DeWolf

Wondering how this went as I'm just about to do the same thing. One of lower control arms is now a two piece unit.

Cheburator

I still honestly don't get this obsession with Polybushes on here. Rose Passion in France sell the front bushes, which are the same bushes that Mark Anderson uses on his rebuild units. Mark Anderson's upper and lower arms are re-furbished by the only company in the World that supplies refurbished Ferrari suspension arms. Should you wish to go for harder rubber, you can - Rose Passion offer rubber bushes, which are 30% harder than stock. Rose Passion ships world wide. The manufacturer has another agent, who sells the bushes on German eBay too and also ships world wide. I have used Rose Passion for the Upper A-arm bushes and the quality is superb. Miles better than the poly rubbish - yes, I also have an E46 M3 and no, it won't see poly anywhere.

Porsche was not stupid when they designed the suspension. My race 928 has hem-joints everywhere and it is more direct and responsive. But it is unbearable on the road. The original rubber bushes have normally lasted 30yrs+. Given that they cost the same as the poly, I would place my fate in the hands of the Porsche guys...

hacker-pschorr

Cost is the primary reason.
After that the "aftermarket" idea that poly bushing are better. I'm not sure what "better" means either.

PowerFlex:
Front Lower Rear = $130
Front Lower Front = $133
$263 covers all four front lower bushings.

928 International Rebuilt Arm is $295 each.
A savings of $327 for the PowerFlex....not counting labor of installation. Considering the labor time to manually swap out the bushings, at the typical labor rate of $100+ per hour at most shops..... The cost savings is artificial IMO.

Even if poly bushings offered any amount of handling upgrade, their longevity is not theory, it's well documented. Poly bushings do not last anywhere near as long as stock rubber.

DeWolf

All I can say is, you can use whatever you want. I'll use whatever I want. My car will not be a daily driver. Maybe once every second weekend. Anderson says his rubber is recast onto the control arm when he really is just pushing on a new bush?

The Solution: These remanufactured Front Lower Swing Arms have been completely rebuilt to spec by degreasing good cores, breaking the old rubber off, bead blasting, and recasting with new rubber directly onto the swing arm journals, just like OEM.

Cheburator

The very fact you are asking on here means you don't know. I have done it, thus I think I know a bit more than you on THAT exact topic. I also know first hand by virtue of swapping a set of hem joints and a custom rod to give me a shorter arm for more camber in my racer, as well as installing a set of genuine bushes on my Street car.

What Anderson's description says and what the reality is are two different things. I have spoken to the company which supplies the rebuild arms to Mark Anderson. Nothing is cast in situ. If it was, the company would not be selling the tools that are used to press the bushes into the arms as a package either.

It appears that you want to hear, what you want to hear. I have contributed my piece of advise. Whether you take it or not is a moot point.

Also, it pays to be nicer when you are asking for information from those of us, who have done it before...

Mark Anderson

Where is this description you mention? Our web site says "These rebuilt arms come complete with new rubber and look like new"
And the tools you mention sound like the ones they provide to install the upper bushings. http://shop.928intl.com/A-Arm-Bushin...28-341-990-20/

Cheburator

Mark, it was the previous poster that made the statement about your website and the rebuild method. Read the post above my reply.

DeWolf

You need to relax mate. You certainly ain't the 928 God nor the 928 Suspension God either. I don't think I asked for anybodies advice, I asked how this went.

BC

Interesting.

I ordered the powerflex items for the lower arms. They came and are of much better quality and density than the previous ones from a guy in Australia (which dissolved on the car). These powerflex actually seem like they will fit properly.

High hopes. Realistic expectations.

Lloyd

I modified my lower rubber bushings years ago on my 1978 Track car. The goal was to have a free moving suspension. I cut, melted, sawed, vaporized and whatever to get that vulcanized rubber off the control arms. It leaves a knarly cast finish that, in my opinion needs to be machined. So the spindles were machined and UMHW bushings were cut on a lathe to match the diameter of the spindles. I have got 10 years and alot of track hours on this set up and I have been very happy with it. No maintenance.

DeWolf

^ This was the first thing I noticed on the E46 M3 when I switched to Polyflex. The suspension seemed much more compliant over bumps, as if the arms could actually move up and down freely to allow the springs and shocks to do the work. I took the car up my favorite twistie road and then went home and changed the bushes and then back up my twistie road. Like I said before, the difference was night and day.

hacker-pschorr

Any advantages to UMHW over Delrin?

Did you do the same with the upper & rear arms?

Lloyd

I had just purchased upper arms for $180 each and thought the smaller bushing would provide enough dampening effect. Same issue with the rear control arms, so I left them stock. Made a UMHW bushing for the rear sway bar for some reason. The UMHW is very tough stuff, machines great, long wearing, self lubricating, and real cheap!!

hacker-pschorr

Cool, not familiar with that materiel. Turbo Todd has a big chunk of delrin in the shop he uses for whatever he needs delrin for LOL. I'll ask him if he's worked with UMHW.

I know Jean-Louis made Delrin bushings for his race car, but I thought front upper only. I'll have to ask him. Those loser look like a nice setup.

Brian24

Agreed.