urethane spring plate grommet advice

gcorrado · Post by **gcorrado** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 1:33 pm

i know urethane spring plate grommets aren't supposed to fit great, but this seems crazy. i have NO experience with how these things should fit, so i could really use some advice. there are two problems:

1) on the outboard side, the nubby grommet won't sit all the way against the spring plate. the welding on the spring plate interferes. see ->

SHOULD it seat FLUSH? i could fix this, by deepening the camfer on the inside of the grommet. good idea?

2) on the inboard side, the round grommet seats flush to the plate seems loose around the shaft. lots of wiggle room - enough to stick a penny in there. see ->

i ASSUME this is BAD? i mean it seems like the grommet wouldn't do jack to locate the spring plate. am i wrong? does it compress or something? fixable, or go stock rubber.

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more info:

why urethane anyway? this if for autocrossing. i want the suspension TIGHT, not wobbly. but this doesn't seem to be helping.

the spring plates are sway-a-way. i contacted them directly about which size grommets to use for this application, so i have what they recommend.
the grommets are bugpack. i've tried another set of inners, and they were even MORE loose.

prerunner1499 · Post by **prerunner1499** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 1:52 pm

dont worry about it its normal. They will "SQUASH" down a bit when you get all the parts bolted up tight.

Bruce2 · Post by **Bruce2** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 2:06 pm

You have to grind them to make them fit. Grind the chamfer to clear the weld. Do not "squish" them down. This will cause them to squeek and groan every time you hit a bump.
When you get the suspension apart, you will have to grind the knobs down to fit in the torsion housing. Grind them until you can fit it all together by hand tight.
The round one that is loose is no good. You must have the wrong grommet. Measure the dia of the spring plate and get the right one. If you can't get one, I'd say you should junk the spring plates and use the original ones.

Tom Simon · Post by **Tom Simon** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 2:23 pm

Have you tried bolting them up?

I'll bet you'll find they are even worse than you know...

You need a lathe or patience and die grinder to increase the chamfer to clear the weld.

The outer is too loose, unless you intend to run the penny in there

It will close up when you smash it together while tightening the four cover bolts. Hopefully it won't bind up, or deform the cover, and hopefully it will close up "a pennys worth". You have to hand fit both parts, add shims between the cover and the torsion housing end casting, belt sand them because they are too thick. It's a first class pain-in-the you know where to get those things to fit right. SAW has the best fitting grommets, but even still...

gcorrado · Post by **gcorrado** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 6:49 pm

thanks guys. this sounds like it's going to be "fun".

is there any way i can know if the inner one has squashed the full penny's worth other than having sloppy suspension...

workingstiff · Post by **workingstiff** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 11:22 pm

I did mine also. I did it in a swing axle that I welded pockets into.If you paint your torsion and the cap you can see where the paint rubs of alitlle on your grommet. I smacked mine lightly with a rubber mallet just to leave a paint mark. Alot of time with the die grinder..... As far as your pennys worth I didn't even check that

.

Bill K. · Post by **Bill K.** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 7:07 am

You may want to try Energy Suspension bushings. The ones I got fit tight without grinding. If you have IRS, they have control arm bushings also.

berniedd · Post by **berniedd** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:37 am

Why don't they sell them with the correct size? Why does the customer have to grind them himself before installation?

kevin @ No Dollars Racing · Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:44 am

It has to do with that extremely high quality aftermarket parts that are on the market nowadays. If you want it to fit, then you have to grind, cut, weld, smack, beat, drill, shave, heat, lubricate, curse, swear, and then grind again to make them fit. Never understood that myself, but that is the way things are being made nowadays.

I put the inner uerathane bushings on my sand rail and they fit OK with only doing a little chamfering on the beveled edge. Take your time as you only want enough off to make it sit correctly. Good luck.

pfer10 · Post by **pfer10** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:44 am

This might help:

http://www.pfer10.com/gallery/Rear_Bushings

PF

73notch · Post by **73notch** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 11:05 am

UT OH! i just got really long bolts and tightened it all together, i thought by tightening it, it would push all the bushings in place........shoot. i guess i have to start all over

workingstiff · Post by **workingstiff** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:20 pm

pfer10, it was your site I saw that on. Thanks great site by the way. Dan

gcorrado · Post by **gcorrado** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:38 pm

Bill K. wrote:You may want to try Energy Suspension bushings.

fantastic recommendation, bill! i just got some energy suspension bushings in the mail. wow! these things fit MUCH better than the bugpack ones. not rattling around on there but a snug, comfy fit. they also seem more compliant and to contain more lube. they're also black instead of that stupid red. haven't tried the fit on the car yet, but i'll post back when i do. i imagine some clearancing will ultimately be necessary, but much much less.

i STRONGLY recommend using this brand for all your urethane suspension needs - i sure will!

ErikTheRed · Post by **ErikTheRed** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:59 am

kevin @ No Dollars Racing wrote:It has to do with that extremely high quality aftermarket parts that are on the market nowadays. If you want it to fit, then you have to grind, cut, weld, smack, beat, drill, shave, heat, lubricate, curse, swear, and then grind again to make them fit. Never understood that myself, but that is the way things are being made nowadays.
I

VERY true-- but you forgot kick, spit, and flog, 3 very crucial steps to make anything work properly.

flatfour · Post by **flatfour** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 7:16 am

Those urethane bushings are evil. I ended up putting a nice quality set of rubber ones back in.