I installed only the rear bushings in May 2003. Lubed them when installed but no greae fittings. They were quiet for about 10,000 miles and started to creak around December but not bad. Checked everything in the suspension to be sure nothing loose or worn. As a check I sprayed WD-40 on the bushing while installed and it quieted them down for about 1,500 miles. Sparyed them in the spring after another 1,000 miles or so and it helped again. This summer with about 13-14,000 miles they started creaking like an ox cart. WD-40 doesn't help anymore. They are quiet for about 20 miles when cold then start creaking. The hotter the weather, the worse the noise.

I've been busy with work but am planning to disassemble, regrease and install grease fittings. After seeing those pictures, I'm very interested to see how the bushings are holding up.

Jack

I've installed zerk fittings on a motocross bike to lubricate suspension bushings and never used a groove....they worked fine

I'd like to hear from more people who installed zerk fittings with Jim's bushings and keep up with the maintenance (likey not many)....you probably have to re-grease the bushings about every 5,000 miles, especially if you drive in rain

as always, increased performance comes with a price....FD owners know this all too well

WD-40 is not a good lube, you might notice that it is thinner than water, you need a thick grease to properly lube the bushings.

did you talk to jim about this? It seems like the aluminum insert just ate up the nylon bushing.

WD-40 also removes moisture, not a good thing around rubber IMO.

Jim's bushings are not made of rubber.

And the center pin is not made of aluminum...

can you use this stuff in a grease gun? even with zerks, uniform distribution of grease around the bushings may be a problem

WD40 is not a lubricant, it is a cleaner at best and it will attract dirt and such

Where do you get this grease from?

Looking at the wear in those bushings, I gotta ask, Is something bent? Has your car ever been in an accident? When did you last have an alignment done by someone knowledgeable in FDs?

It would be nice the jimlab's bushings had something like O-rings or a rubber washers to seal the grease in and dirt and water out. As ther are now, they should almost be considered to be high maintenance race parts.

never wrecked - nothing bent - before the upgrade, there was never really nything wrong with the bushings - just was an opportunity since the suspension was being upgraded.

Alignment was done after the upgrade.

ddr10, I can't tell from the pictures, but the bushings with the ovalized holes-- did the nylon material look like it was worn/abraded away to make the hole larger, or did it look like it was compressed into that shape?

The former suggests that the lube was inadequate, either in type or placement.

The latter suggests the nylon was too soft and/or could not recover to its original shape. Which raises the question of whether the problem was with the original material, or perhaps the lube(s) you used.

Can you get more detailed pics posted, or at least take a closer look at the ovalized holes?

I followed the suggested installation to the letter - LOTS of lube.

The oval shape is not from wear, it actually compressed/reshaped itself to an oval. When I had the bushings removed, the shop actually diagnosed it as a weakening of the material, was easy to damage with a hammer - which lead me to believe that the comppression of the material may have been caused by bumps or imperfections on the road.

The bushings were over lubed on install, but I do recall the lube having nowhere to go but out.

One thing is for certain, my rickety clunking is gone.

Del

If the material failed due to softening I'd guess that the Nylon was not compatible with the type of lube you used.

Plastics can react with other chemicals, putting them under load makes it worse.

Yep, that's what I was getting at. ddr10 do you remember what you used on the bushings?

I used the CV joint grease (molybdenum disulfide). Nylon 6/6 is supposed to be impervious to petroleum products as Nylon 6/6 is used for intake manifold, fuel injectors etc.,

maybe that was one of Jim's early production runs ;)

Have you pulled any of your bushings yet? Do they have the same ovalized compression or wear pattern as ddr10's?

Let me guess... no zerk fittings? You didn't keep them lubricated, did you.

Under compression, they're plenty strong, but not when given a sharp blow with a hammer.

Me too, and yep.

Some people apparently think they're an install-and-forget item, which they're not. When they start to make noise, they hit them with a shot of WD-40 or motorcycle chain lube (or whatever they can find on the shelf in the garage) and the noise goes away for a little while. However, when you consider that squeaking of any kind has to be caused by friction, obviously the bushings are not being adequately lubricated. Nylon 6-6 is not self-lubricating. Unless you use Nylatron GSM which is impregnated with molybdenum disulphide (and 10x the price), you have to provide lubrication, and my instructions have said so for the last 3+ years.

What I see are bushings that melted due to lack of proper lubrication.

Jimlab, what lubrication would u recommend for these bushings? Also, is 5k a good target for a service interval? :)

Or sooner. Lubricate them when you change your oil. With zerk fittings installed, it should only take 10-15 minutes, tops.

Lithium-complex or synthetic greases are best, and marine-grade grease holds up best in wet weather driving.

another maintenance item to add to the FD laundry list

buy a C6 folks....it ain't worth it :)

Jim, if I remember correctly from when you first started doing these bushings. Lubrication was not mandatory.


It was only after people started reporting squeaking that you recommended zerk fittings and grease.

Then it was only Paul White whose rear suspension locked up at the track that you determined that the bushings must have grease on them.

WTF? The advantage supposedly to these bushings were the lubricity of nylon. I'm sure I read your analysis of this feature in either the forum or the big list. Furthermore, they are not supposed to melt until 425 deg. F.

You're telling me that in 15 miles of highway to work the thing heated up enough to cause the noise?

Pray tell me why the factory bushings do not need grease when yours was supposed to be plug and play, I mean plug and pray.


I'm really annoyed that I got no more than 3000 miles, followed all the precautions and the car sounded your grandma's Buick with 300,000 miles on the clock.

Now I have to go through the hassle pulling the control arms and installing Mazda OEM bushings.

Damn, I should have known better than to buy homemade parts from a guy whose RX7 has been on the jackstands for the last 6 years.