[Mk2] [Turbo] Poly bushed suspension fitted. driving feedback.

[nickg07]

So I bought some poly bushed arms from someone on this very forum ad had them fitted by Sbits on Saturday.

The fitting process was a little painful with a front an d rear bolt seized, not in the chassis but in the Bush itself making extraction a angle grinder affair. Fair play to Peter who got the old arms out without damaging the chassis.

So how does it drive? The change is noticeable . The steering feels firmer. And more controlled. The car generally feels much toughter.

Its akin to previously driving around on lazily inflated tyres and then pumping them up for properly.

Would I recommend it? Yes but with caveats. The job is not an easy one, be prepared for unexpected bolt issues. If you are going to do it yourself make sure you have access to replacement bolts and plently of time on your hands to do it all properly.

[craig]

Agree mate, the difference between tired rubber bushes and new poly bushes is like night and day, car feels so much better, refreshed

[Mike]

I worry that the car would feel too rigid with polybushes teamed up with my Superstreets.

[nickg07]

If you buy coilovers I'm already thinking you want rigid.

[Mike]

If you buy coilovers I'm already thinking you want rigid.

Nope, I bought coilovers because I couldn't get the standard Billies so went for the best quality and most adjustable suspension set up I could afford.

If I wanted a stiff set up I wouldn't have got rid of my 17s for a set of standard 15s either.

[HighwayStar]

I polybushed my rev1 on 15's, yellow billies and teins and felt if anything the ride improved. Certainly in my case very well worthwhile. Much tighter, tauter and responsive...

R.

PS Don't forget to redo the geo if you do go ahead.

[Jayridium]

Having done poly bush conversions on few customers cars recently I can attest to the ride generally feeling more supple afterwards. Generally what happens is the bolt seizes onto the bush, meaning that for the wish bone to move it has to twist the rubber. At his juncture the bolt/bush combination is acting as a torsional spring by adding additional resistance to movement, and has the side effect of acting like you have stiffer springs, thus giving you a crashier ride. Removing the friction of the old bushes onto the bolts invariably lets the dampers do their jobs more effectively and can make the world of difference to ride quality AS WELL AS giving you the enhanced stability of suspension geometry that they were probably fitted for in the first place.

[nickg07]

Agree. Two of mine were seized not in the chassis but on the tube inside the bush.

[Jayridium]

Yep, Toyota metallurgy seems to be pretty poor in this area, even our test bed, a 91 mk2 was seized solid at the back when weplaying with new pickup point locations. It almost seems like the choice of metals used are destined to bond together still we cant complain as these cars tend to remain rot free compared to Mitsubishi - the dude with the adjacent unit to me was bemoaning evos - he had one at three years old needed its sills welded up for its first MOT.