Improved front sway bar bushes


GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
We are seeing increasing numbers of front sway bar bushes with excessive play during routine servicing.
This can result in clonking from the front suspension over bumps and is a part of the MOT safety inspection all UK cars have to go through annually.
The stock bush is a natural rubber product which therefore deteriorates with time as well as use.
The stock replacement part (4G7Z 5493 AB) is listed at over $100 each, which we think is a lot of money for a rubber bush.
So we worked with Powerflex who are a well known brand in Europe producing high performance polyurethane bushes.
Polyurethane has a number of advantages as a bush material not least of which is that they do not deteriorate with age.
The stock bush was measured with a Shore hardness of 75A and we have developed a new bush with a very slightly stiffer 80A polyurethane material. The inside of the bush features a diamond pattern to retain assembly grease to ensure that the bush doesn't squeak. The standard retaining bracket was scanned to ensure the bush fits perfectly.
We've been running samples on a high mileage GT here in the UK with very good results. We have also supplied a set to Rich and Dennis to evaluate.
We now have stock of these available to ship. They are supplied as a pair with a sachet of assembly grease and are a simple swap.
The pricing undercuts the standard bush by 30% at $139 per pair + shipping. We can invoice by Paypal and ship using UPS.

Drop me a message if you'd like some polyurethane goodness for your GT

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Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
Nice!

The OEM part is $143.03 each on fordparts.com. Yours is like..."Buy one, get one free!"
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
Im in !
 

bonehead

GT Owner
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Aug 18, 2012
2,814
Houston, TX
David, at what mileage range should we be concerned about bushing wear?
 

w.a.nelson

GT Owner
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Feb 29, 2008
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Asbury, NJ and Bourne, MA
What, no red!
 

gtinmyblood

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 23, 2007
735
Mesa Az/Aspen Co
hell yes!
 

GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
David, at what mileage range should we be concerned about bushing wear?


We're seeing deterioration due to age in spite of mileage. It's tricky to put a number to it but this is a bush from a car we saw recently with 9,465 miles. You can see that the fabric (which is there to be prevent noise) is extruding itself out of the rubber bush. This car lives in town and probably sees some poor road surfaces. You can inspect the bush with the car on the floor and the wheel turned. Ultimately the bush is natural rubber so - like a tire - it'll deteriorate with age, UV, use, etc depending on where and how it's lived.

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Specracer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Nov 28, 2005
7,081
MA
I'm guessing not, because of the manufacturers branding, but any chance they might be available in black?
 

Kingman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 11, 2006
4,072
Surf City, USA
Do you have any experience/observations you can share regarding 'noise'. Typically poly bushing last longer, but make a 'racket' while driving.
 

GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
The colour of the PU that Powerflex produce relates to the Shore hardness - they do produce a black PU but it is 25% stiffer than the purple material.
We wanted to produce a more durable but not too stiff replacement hence the purple colour. At least it's easy to see when they have been fitted....
 

GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
We haven't seen any increase in noise or harshness on our test work. I did discuss the bush with Scott Ahlman at Rally X - I figured if there was an issue with what we were proposing Scott would know.
We have only increased the stiffness very slightly (from 75A to 80A) so I would not expect any detrimental effects in noise vibration or harshness.
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
Funny to see Powerflex .Why? Well when I was a Professional Skateboarder they were one of my sponsors!They made poly urethane wheels .I got a speed run of 47mph on them using a very high darometer compound.
 

Cobraguy

GT Owner
Funny to see Powerflex .Why? Well when I was a Professional Skateboarder they were one of my sponsors!They made poly urethane wheels .I got a speed run of 47mph on them using a very high darometer compound.

Weren't they using rocks or small logs for wheels that far back???
 

STORMCAT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,549
Ft. Lauderdale
I'm in for a set. You didn't mention the rear sway bar bushings.. it's going to be the same situation no ?

David, at what mileage range should we be concerned about bushing wear?

Natural rubber ages and breaks down over time regardless of how much it's used. Load forces will accelerate the break down of aging rubber..
 

GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
I'm in for a set. You didn't mention the rear sway bar bushings.. it's going to be the same situation no ?



Natural rubber ages and breaks down over time regardless of how much it's used. Load forces will accelerate the break down of aging rubber..

Hi Brian - weirdly we haven't seen the same ageing on the rear - no doubt it will occur but maybe as it's a thinner bar exposed to less load and better shielded from the environment it's not showing up so much yet.
There's no reason we can't make a rear one in due course.

I'll drop you a mail with a paypal invoice.... Thanks
 

STORMCAT

GT
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Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,549
Ft. Lauderdale
Hi Brian - weirdly we haven't seen the same ageing on the rear - no doubt it will occur but maybe as it's a thinner bar exposed to less load and better shielded from the environment it's not showing up so much yet.
There's no reason we can't make a rear one in due course.

I'll drop you a mail with a paypal invoice.... Thanks

I think it would be good to do an equal rear set just for the shear age factor and to keep things matched etc,, I spray my stock ones with 303 rubber and vinyl protector which has kept them in decent shape
 
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GTforever

Member
Dec 7, 2007
12
Germany
My bushes has wear as well and I like replace them with Yours!
Please send paypal link for payment to hanns@minx-mode.de

Thanks
 

GT101

*UK Support*
Supporting Vendor
Jan 20, 2010
380
Colchester, Essex, UK
My bushes has wear as well and I like replace them with Yours!
Please send paypal link for payment to hanns@minx-mode.de

Thanks

Invoice on the way - thanks.

Dave
 

STORMCAT

GT
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May 25, 2006
7,549
Ft. Lauderdale
Got mine today !! get me some rears so I'm good for another 10 years !! :biggrin