Mark34 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) Done this already back in March. Tried the group-n AND the Whiteline. I have the WL control arm front and rear caster adjustable bushings on my Spec-B. Caster is now at 6.8 degrees and car is amazing. Myles Myles, which Whiteline kit did you go with? Was it the Whiteline Front Control Arm Bushings P/N W0507 for the '08+ STi? Thanks. Just found FredBeansParts has the Whiteline Fronts as part W0506 for 05-09 LGT. Edited May 30, 2009 by Mark34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Myles, which Whiteline kit did you go with? Was it the Whiteline Front Control Arm Bushings P/N W0507 for the '08+ STi? Thanks. Just found FredBeansParts has the Whiteline Fronts as part W0506 for 05-09 LGT. yeah and now I have a noise under there and I dont know what it is. BTW I am very good with finding/figuring out noises in the suspensions on cars. I lubed all of it once and it went away for 4 weeks. I am pissed. I dont get pissed, but I am. Once you get a good solid alignment and the car feels good and the steering wheel is straight....you are happy. This means swapping something and POOF,...there goes my perfect alignment. Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 You might want to try the polyurethane grease from Energy Suspension. Its really slick and sticky. I had some squeaky sway bar bushings and it did the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Finally all the nuts, bolts and bushings have arrived and are ready for install. I decided to replace the front LCA bushing with a 08/09 STi bushing. Figured while the LCA was out might as well replace it since its 4 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenNorthLGT Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Let us know what you think of the STI bushings, I'm considering replacing these bushings too since my are "typically" torn...If the STI bushing is any firmer it would be nice as a cheap "upgrade." If nothing else, replacing the torn, stock, 60K+ mile ones, should be an improvement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Btw, I have a brand new take offs set of STI (SpecB, same) bushings for sale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 (edited) Speaking of these bushings, are the front bushings put under stress when one installs the rear LCA bushing with added caster? I believe the added caster moves the LCA out of line with the front bushing. Am I one right track or completely off base? Edited June 12, 2009 by ifbiker Should have read caster not camber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 No, added camber does not put unusual stress on these bushings at all, regardless if you use camber bolts or camber plates to gain camber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Sorry, it should read caster not camber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 caster puts more stress on the strut and less the the rear LCA bushing, if im picturing this right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 The increase caster comes from rotating the LCA outward about the front bushing. http://www.perrinperformance.com/shared/PERRIN/documents/instructions/subaru/pspsus410.pdf You can see with a caster added bushing the centerline of the front mount and rear are not longer the same. It may not be enough to cause a problem for the front bushing but if I was going to use a caster adding bushing I would keep the the stock front bushing to allow for the offset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Finally all the nuts, bolts and bushings have arrived and are ready for install. I decided to replace the front LCA bushing with a 08/09 STi bushing. Figured while the LCA was out might as well replace it since its 4 years old. So you got Group N bushings??? Part numbers? Pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Dave at Rallitec wouldn't give me the Subaru part number. I understand they are only available in Japan and must be imported. The mold identification is consistant with the LGT and STi bushings. [ame=http://www.flickr.com/photos/39736980@N06/show/]ifbiker's Photostream@@AMEPARAM@@offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F39736980%40N06%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F39736980%40N06%2F&user_id=39736980@N06&jump_to=@@AMEPARAM@@en-us@@AMEPARAM@@%2Fphotos%2F39736980%40N06%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F39736980%40N06%2F&user_id=39736980@@AMEPARAM@@N06@@AMEPARAM@@[/ame] These pics show top and side view of the bushing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Dave at Rallitec wouldn't give me the Subaru part number. I understand they are only available in Japan and must be imported. The mold identification is consistant with the LGT and STi bushings. These pics show top and side view of the bushing. So they didn't come in packaging with part #s? When I ordered other JDM only Group N bushings (for diff support) they came with part numbers (which I knew anyway). Is the rubber ROCK SOLID HARD? I mean really really rock solid. Something is really amiss, the only explanation is that the STI's webpage wasn't updated, the lastest catalog is from Jan. How much did they cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 They came packaged in VCI paper with the Rallispec part number written on the outside. The rubber is much "harder" than the STi bushing. These were definitely made from the same mold the STi and LGT bushings came from. Best thing to do would be to call Rallispec. I believe your knowledge of the JDM catalog is much better than mine and you could ask him better questions than I. Hopefully I will get these on with the STi front LCA bushings in the next 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTATV Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 where can I order these from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atc5 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 ^^^ Dave at Rallitec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTATV Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 so they wont be on the website then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Sorry, its Rallispec and ask for Dave. Their part number for this bushing is RST-2027R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTATV Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 how much were they running in the area of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 Around $55.00. The STi replacements are around $32.00 from your local dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsmith30132 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Thanks, some good info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 So the bushings finally got installed yesterday. We had some problems separating the ball joint from the LCA. The pitman arm puller from K Tools works perfectly to separate the ball joint from the LCA and will not damage the rubber boot. I highly recommend picking up this tool before starting the job, we wasted a fair amount of time messing around before going to the store and buying one. I also purchased the self locking nut that secures the LCA in the rear. Shop manual recommends to not reuse this nut. To recap, we replaced the pillow or "tennis ball" bushing with a Group N STi bushing purchased from Rallispec and the forward most bushing was replaced with an 09 WRX/STi bushing. The forward most bushing canbe replaced with a Group N as well but to save a few dollars I chose the STi bushing. The stock forward most bushing is "split" for lack of a better term and must be clocked properly if its being replaced with another stock bushing. The WRX/STi bushing is solid rubber and doesn't appear that it needs to be clocked. Driving Impressions: the difference is night and day. I assume these bushings degrade slowly over time, much like struts do, so you really don't kow how bad things have got until the parts have been replaced. Corner turn in is very sharp and solid and cornering seems much improved. This was not a slight improvement, its more of a slap in the face improvement, you won't miss it. Big bumps seem a little more harsh but small bumps seem very controlled and the "chatter" that I thought I had when I hit these bumps is gone. For a long time I thought much of my handling issues were tire related, I'm still running RE 92s, but now its clear how much the LCA was moving with the old bushings. I would say this is a must repair for any car with more than 70,000 miles or if you plan to do significant suspension upgrades that will increase cornering forces. I would also replace both bushings on the LCA. It would seem that the forward most bushing is pretty complaiant. If you plan to use the poly bushing to increase caster I would replace it with a stock LGT bushing. IMHO Group N and Sti is better systme than the poly bushings. I have never driven a car with the poly bushings so I'm only speaking in theory. The camber adding bushing forces the LCA to rotate forward which in turn puts some stress on the forward most LCA bushing and would seem to cause it to wear more quickly. Also there seems to be a number of poly bushing users noting increase NVH and the eventual poly squeek. These are also a few members that had the poly bushings separate. Its possble they were not installed correctly but using Subaru bushings ensures the the interference fit between the LCA and the bushing is correct plus like any OEM part it should have been highly tested so that it doesn't result in a warranty issue. I will say the enginners doing the testing on the stock LGT bushings were not optimizing it for long term life:) but you get the point. There are many great aftermarket parts and should be used when there isn't a factory upgrade available. My experience with OEM upgrades has always been good and I never have a fitment issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waxiboy Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 do you have the aluminum LCA? This looks like a worthy and inexpensive upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifbiker Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 Nope. We were just playing around with the front most bushing and noticed how much you could move the inner cylinder by hand, replacing both bushings on the LCA is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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