Replacement bushing for Z32 upright shock mount

[devnull]

UPDATE: I have at last reached a conclusion to this: The ES bushings won't work. First off it was a major pain in the ass to get them to fit, and when it was all put together the angles were too great for this to work. The fitment would cause suspension binding in the best case and cause a failure of the shocks, either a damper failure or a broken mount, in the worst case.


For those that have seen the Z32 aluminum rear uprights, the lower shock mount bolts through a rubber bushing.

The only replacement part that I've seen until now are Nismo bushings at $35 each and nobody I know of keeps them in stock.

I've figured out that Energy Suspension part #9.9484G fits with some minor modifications. You can get these bushings at autozone for less than $15. The package contains enough to do both sides. The diameter which will slip inside the upright is nearly perfect.

First off, the center sleeve is too long by about 1/4" and it's inner diameter is 9/16". The stock bolt is 12mm. You can resolve this by having a machine shop cut down the sleeve to 42mm long, and redrill the lower mount on the shock to 9/16". Then you just replace the nuts and bolts on each side with 9/16".

Alternatively, you can have a machine shop make you custom center sleeves from steel stock. This will allow you to retain the standard 12mm hardware and you won't need to modify your lower shock mount. That is what I had done. Cost me $25 total.

After that, you will need to trim just a small amount off of the flanged side of the bushings themselves. The assembled bushings are approximately 1mm too wide. I haven't done this part yet, but I'm thinking of using and abrasive pad or wheel to do this. If my lower shock mounts were steel I would just force it on, but since they're aluminum and these polyurethane pieces are really strong I think it would run less risk of breaking the lower mounts to get them to fit just right.

Crappy cell phone pix:

Here's a pic of an assembled bushing with a custom center sleeve. The sleeve is bottomed out to show the difference in width between the sleeve and the assembled bushings.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m83/devslashnull/ESBushings/PIC-0069.jpg

Comparing the length of the supplied sleeve to the custom one.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m83/devslashnull/ESBushings/PIC-0070.jpg

I took this picture to show in better detail the flanges on each bushing half. Basically I will be grinding down the outside of the bushing, making the flanges thinner.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m83/devslashnull/ESBushings/PIC-0071.jpg

[turtl631]

I wish there were a spherical bearing available. There's some misalignment running the Z32 setup on a S14 and it looks to me like a poly bushing would not be happy about that.

[Def]

I wish there were a spherical bearing available. There's some misalignment running the Z32 setup on a S14 and it looks to me like a poly bushing would not be happy about that.

Yea I do too. :ugh:


I would not use poly there either. You will really be cranking on the shock with any sort of misalignment. I think that's the main reason there is such a large void on the stocker - to allow it to angle side to side as the suspension moves through its arc.

[a_ahmed]

Def when will you be done with the sphericals ;)

[Def]

Def when will you be done with the sphericals ;)

There should be quite a few orders soon.

An independent review from the beta tester should surface here in the near future.

[az_240]

I do not suggest using those poly bushings since the bushing needs to sit at an angle once installed.... If you try those poly bushings the bottom coilover mount will more than likely not sit flat against the inner metal sleeve causing stress

I just purchased the nismos for $35 each since my stock shock mount bushings seem to be really flimsy. I just hope they will work out ok

[devnull]

Thanks for the info. Since I've already got the parts, I'm going to at least assemble everything and test fit it. If it doesn't work well enough I'll move to another solution.

[jandysil80]

any word on the sphericals?

[Def]

Someone on here has a full set. I've thought about making a fancy run of some, but it's a large outlay of cash without a guarantee of sales. I'm not sure it's worth becoming a vendor for such a small side operation, so I don't want to make this a commercial thread.

There is more info at www.nissanroadracing.com since a lot of S14 guys are going with Z32 uprights there.

[jandysil80]

FYI.....Energy Suspension lower shock mount bushings for the Z32 upright works perfect for S13, just installed it, seems as though the angle issue is only on the S14