Well, I asked around on various f-body and 3rd generation (gen) sites and could not manage to get an answer to what I thought would have been an easy question. Specifically I was looking for feedback on Energy Suspension bushings as well as their tendency to bind up when used in trailing arms. The best I found was from a fellow TTA driver who said he had good luck with them. I also asked about part numbers as our cars are a little odd. No luck there either.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127984&highlight=suspension
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126027&highlight=suspension
And one with some real info:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102906&highlight=suspension
So what was I to do? I just figured it out on my own and am hoping for the best. Right now the car is together save for the panhard bar so I should be able to actually road test it soon.
Here are notes on part numbers and installation. I am thinking it will be google indexed someday and be of help to someone. It should also be easily locatable, via forum search, to future TTA drivers looking to do the same upgrade. It may be worth mentioning that I did not mess with my factory TTA parts. I like to keep everything that came with the car. I picked up spare panhard bars and trailing arms from junk cars to modify.
Be warned, this is what I used and what I did to install the parts. If you destroy something or your rear end falls out it is on you!
Sit back and relax, this gets a little long.
All parts are Energy Suspension in black. The G denotes black.
Rear Control Arm (Trailing arm) bushings.
3.3136G
You pretty much need a press to pop out the old bushings and shells. Take some ½” or ¾” conduit and cut little spacers to drop inside the arms to provide a brace. This will help prevent the arms from collapsing as you push out the bushing. I used 3 tucked in around the bushing shell. Watch for flying bushings! Mine would move a little then pop out. I boxed by control arms (end to end) so installation was easier. I did not have to worry about the sides distorting during assembly. If I did it again I would leave the old ones in until I had the boxing completed. Once I had the bushings out I used some channel locks and adjustable wrenches to bend the arms back to uniformity.
Torque Arm Bushing - Torque arm lips pointing away from the drive shaft.
3.1111G
The paperwork says the part number should point toward the rear of the car. Well, apparently out torque arm mount is unique to go along with the unique trans cross member. It won’t fit that way. Flip it over, top to bottom, and it fits perfectly. It is molded to lock itself into the bracket. It kind of only fits one way while keeping the opening for the end of the arm in correct orientation. To install it you need to support the trans and pull the cross member. You have to drill or grind out the rivets on the old bushing, there is no way to do it in the car. If I had it to do again I would pull the drive shaft as well so that I had more room to tighten the bolt at the top of the torque arm mount. Tighten the bolt once the arm end is inserted. You may even be able to do this on the ground before reinstalling the cross member. I would suggest a helper to hold up the end or the torque arm so that it does not hang at an extreme angle.
Front End Links
9.8117G
The unique TTA strikes again!! The front sway bar is lower than one on a normal TA or GTA. This is because the bar has to drop about an inch to clear the intercooler. There are spacers between the frame and frame bushings to accomplish this. To account for this the end links have to be shorter. Use the factory sleeve that comes off of the factory end links as a guide and cut down the sleeve that comes with the new kit. You could also just reuse the factory sleeve. One way or another assemble the kit on the bench and lay it next to a factory setup. Make sure the distance between the points at which the bushings meet is the same so that the end result is maintaining factory spacing of the sway bar off of the lower control arm. Measure twice then cut once. The other thing that I saw as odd is that the factory bushings on the sway bar are one piece. Apparently the factory found out a way to press them through the eyelet. One side of mine was already broken. On the other side I had to grab each half with a pair of channel locks and twist it apart.
Front Sway Bar Frame Bushings – 34mm
3.5131G
Another little issue arose here. The bar is closer to like 36mm at the point where they mount, but not exactly. Unfortunately the mount point is close to a bend in the bar so it is a little crushed/flat as result of the bend. The largest you can get from ES is the 34mm. I took a stock mounting bracket, dropped in a bushing, but a bolt through one side and clamped the other side in a vice. I used a small sanding drum on a die grinder to open up the bushing. Dry fit it on the bar quite often to keep from taking out too much material. When you fit it make sure you slide the mounting bracket on it and place it in the correct orientation. You have to find the sweet spot where the bracket haves come together and hold the bushing tightly. When you see it in front of you it will make more sense. My bushing did not close all of the way. That is the split in the bushing that allows it to open did not meet and fully close when on the bar. I had to split the difference so that the mounting bracket would hold the bushing tightly. If I took out enough material to make the bushing fully close then there would have been a lot of slop between the bushing and the frame side of the bracket. If you think about it the stress on the bushing is primarily up and down so you want to make sure it fits snugly top and bottom.
Rear Sway Bar Set – 24mm
3.5147G
This is a set of end links and mounting bushings for the rear sway bar all in one box. These all went in with no modifications or real surprises. The sway bar is attached to the rear end with what looks like a modified exhaust clamp. Make sure you notice the relief cut into the inside of the lower half of the clamp that rides on a sliver of metal tacked to the bottom of the rear end. These match up to locate and stabilize the bracket.
Panhard Bar Bushing Set
3.7106G
Getting the old bushings out is a little bit of a pain. The bushing has a lip on either side of the eyelet. I did 2 bars and used 2 different techniques to get the bushing out. On the first bar I used a hack saw and cut off one side/lip of the bushing then I pushed out the rest on a press. On the second bar I used a propane torch to burn off the lip as well as some of the bushing inside the eyelet. I then drive out the rest with a bar and a couple of heavy whacks from a hammer. By the way, if you go to box a panhard bar be careful as you weld. They are long and thin. Too much heat and they warp in a heart beat. Thus the reason I did 2 bars.
Good Luck
Brent
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127984&highlight=suspension
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126027&highlight=suspension
And one with some real info:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102906&highlight=suspension
So what was I to do? I just figured it out on my own and am hoping for the best. Right now the car is together save for the panhard bar so I should be able to actually road test it soon.
Here are notes on part numbers and installation. I am thinking it will be google indexed someday and be of help to someone. It should also be easily locatable, via forum search, to future TTA drivers looking to do the same upgrade. It may be worth mentioning that I did not mess with my factory TTA parts. I like to keep everything that came with the car. I picked up spare panhard bars and trailing arms from junk cars to modify.
Be warned, this is what I used and what I did to install the parts. If you destroy something or your rear end falls out it is on you!
Sit back and relax, this gets a little long.
All parts are Energy Suspension in black. The G denotes black.
Rear Control Arm (Trailing arm) bushings.
3.3136G
You pretty much need a press to pop out the old bushings and shells. Take some ½” or ¾” conduit and cut little spacers to drop inside the arms to provide a brace. This will help prevent the arms from collapsing as you push out the bushing. I used 3 tucked in around the bushing shell. Watch for flying bushings! Mine would move a little then pop out. I boxed by control arms (end to end) so installation was easier. I did not have to worry about the sides distorting during assembly. If I did it again I would leave the old ones in until I had the boxing completed. Once I had the bushings out I used some channel locks and adjustable wrenches to bend the arms back to uniformity.
Torque Arm Bushing - Torque arm lips pointing away from the drive shaft.
3.1111G
The paperwork says the part number should point toward the rear of the car. Well, apparently out torque arm mount is unique to go along with the unique trans cross member. It won’t fit that way. Flip it over, top to bottom, and it fits perfectly. It is molded to lock itself into the bracket. It kind of only fits one way while keeping the opening for the end of the arm in correct orientation. To install it you need to support the trans and pull the cross member. You have to drill or grind out the rivets on the old bushing, there is no way to do it in the car. If I had it to do again I would pull the drive shaft as well so that I had more room to tighten the bolt at the top of the torque arm mount. Tighten the bolt once the arm end is inserted. You may even be able to do this on the ground before reinstalling the cross member. I would suggest a helper to hold up the end or the torque arm so that it does not hang at an extreme angle.
Front End Links
9.8117G
The unique TTA strikes again!! The front sway bar is lower than one on a normal TA or GTA. This is because the bar has to drop about an inch to clear the intercooler. There are spacers between the frame and frame bushings to accomplish this. To account for this the end links have to be shorter. Use the factory sleeve that comes off of the factory end links as a guide and cut down the sleeve that comes with the new kit. You could also just reuse the factory sleeve. One way or another assemble the kit on the bench and lay it next to a factory setup. Make sure the distance between the points at which the bushings meet is the same so that the end result is maintaining factory spacing of the sway bar off of the lower control arm. Measure twice then cut once. The other thing that I saw as odd is that the factory bushings on the sway bar are one piece. Apparently the factory found out a way to press them through the eyelet. One side of mine was already broken. On the other side I had to grab each half with a pair of channel locks and twist it apart.
Front Sway Bar Frame Bushings – 34mm
3.5131G
Another little issue arose here. The bar is closer to like 36mm at the point where they mount, but not exactly. Unfortunately the mount point is close to a bend in the bar so it is a little crushed/flat as result of the bend. The largest you can get from ES is the 34mm. I took a stock mounting bracket, dropped in a bushing, but a bolt through one side and clamped the other side in a vice. I used a small sanding drum on a die grinder to open up the bushing. Dry fit it on the bar quite often to keep from taking out too much material. When you fit it make sure you slide the mounting bracket on it and place it in the correct orientation. You have to find the sweet spot where the bracket haves come together and hold the bushing tightly. When you see it in front of you it will make more sense. My bushing did not close all of the way. That is the split in the bushing that allows it to open did not meet and fully close when on the bar. I had to split the difference so that the mounting bracket would hold the bushing tightly. If I took out enough material to make the bushing fully close then there would have been a lot of slop between the bushing and the frame side of the bracket. If you think about it the stress on the bushing is primarily up and down so you want to make sure it fits snugly top and bottom.
Rear Sway Bar Set – 24mm
3.5147G
This is a set of end links and mounting bushings for the rear sway bar all in one box. These all went in with no modifications or real surprises. The sway bar is attached to the rear end with what looks like a modified exhaust clamp. Make sure you notice the relief cut into the inside of the lower half of the clamp that rides on a sliver of metal tacked to the bottom of the rear end. These match up to locate and stabilize the bracket.
Panhard Bar Bushing Set
3.7106G
Getting the old bushings out is a little bit of a pain. The bushing has a lip on either side of the eyelet. I did 2 bars and used 2 different techniques to get the bushing out. On the first bar I used a hack saw and cut off one side/lip of the bushing then I pushed out the rest on a press. On the second bar I used a propane torch to burn off the lip as well as some of the bushing inside the eyelet. I then drive out the rest with a bar and a couple of heavy whacks from a hammer. By the way, if you go to box a panhard bar be careful as you weld. They are long and thin. Too much heat and they warp in a heart beat. Thus the reason I did 2 bars.
Good Luck
Brent
