I was planning on putting black polyurethane bushings in my lower links, and leaving the stock upper rubbers in place, but ReSpeed just came out with some nice lower links (DOM tubing, HK rod ends, black powdercoated) And I was wondering if I could now use poly bushings in the uppers now that the lowers will have hiem joints. I remember the reason that you don't put poly bushings in all 4 links is that it will bind, but since I will be using hiem joints, using polys in the uppers should not cause it to bind, correct?

ALSO: is it safe to use poly bushings in the Watts linkage? or will that cause binding too?

 

no, it will bind with poly in top and heim in bottom, the binding comes from not being able to compress, ie: the axis is alway in the center (at least with the heim), and both the heim and polys will prevent the give that the suspension needs to work.

 

I know that the generally accepted theory is that you can't use poly in all of the rear links, and a lot of the top experts agree with this. All I can tell you is my own personal experience. I used poly in all of my rear end links and have had no issues at all with it. This was combined with RB springs and Illumina shocks, not sure if that makes any difference or not.

You can check out any of my videos from '07 on and see how well the car is balanced if you like.

 

You can put urethane anywhere you want. Just know the potential problems a know how to deal with them. If you put urethane anywhere in the back it will increase roll stiffness from the mentioned binding. Urethane in the watts link probably is the best place for it.
A big front sway bar will lock up the front suspension enough to counter the stiffer rear and the car will feel balanced. You won't be getting the most from the suspension but you will get enough to have a ton of fun on the street or auto-x and even most track driving. You won't win a National race with that set up anymore though and Regionals are getting tough too.

 

We suggest using the stock upper arms. Simple, cheap and poly bushings in the upper arms do not render a gain . That is - if you have not converted the Gforce tri-link system in which case you do not need upper arms.

-billy

 

Thanks guys , I'll try both ways and see how it goes, as I now have two sets of rear links, and I've had a set of black energy suspension bushings sitting in the corner of my garage for nearly 6 months now.

My setup is going to be very similar to Kentetsu's, RB springs and illuminas. Still wondering which way to go with the sway bar though. As long as I'm going to be buying stuff from Billy, I might as well buy one of his tubular sway bars as well... Anybody used one of them yet?

 

I recently ordered Respeed's swaybar to replace my RB bar. Hasn't arrived yet, but looking forward to it....