Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef
we talked about solid bushings for a little bit while i was picking up those tires at your house a while back. i think you were on the fence about them, citing the reason being that they could potentially be transferring energy (stress) to parts of the car's body that wasn't meant to handle that stress. did you change your mind after further research, or are you a little more confident in the car's ability to handle it because of the increased rigidity with the cage?
i'm likely going to do solid subframe bushings, but keep the differential bushings stock for now. i think i would like a little more of a solid feel out of the rear end, but i want to keep a little slack in the driveline for comfort and to have a little slack in the driveline.
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Well, this car is no longer a street car. Things have changed quite dramatically in it since we talked. So, putting more solid bushings in it can be a logical step in a larger picture. And look at all the stuff that's been done to the car before even considering this step. Also it's quite a bit lighter than it's original weight.
A couple of recent things have brought out the idea of the underside bushings: 1. seeing what the engine mounts looked like. They were punished something awful. 2. Seeing what happened on track with my friend's 996 GT3. My friend with the GT3 has been having some failures on track---the most recent being a broken rear axle at Turn 2 at Sonoma. That experience led him to have an entire round of rejuvenating done to the car. It was VERY expensive, but the axle demonstrated in very clear terms that stuff simply needs to be replaced on a regular cycle when used this hard---even if nothing appears to be wrong.
So I'm trying to stay ahead of parts failing. In the world of cars, I find it better to be proactive, and stay ahead of problems, than be reactive and deal with failures as they happen......because dealing with failures as they happen usually means having parts fail on track. My friend went from being reactive to super proactive. Of course, it depends on how hard you drive and how often and what the car is subjected to, but there are general conventions that one can follow when doing preventive maintenance.
We look at the stock underside bushings all the time, and they seem to be holding up, but now I'm thinking they've definitely lived a full life and maybe I should consider the next step.