183 replies to this topic

[Tom Hampton]

Well....that got awkward in a hurry.  You two need a room?

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Kyle, I just want to chizzle you schnizzle

 

That is very sweet!

[davew]

When I get a few spare moments, we will take some pix.

 

 

 

 

 

No not pix of Kyle's Schnizzle

[FTodaro]

It was just Valentines Day, you two are a day late.

[Tom Hampton]

No not pix of Kyle's Schnizzle

Thank you! Nobody needs to see that.

[Sphinx]

I have a substantive question - For the unmechanically inclined, can someone describe the correct orientation of the bushing once pressed in?

[Tom Hampton]

I have a substantive question - For the unmechanically inclined, can someone describe the correct orientation of the bushing once pressed in?

The hole should be most-outboard in relation to the car body. Closer to the shock, farthest from the engine.

[speedengineer]

Like this:  http://iscracing.net...g-installation/

 

That's for the ISC bushings, but same orientation for the whiteline.

[davew]

The white line bushings do not require the grease fitting hole that you are drilling. They have a metal outer shell that fits tight enough that they can not rotate.

 

dave

[Bench Racer]

A brief comment that originated from the guy that lives in a cave. When he received his first WhiteLine bushings his long bolts would not slide through the bushing inner hole before he pressed the bushings into the control arm. My long bolts fit easy through the WhiteLine inner hole before pressing in and after pressing in, easy finger rotation. Dave may have passed this info on to WhiteLine.

[Sphinx]

You guys are the best!  Thanks for the quick answer.  

[FTodaro]

A brief comment that originated from the guy that lives in a cave. When he received his first WhiteLine bushings his long bolts would not slide through the bushing inner hole before he pressed the bushings into the control arm. My long bolts fit easy through the WhiteLine inner hole before pressing in and after pressing in, easy finger rotation. Dave may have passed this info on to WhiteLine.

Many of the early bushings came that way. I ordered a bunch from Dave and we had to swap them out.

 

However, we just ordered a set from Mazda with another order and one of the 4 had the wrong bushing in it, so the problem has not been cleared through the system yet.

[DrDomm]

Ok, here's the method I used.  I should really give the credit to my father-in-law Gene.  He owns the machine shop and made some special tools.

 

This is a plate to set the arm/bushing into for the final press.  It has a bore for the "elastomer" portion and a counterbore for the metal sleeve.

 

This is pipe with a counterbore to create a lip to push on the metal sleeve.

 

After "eyeballing" position and pressing in the first bushing, we greased up a 3/4" rod and slid it thruough to act as a guide.  It isn't perfect, but good enough.

 

Instead of drilling a hole in a piece of metal, we just supported about 2/3 of the arm tube and got the bushing started.  

 

Afterward you need to gently tap the rod out.

 

We then pressed it the rest of the way.

 

It fit quite well, with minimal wiggling.  I will suggest that you don't push the bushings in too far, or else they won't fit over the subframe tube.  Mine were pretty snug.

 

Good luck!

[davew]

Great pix Domm, I can now cross that off my  To do list.

 

Yes, the first batch that Whiteline made had an issue with the sleeves. I talked with one of their engineers and he told me what they found as a cause. The sleeves are bored from each end in 2 operations, not all the way through in a single operation. The CNC programmer failed to account for the point on the drill bit and did not run the second operation more than 1/2 way. Thus leaving a small ridge of about 0.006 in the middle of the sleeve. Just enough for the bolt to bind. We opened every package and test fit a bolt before shipping. The second production run has been fine. We have sold about 100 sets now and have not found a bad one in months. But we still check. To Whitelines praise, they admitted the error and took care of every bad sleeve we had.

 

Dave

[DrDomm]

Interestingly, one of my four bushings was a little different than the rest.  You can barely make it out in the first picture, but the metal sleeve on one end was covered by the elastomer material.  Just funny how there's so much variation.

[Sphinx]

Did any of you follow Jim's method of pinning the bushing?  (I presume he pinned the control arm to the outer metal sleeve only).  For those who didn't, any movement?

 

 

Many of the early bushings came that way. I ordered a bunch from Dave and we had to swap them out.

 

However, we just ordered a set from Mazda with another order and one of the 4 had the wrong bushing in it, so the problem has not been cleared through the system yet.

 

 

What exactly am I looking for?  I just received my set from Mazda.

[DrDomm]

I was too anxious just to put them on to see if they fit, so I did not pop rivet them.  I'd be shocked if they could move, though.  I think I'll put some marks on them before I use the car for the first time.  I'll prepare a 2nd set just to have on hand.

[Sphinx]

Interestingly, one of my four bushings was a little different than the rest.  You can barely make it out in the first picture, but the metal sleeve on one end was covered by the elastomer material.  Just funny how there's so much variation.

 

I just checked my package (ordered three weeks ago from Mazda) and all 4 of the bores of my inner sleeves are different.  Only one is smooth from beginning to end.  One has a "ridge" 1/2 way through. One has ridges throughout, from the top all the way through, one has one about 1/3 of the way up.  Is this typical?  Mine are labeled KC452.

[davew]

Slide the long bolt down all the bushings, if it goes in all the way, you are good. If it goes half way you either need to polish them up with a die grinder or exchange for a later package.

 

Whiteline wants to exchange them, but that is hard to do on a Sunday afternoon with the car blocking the garage door. I have polished them with no detrimental effects.

 

The white lines do NOT need to be pinned

Dave

[FTodaro]

Did any of you follow Jim's method of pinning the bushing?  (I presume he pinned the control arm to the outer metal sleeve only).  For those who didn't, any movement?

 

 

 

 

What exactly am I looking for?  I just received my set from Mazda.

The long bolt that goes through the upper control arm will not pass through the inner sleeve of the bushing. Just test it first before you press in, or if you have pressed it in, you will need to get a new sleeve before you install. WhiteLine will replace Free.

 

Opps, Dave Posted at the same time, what dave said.