I replaced all ball joints and tie rods among many other things this weekend.

A year and a half have passed since I removed the sub-frame and lubricated the Power Flex bushings...about 90,000 miles of driving.

The LCA Power Flex bushing is noted for having a little bit of bind at the upper and lower extremes of suspension travel. However, when I removed the outer ball joint and tie rod and moved one of the arms up and down, the amount of bind was considerable. When I removed the control arm from the sub-frame I noticed that all of the lubricant was gone - removing the control arm from the bushing took considerable effort.

I thoroughly cleaned each bushing, inspected each - they were fine - generously lubricated each and reinstalled everything. After reinstalling the sub-frame and before attaching the tie rod and outer ball joint I checked for bind. The operation of the control arm improved dramatically after being lubricated. The car felt supple during my drive to work today.

So, keep these lubricated!!! I used silver anti-sieze...I did not have the recommended copper anti-sieze on hand. Silver has more corrosion resistance than copper in any event.

I used power tools this time...removal and re-installation and cleanup took 2 hours and 20 minutes.

 

Thank you for the tip MEB.. Your thread is probably quiet because all the powerflex users are outside greasing up!

It is possibly an issue with all poly bushings - not just powerflex. I've had powerflex's on my E36 for a few years now - were there any signs of the loss of grease?

I don't think there is any heim's fittings at any of the locations, so I'm not sure how simple re-lubing would be in my case.

Thank you for your insight MEB!

 

The lubricant simply gets pounded out...I am sure half of it is already gone after two days of driving...nature of the beast.

These bushings have been on the car for a long time. This lubrication interval was by far the longest though; previously I removed the sub-frame in spring and in fall to change ball joints and lube these bushings. A little **** for sure, but I drive a lot for work and I was tracking the car alot back then...an ounce of prevention type of thing.

The Alta unit would be my choice if not for the salty roads I drive on winter...but when this car is a track car only...

Your openning statement is funny...and true

 

So, long story short:

R53 = Madness cro-mo control arms w/non-offset spherical bearing
R56 = ALTA PSRS located in "half-n-half" position to bring back some steering feel.

You can do these polyurethane bushings on the R56 without the binding problem the R53 has, but the problem is you're not fixing the geometry problem that kills the steering feel.

$0.02,
Ryan

 

Is that what you did to your particular vehicles? Did you like the Madness arms/bushings or are you saying something else?

 

R53 PSRS is good also.

 

MEB is talking about ANY Poly bushing - he doesn't even mention FCAB's in his post.

 

Oh?

...and to answer your question; yes. Madness' front control arms are completely amazing on the R53, and ALTA PSRS's are the best solution to-date for the R56.

 

Any poly bushing that as a shear type movement - swaybars for example - should be lubricated periodically...otherwise they sqeak and or bind. In the case of the Powerflex bushing, it binds because the LCA axis changes as the arm moves up and down...nothing will change how this bushing works.

Even if this bushing did not bind via the off axis movement, its movement is shearing lubricant away as the inner portion slides in and out of the outer sleeve.

Binding will affect alignments and corner balancing, and, how the car works in general.

These bushings are a good solution for me given my driving venue but they are a compromise. Ryan's suggestion is actually the best solution, but I worry about salt...so until my mini is a track star only, the Powerflex bushings will stay.

 

I'm looking to replace the bushings on my wifes '04 R53, with about 90,000 miles. Don't want OEM bushings, are Powerflex the best option? Do they have to be removed everytime to be greased? Are Altas the same way?

 

The Powerflex bushings don't need to be greased after install and we have found them best for daily drivers. The Alta are nice but only encourage them on track MINI'

 

I love my Alta units for my daily driver. No NVH and boy do they work!

 

I really like my powerflex bushings

 

+1 for powerflex

 

Glad you like your powerflex, I got your cores back today. Ready for the next customer.

WAY

 

How much are the swap outs?

 

$110 for the PF prepressed into the brackets.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...4&cat=0&page=1