bushes

[andyj007]

Hi guys, i have a set of supeflex bushes for my elan sprint front suspension i brought last year from sue miller..
Ive just refershed all teh suspension arms, have new shocks to fit..
`ive read some conflicting opinoins on these , dificulty on squeezing in tio the arms, only to find they then bind and need freeing.
Do i write these off and purchase some original metalisic ones? or another make? ive not tried to squeeze them in yet , thst the weekends job.

thoughst please ..

[elans3]

Never had any problem with fitting Superflex, they should obviously be fitted using the grease that comes with them. Which bushes exactly are you doing ? My only advice would be to fit OE rubber / metalastik to where the joint is directly to the chassis, and Superflex elsewhere. That way you won't transmit NVH into the car. Been there and done that years ago on other marques.

[andyj007]

thanks elan s3 . pack of 8.. they are for the front wishbones..

[elans3]

Ah, then I personally wouldn't fit them, as they are all inner wishbone bushes and fit to the chassis.
I'd pass, and fit good quality Metalastik type.

[mbell]

My only advice would be to fit OE rubber / metalastik to where the joint is directly to the chassis, and Superflex elsewhere.

I am just starting out a big suspension refresh and this was the basic conclusion I'd come to for my car.

Poly v rubber is really a noise+vibration v handling thing. The poly bushes are generally harder which will hold the suspension in position better and improve handling, but the increased hardness will also allow more transmission vibration and therefore noise.

My conclusion was that I would fit poly at the outer ends to minimize suspension play but rubber at the chassis end to minimize transmission of vibration(+noise).

Whether this is the right approach depends on your personal use and care abouts. If you want to drive it hard and maybe do odd events then poly makes sense. If you want to do long distance trips or just cruise around then rubber might be the way to go.

I'd expect the poly bushes (especially if two pieces) to not be hard to fit, possibly easier than new rubber ones.

[Chrispy]

I fitted poly ones to mine. No issues to report, NVR is no worse than the older rubber ones I had fitted. The amount of rubber in them I'd be surprised they did much at all.

Bit of a pain to fit, but once you've worked out a method it's ok.

[h20hamelan]

I decided back in the 80’s, poly for side to side. Rubber for up and down.
Still working well for me

[snowyelan]

I struggle to understand why people think the poly option is better in this application. Nothing against poly, I like, and use it, where I think it is a better solution.

All of the original bushes are sleeved with bonded steel on the ID and OD. There is a minimal amount of rubber in them. The poly bushes have a lot more squishy (consider how spring rate works as applied to length compressed) material as the steel on the original bushings OD is replaced with urethane. The durometer delta would need to be significant for urethane to even match the original design.
The method of axial location is another consideration. With the originals both bushings work in both axial directions to absorb loads. The rubber is bonded to the steel. With the top hat design urethane only works in one direction. The brim of the hat takes the load. Each arm is now seeing almost twice the load it was designed for.

Please feel free to correct my ramblings, I've been wrong before.

[snowyelan]

Separate comment, but there was a recent thread on fit issues with the OE style bushings. The OD may be out of spec for a recent batch. Too small so they were loose in the arms.

[andyj007]

UPDATE.
the superflex` bushes are fitted, a
nd to b[e honest were quite easy once you get the knack. just used a vice , fairy liquid an=d eased them in gently. it takes a few attempts to get them aligned but when the do the go in lovely. i hav]e one more to do so will snap a few pics

[patrics]

Hi,
One of the first thing I do is to make sure the actual arms are straight / manufactured properly – mine were way out which makes the modern polybushes “walkout”. I made a jig to cut and realign them. I would be surprised if any new or old arms were actually any good.

Regards
Steve

[Roland]

Hi All,

Sorry for a bit of a late post on this. I have been through some difficulties in fitting PU bushes to my front wishbones which are dimensionally 'correct'.

I first tried SuperFlex and found the crush tubes to be 1mm short of the PU installed bush and didn't fit them on the car because they simply locked up. Then I tried Autobushe and drove 400 miles and found two of them walked out of the wishbones. The Autobushe bushes seem too loose in my wishbones, bush diameter seems too small.

I then bought a set of Super Pro bushes and have taken dimensions of all three manufacturers products, they are all different in terms of key measurements such as unfitted and fitted diameter and length. I can share these dimensions if it is of interest to anyone.

I have just installed the Super Pro Bushes and I must say the fit seems perfect. They also use an additional large washer on the inner side of the wishbones as well on the outside. So I shall see how the Super Pro's perform but they certainly seem to fit they best on my car, they are also the most expensive.

If I was starting this all over again I would simply buy the Super Pro's. I bought them direct from Super Pro since Matty's, Sue Miller etc don't seem to sell Super Pro.

Regards

Roland

[h20hamelan]

Interesting, as I installed the TTR SuperFlex. They seemed to fit fine. I better double check as I’ve only done a few hundred miles, everything seems correct after alignment double check but…

[Roland]

I had a long discussion with Super Pro about their bushes before ordering. Actually they told me the bush that SuperFlex originally sold (probably quite a few years back) was actually designed, manufactured and sold to SuperFlex by them. Indeed SuperFlex did indicate to me that the original bush design was done in Australia, of course Super Pro are Australian.

Some years ago now SuperFlex started manufacturing the bush themselves and Super Pro no longer supply to SuperFlex, that's what Super Pro advised. The correct fit of these bushes is dependent on small margins (0.1 - 0.2mm) and I suspect SuperFlex may now be using different dimensions or perhaps lost control of dimensions slightly? Also I think the additional large washer on the inner side of the bush is critical and is only present with the Super Pro design.

Super Pro also stated to me the material they use is proprietary to themselves. Indeed looking at the 3 manufacturers bushes the materials used are roughly the same colour but are all different in terms of hardness.

I actually spoke with SuperFlex, Autobushe and Super Pro during my unplanned journey to find a bush that fits well. Out of the three Super Pro seemed to be a much larger organisation developing their own bush designs. I do use Super Pro bushes on my other cars and they are superb. I originally ordered SuperFlex because I thought they had knowledge in producing the bushes for the Elan, as indicated I suspect this expertise actually sits with Super Pro.

I am still really surprised at the different across these products, it has been a learning expereince.

R

[cliveyboy]

Roland
Just been watching this video:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z6OEohnPKw (its 26 mins long but I was totally enthralled)
Its comparing Super Pro bushes to other makes and shows the difference in design and difference after installation. It certainly explains why there is such divided opinion about Poly bushes.
A poorly designed set of bushes and that includes some well known names are probably worse than the perished rubber bushes they replace.
Super Pro seems to be in a different league to their competitors.
I had not paid much attention to poly bushes before because of such mixed opinions but I understand why now.
I think I might be tempted.
Thanks for the tip off
Clive