wears things alot quicker.

What price are you being quoted for the nolathane? the super-pro ones I were quoted on were nearly as dear as the complete arms so I went original. I dont think going nolathane is going to make that much difference as I think the factory ones are some sort of plastic?? anyway.

[Sydneykid]

Hi guys, some clarification;

The standard upper arm bushes are synthetic rubber, which (like natural rubber) has trapped oil bubbles. This means a hardness rating around 50 to 55. The rubber is bonded to both the inner and outer cases. This meandsit doesn't need lubrication as the air bubbles expand and contract to absord roation and deflection, this make then qiet in operation (low NVH). The disadvantage is the air bubbles allow dynamic camber change by compressing and expanding due to load. Since the yare bonded rubber bushes don't allow adjustment.

Polyurethane does not contain air bubbles, so it requires floating bushes (crush tubes) and lubrication to enable it to rotate. The lack of air bubbles means a hardness rating around 90. The big advantage is less deflection under load and more consistent camber (very little dynamic camber change). Since the crush tube floats (its not bonded) there is the ability to adjust via offsetting.

Nolathane is a combination of the words Nolan (the brothers who did a lot of the early work in this field) and Polyurethane, the material used. This brand name was sold by the Nolans several years ago. You can buy Nolathane brand bushes from all sorts of retail outlets, mostly as replacement parts for high volume vehicles (Commondoors and Foulcans).

Noltec www.noltec.com.au is the company now run by Greg Nolan (one of the brothers) and his son David (he races in Improved Production). They have continued developing polyurethane bushes for high performance and race vehicles. They have a number of products for Skylines including sliding adjustable upper arms with polyurethane bushes.

Whiteline www.whiteline.com.au have their own supply of polurethane and have a range of adjustable bushes that are fitted into the standard arms. We use their products a lot on Improved Production race cars as wee are not allowed to replace suspension arms.

Some adjustable arms use spherical joints instead of rubber of polyurethane. They have a hardness of 100. They need lubrication and have very high wear rates, for example on the Super Tourers we replaced $2K worth of sphericals every second race meeting.

When extra caster is added, via adjustable bushes or replacement radius rod with sphericals, extra loading is applied to the control arms (both upper and lower). This accelerates the wear on the bushes which necessitates frequent lubrication and more often replacement.

In summary, as with all performance products there are compromises. The standard rubber allow deflection, the polyurethane requires lubrication and the spericals require. But The standard rubber is quit and basically service free, the polyurethane allows much less dynamic change, has adjustment and so assists handling and the spericals are the easiest to adjust and have the least amount of unwanted deflection. It's your choice.

[undertoe]

Hi , thanks for the comprehensive info mate. I was really wanting the cheapest solution at this stage. Was hoping to get some Polyurethane replacement bushes for the standard arms at a good price. They must be available cheaper than the $230 - $380 I have been quoted. I was reading that NZ owners were obtaining them for fair less, also are they sourceable from japan?

[Sydneykid]

Hi , thanks for the comprehensive info mate. I was really wanting the cheapest solution at this stage. Was hoping to get some Polyurethane replacement bushes for the standard arms at a good price. They must be available cheaper than the $230 - $380 I have been quoted. I was reading that NZ owners were obtaining them for fair less, also are they sourceable from japan?

The polyurethane upper control arm bushes themselves are not expensive, but they are a bugger to fit, both time consuming and requiring special tools. Try your local Repco, AutoOne, AutoPro, AutoBarn, SupaCheap for Nolathane brand. I would strongly suggest getting adjustable camber bushes, they don't cost much more and the labour to install them is the same. Being able to adjust camber is a big advantage.

[undertoe]

Thanks , what's involved in adjusting the camber? Also what is the best setting for a r32 GTST?