Noises from JimLab Bushings - Report
#53
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Join Date: May 2003
Location: MIA
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Originally Posted by FD from R1
Unless you use Nylatron GSM which is impregnated with molybdenum disulphide (and 10x the price)
might be worth the extra $$$ actually
might be worth the extra $$$ actually
#55
Super Snuggles
Originally Posted by pomanferrari
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.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlab/docs/Addendum.doc
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.
#57
DragonFly
iTrader: (2)
i have a full set from a previous gb and another set from teh recent gb (still being completed), i installed some in the rear of the track car, lubed them up good, and installed zerks, ...i'll lube them up every time I get the car on the lift and ready for a track event, i report back if i ever take the control arms off again to check the bushings.
#58
Rotary Enthusiast
I've had very good luck with antisieze paste on s-bar bushings. I would think a high moly grease, or antiseeze paste, moly of other, would do best. lubricating solids, vs usual soap grease filler, should lube the best with low angle oscillating motion. the high moly grease would be best for very tight clearances. best to unload bushing by jacking, as much is practial, while regreasing.
#59
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
That's an interesting grease, but couldn't find a catridge form of that grease on www.mcmaster.com This would make it difficult to put thru the zerk fittings
how about that polyurea stuff??
how about that polyurea stuff??
#61
Super Snuggles
Originally Posted by pomanferrari
Why would I be a complete *** for faulting my self from buying home-made parts from a guy whose RX7 has been on jackstands for over 6 years?
What part is not true?
What part is not true?
When properly maintained, they hold up just fine. There are well over a hundred sets on cars now, over 250 sets in circulation, and some have been on cars for several years. You don't see those people making childish comments about my RX-7 in relation to the quality of the bushings or their experience with them.
This in view that his car actually used metal type bushings instead of nylon bushings that he sold to the rest of us?
I should've known better than to buy mechanical parts from a vaporware engineer from Washington State. Release the products first before any true development testing: sounds familiar? Sell the suckers upgrade and patches later: sounds familiar? Oh I'm sorry, didn't mean to impugn upon your employer.
Of course I'm pissed. And having the guy who sold me this product call me an "***" doesn't help.
#63
built my own engine
Originally Posted by pomanferrari
Of course I'm pissed. And having the guy who sold me this product call me an "***" doesn't help.
and i didn't sell you bushings, or advise you how to maintain your car
however, from a 3rd party's point of view, i will say one thing...Jim can be a *****, but it's just his personality, he's usually dead on as far as knowledge, which I think we should all learn to benefit from
he's been through just about every upgrade path one could possibly take, and he is more than willing to share his $.02 with anyone on any subject.
you had bad bushings, or wanted more performance, eitherway, all three options presented to you, (OEM Mazda, MazdaSpeed, or JimLab) have different benefits, you went with Jim's bushings most likely because you are cheap, and the associated maintenance with Jim's are that they require lubrication regularly.
You also were fully aware that he did not have his own R&D and basically gave most of his installation and maintenance instructions based on theory and experience alone
I really don't buy that you are a victim of some sort of fraud here, you knew what you were getting into, and now it's your word against his, and in this case, since you are acting like an ***, he has the upper hand...oh and 250+ people run his bushings and this is one of a handful of threads with anything negative about the bushings.
Nothing beats Mazda OEM for the perfect balance between performance and comfort/reliability, this theme is carried out with just about any part on the car.
#64
Super Snuggles
Originally Posted by 93BlackFD
You also were fully aware that he did not have his own R&D and basically gave most of his installation and maintenance instructions based on theory and experience alone
#65
Lives on the Forum
Originally Posted by 93BlackFD
i will say one thing...Jim can be a *****, but it's just his personality
The nylon bushings jim makes are going to function just fine BUT they were not intended to function under the same conditions as the stockers; they are going to require attention and lubrication in order to function correctly. IMO my daily driven car is not a good candidate for them because I'm unwilling to do this and so I have replaced my suspension with all stock parts though I am using jim's bushings in the trailing arms only.
The aftermarket toe link kits have the exact same problem. If you can keep them clean and keep them lubed they will last a long time, but that requires constant attention I don't wish to give. I just want the suspension to bolt to the car and function as intended without constant maintenance from me
#66
Originally Posted by DamonB
jim, next time the wife gets on you about something tell her she married you not for your looks but for your personality
The nylon bushings jim makes are going to function just fine BUT they were not intended to function under the same conditions as the stockers; they are going to require attention and lubrication in order to function correctly. IMO my daily driven car is not a good candidate for them because I'm unwilling to do this and so I have replaced my suspension with all stock parts though I am using jim's bushings in the trailing arms only.
The aftermarket toe link kits have the exact same problem. If you can keep them clean and keep them lubed they will last a long time, but that requires constant attention I don't wish to give. I just want the suspension to bolt to the car and function as intended without constant maintenance from me
The nylon bushings jim makes are going to function just fine BUT they were not intended to function under the same conditions as the stockers; they are going to require attention and lubrication in order to function correctly. IMO my daily driven car is not a good candidate for them because I'm unwilling to do this and so I have replaced my suspension with all stock parts though I am using jim's bushings in the trailing arms only.
The aftermarket toe link kits have the exact same problem. If you can keep them clean and keep them lubed they will last a long time, but that requires constant attention I don't wish to give. I just want the suspension to bolt to the car and function as intended without constant maintenance from me
Are you guys even reading what I posted. I LUBRICATED THEM TWICE W/IN 3000 MILES.
#67
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Can you get a "bad batch" of these bushings?
Perhaps poor QC on the machining? That is not quite in spec?
Pomanferrari, sounds like you did everything right. Can you pull off one of the bushings and take a look?
Have you isolated where exactly the noise is coming from?
Perhaps poor QC on the machining? That is not quite in spec?
Pomanferrari, sounds like you did everything right. Can you pull off one of the bushings and take a look?
Have you isolated where exactly the noise is coming from?
#68
Lives on the Forum
Originally Posted by pomanferrari
Are you guys even reading what I posted. I LUBRICATED THEM TWICE W/IN 3000 MILES.
I installed the trailing arm bushings with a film of marine grease and have many more than 3000 miles on them in all types of weather along with many track events and mine are perfectly fine; not even noisy.
The pics to me don't illustrate wear but some sort of contamination.
Last edited by DamonB; 08-16-04 at 02:22 PM.
#69
Lives on the Forum
I think what this thread illustrates is the knack for people to latch on to an aftermarket part after having convinced themselves it's the perfect solution to their problem. Aftermarket parts tend to be designed for specialized conditions and if you're not willing to operate within those you're going to have problems.
The jimlab bushings are by their nature maintenance intensive compared to stock. Most buyers IMO of the jimlab bushings buy them either because of the performance advantage or because of the economics compared to buying stock parts. Regardless of the reason you buy you pick your poison and you live with it. People are always too quick to latch onto the perceived advantages of any part without truthfully evaluating the possible disadvantages and weighing them overall.
I have a 93 that has hardly any of the so called "reliability mods" ( I have silicone hoses, an AST and a downpipe) and I average over 15,000 daily driver miles a year along with racing the hell out of it nearly every other weekend. My car stays reliable because I maintain it to be that way. I constantly replace parts before they cause problems instead of waiting for them to fail and possibly damaging other systems. Bolting on "upgrades" does not maintain a car and in many cases the "upgrade" is in fact more maintenance intensive. You still have to be attentive to the car's maintenance needs and in many cases aftermarket parts actually increase the attention needed.
The jimlab bushings are by their nature maintenance intensive compared to stock. Most buyers IMO of the jimlab bushings buy them either because of the performance advantage or because of the economics compared to buying stock parts. Regardless of the reason you buy you pick your poison and you live with it. People are always too quick to latch onto the perceived advantages of any part without truthfully evaluating the possible disadvantages and weighing them overall.
I have a 93 that has hardly any of the so called "reliability mods" ( I have silicone hoses, an AST and a downpipe) and I average over 15,000 daily driver miles a year along with racing the hell out of it nearly every other weekend. My car stays reliable because I maintain it to be that way. I constantly replace parts before they cause problems instead of waiting for them to fail and possibly damaging other systems. Bolting on "upgrades" does not maintain a car and in many cases the "upgrade" is in fact more maintenance intensive. You still have to be attentive to the car's maintenance needs and in many cases aftermarket parts actually increase the attention needed.
#70
Super Snuggles
Originally Posted by 7racer
Can you get a "bad batch" of these bushings?
Perhaps poor QC on the machining? That is not quite in spec?
Perhaps poor QC on the machining? That is not quite in spec?
#72
Lives on the Forum
Originally Posted by 7racer
Can you get a "bad batch" of these bushings?
#75
Originally Posted by DamonB
No offense but something was improper then. The pics clearly show the center pins have worn oblong holes in the bushing material and something like that just isn't going to happen in 3000 miles unless the lube somehow softened the bushing or the bushing was terribly contaminated with grit.
I installed the trailing arm bushings with a film of marine grease and have many more than 3000 miles on them in all types of weather along with many track events and mine are perfectly fine; not even noisy.
The pics to me don't illustrate wear but some sort of contamination.
I installed the trailing arm bushings with a film of marine grease and have many more than 3000 miles on them in all types of weather along with many track events and mine are perfectly fine; not even noisy.
The pics to me don't illustrate wear but some sort of contamination.
THOSE PICTURES POSTED ARE NOT OF MY BUSHINGS!!! THEY ARE DDR10 IN RESPONSE TO MY POST.
I have no idea what my bushings look like yet except that they make a huge racket after 15-20 miles of driving.
When cold, they're fine. I can't tell as yet if the car alignment geometry has changed when the car is hot.
And to those people who infer that I don't do maintainence, you are so far from the truth. At one point in my life, I was a foreign car mechanic. I was a ME. I maintain my car as a sort of Zen and the Mechanic of Rotary Performance. I treat my car like an airplane with operating hours b/w replacement of parts. I have a wrecked 93 RX7 stripped into a parts car in the basement since 1996. So being a gearhead gives me some credibility with these discussions. I'm not the moron that stuck a shirt into an intake.
The point of this discussion is to bring everyone with experience on the bushings out of the wood work. Having Jim dismiss these contentions as the rant of an *** detracts from the whole discussion.
Jim at one point may have had some relevancy in the discussion of an RX7 but since he started his mastubatory web blog on "How I Learned to Put a Cigarette Boat Motor into a Jap Car" I stopped going over to his postings to stroke his ego.
And despite what Jim thinks, these discussions on bad points or good points of his products are useful. For example, whatever happened to the "buttplugs"? If we didn't have the flame and arguments, it would have been a disservice to everyone who would've been suckered into buying them.
Last edited by pomanferrari; 08-16-04 at 03:10 PM.