Trying to find Bushings! Coilovers or struts?

I am not a fan of the way my car handles at high speed, so I have been purchasing parts and planning out how I will redo all the bushings/suspension in a timely and costly fashion.

 

My list so far for anyone else looking to do the same thing:

 

-Megan Racing Rear, F/R lateral arms. $330, I figured why replace the bushings when you can get each set of arms for 150 bucks with new bushings and stronger in general.

 

-Whiteline Rear Trailing Arm Bushings W63398. $55 , these will be a pain in the ass to get out but the 2 piece style bushings are easy as pie to get back in so the hardest part here is removing the trailing arm, and then pressing out the bushing.

 

-Whiteline Front Inner Control arm bushing, W0506, These have to be pressed out, but these are 2 piece as well and should be easy to press in.

 

-Balljoints $40, Any auto store.

 

-Megan Racing Street Coilovers (or a set of BC Racing coilovers if I can get them for around the price) $860. Pretty good price for some average coilovers, nothing spectacular, but I was going to leave this for last to see what the ride is like after I change all the bushings. But still not sure I may just get new struts and springs. I have to do some more research. Opinions appreciated! Little help!

 

-Hotchkiss Sway Bar set. with Kartboy Endlinks- Already installed.

 

-The only thing I am missing is the Front outer control arm bushing which I have not been able to find on the net, which is one of the main reasons for this post! Anyone know the Manufacturer and Model # for some Front outer control arm poly bushings, 2 piece if possible? Little help!

I think you should decide if you are going to change your strut/shock/spring combination before deciding about bushings and other components. If you are going to have things apart... better to have everything ready to go on at once. Keeep in mind that coil overs require more frequent maintenance than a strut shock combo... consider Konis and springs which wont limit your other suspension options as much as coilovers.

I pretty much decided coilovers.... Just looking for 2nd opinions really. A set of Koni's and springs are aound 1k anyways. So I will be getting the coilovers. But I do agree, I should just do it all at once and be done.

Do not spend your money on a set of Megan coils. I also strongly advise against them for someone living in NY as they will seize in the winter most likely.

 

Hotchkis sways and KB links are good.

 

If you are going to be lowering the car you should also look into the Whiteline roll center/bumpsteer kit.

 

For bushings I recommend the front LCA front bushings, as well as the rear bushings on the front LCA, I prefer the positive caster ones (the positive caster lca rear bushings make the biggest difference of all bushings).

 

Steering rack bushings are also nice to have.

 

In my opinion the rear trailing arm bushings aren't necessary unless yours are in terrible shape, they are a serious pain to replace.

 

The rear diff insert bushings as well as the rear diff crossmember bushings are great too, really gets rid of the slop in the driveline.

I found the front lca bushing but I cant get a part number on the front rear bushings! But my trailing arm and the front rear are the 2 i want to change the most, they are basically torn apart completely. Know a good set of coils that wont break the bank?

Will be adding

- whiteline Bump steer kit

 

- whiteline steering rack bushings

 

- postive caster front and rear lca bushings

 

taking off megan racing coilovers. Looking into ISC, TEIN and BC Racing.

Unsolicited advice: avoid budget coilovers. $1000 on Konis/Bilsteins and a good set of springs will yield far better performance and comfort (and longevity) than $1000 coilovers. If you are SET on coilovers, pony up the extra cash and get KWs. Teins aren't terrible, but I wouldn't spend my money on them.

 

I have had Konis/Swifts, Konis/Epics, RCE Tarmac Coilovers, and currently Bilstein PSS coilovers on my '06 GT. The Konis/Epics were VERY close to the RCE Tarmacs (which are essentially custom KWv2s) in both comfort and performance, and a hell of a lot more affordable.

 

I sell Whiteline, KW, and Tein, so let me know when you get your list together and I'll quote it for you. [/shamelessplug]

My car already has the eibach lowering springs. So maybe I should consider just the struts. I drive fast frequently, on the highway I do at least 70, 100+ if there is not traffic. I cant stand how loose it gets the faster I go. I assume I need a lot stiffer strut to get rid of all this body roll, and I want to change all the bushings to get out as much slop as possible. I like nimble. My car swings forward and backward to much(accelerating/braking) and left to right in the rear. Screw comfort, I would prefer solid metal and feeling every bump on the road over a softer ride. The stiffer the better. Little help!!!

 

So my new list:

-4 koni struts

-positive caster front forward and rear control arm bushing

-whiteline roll center/bumpsteer kit and steering rack bushings.

-rear trailing arm bushings

 

Now i'm not sure about my rear control arms.... I think I will now put those for last, I figured they were flimsy and stronger control arms would take out some of the flex in the rear, let me know if i'm incorrect! The main goal is for tighter steering and better response. I appreciate all of your input, it was greatly appreciated.

Anyone have any recommendations for struts? So far I have seen Koni and KYB. A really stiff strut!!

If your going struts go koni. KYB is a stock replacement

since you say you drive fast a lot, shouldn't you find ways to increase the downforce than doing the suspension?

One thing at a time!!

Looks like Konis it is! Holy shit, gotta cut metal to install these?

Bilstein HD? Tokico HTS600?:

Koni's only require you to cut the strut tube so you can insert the Koni's strut. Its not hard just measure twice cut once and be done.

since you say you drive fast a lot, shouldn't you find ways to increase the downforce than doing the suspension?

 

So downforce?? Are there actually any downforce solutions for the lgt??? Ive been reading around here for a long time and never came across a thread like that!

If you're going with a strut, Koni is going to be your best option for performance and quality.

 

If you want coils, like others have mentioned, KW's are the most affordable that I would spend MY money on, the rest will give you more problems than they're worth.

 

If you're still running your eibach's on oem struts, that's your problem. I think you're confusing your desire for a stiffer ride with quality damping. Koni's will make you feel much more stable at speed.

 

Do you have sway bars? If not, that would be pretty high up on my list.

 

In terms of steering feel and response, the biggest difference will be from dampers and the positive caster lca bushings, if you still have your oem ones from '05, they're likely shot.

 

Regarding the rear control arms, I have the Whiteline set of 4, I love them. They certainly stiffened up the rear, especially in high load cornering, by greatly reducing deflection and vibration. However, I wouldn't think about rear control arms unless you already have f/r sways, every bushing possible, struts/springs and/or coils. Also, keep in mind I put the WL arms on my car while the RCE T1's were on there with 500lb springs, so it is likely that the effect I noticed was greater than if I just had struts/springs.

I will be going with the konis, bumpsteer and roll center kit, steering rack bushings, front control arm bushings with +.05 caster. I think from what I've learned these will be my best bet in giving me better stability.

 

I already have the hotchkis tubular sway bar set and kartboy endlinks on the car.

 

I'll start to change out the rear control arms after i finish all the other bushings.

 

Thanks a bunch for your time!

Good call. The WL camber and toe arms are great pieces, especially if you want to get your alignment *perfect* after lowering the car.

 

Check out these install threads I wrote when I worked for Fred Beans Parts, to give you an idea of what is involved:

 

Whiteline KTA124 Adjustable Camber/Toe Link Install

Koni Shock/Strut & Epic Engineering Spring Install