Delrin or Poly

[River6822@aol.com]

Although we may all agree in theory that the stock bushings are no good I
would like to share this little tib bit of information for all who care to
read.

I just replaced all 4 front lower control arm bushings, 1 ball joint, strut
cartirdges, stops, and bearings in my 88 80q last week. I looked into both the
delrin and poly bushings. They are all very expensive and extoll tales of
wonderous improvement over the stock units.

At 110,000 miles, the car has never had any suspension work done. I bought the
car from the original owner with all of the repair and maintenance records
intack. (Hard to beleive I know)

I used the Boge Pro Gas cartrides and all remaining components were bilstein.
In repairing this vehicle I noticed one thing-----The amazing shape that
everything was in. 

1) The old ball joint had little if any, abnormal play even though the boot
was ripped and there was no grease inside.

2) Only one stut dust boot was torn.

3) The strut stops were weak, but not torn.

4) The strut bearings rotated as easily as the new ones, and had little if any
play.

5) The control arm bushings were in perfect condition. If I had not taken the
advice of this list, the old ones would still be there.

Now, it's possible that the car was driven lightly and very well taken care
of, but I drove it hard for the past 4 months. (10,000 miles) I too cared for
it, but paid little attention to these parts because I would be replacing them
when the weather warmed up alittle.

IMHO I beleive that the stock bushings, bearings, and joints are plenty good
enough for street use. I have more than 500,000 miles of experience with these
cars to reinforce my opinion.

For those of you who want an upgrade, go with a better strut cartride like the
Pro Gas or maybe Koni's or Bilsteins if you can afford them. An even more
important suspension upgrade are the coil springs, if you don't mind the
sacrifce in ride height. The extra money you spend on "upgraded" bushings and
bearings will only war a hole in your pocket. Sure these parts have been used
successfully onrace cars, but are any of use shaving 10ths of seconds off of
our daily commute ?


Just my 2 cents

Scott Calabrese
http://members.aol.com/river6822
88 80q