Poly body mounts - apparently junk

I haven't tried this yet but I have a set of 56 Chevy body mounts that I think will fit. They are flat rubber disks that are about 1/2" thick installed. They don't compress and balloon out like the C3 mounts. They also have an internal steel tube that limits the compression of the cushions, you can't over tighten them. Also, they are made by Steele Rubber which is quality stuff (and cheaper than the C3 stuff).
 
ordered the Energy suspension bushings today.

I drove the Vette today and when I was back home I was wondering why the door scrapes on the sidpipe... the #4 mount on the driver side was completly gone, apparently turned to dust..... the body dropped, I suspect #3 is gone too....
 
I have yet to hear the slightest bit of a squeak out of any of my red ES bushings. Use their sticky silicone grease and all will be well.

JE Caudle said:
I think it's the "red" poly that last forever. The black stuff is just a little
harder than rubber. Yes No...
Click to expand...

No, it's ES poly vs. a certain shit brand. ES makes black poly bushings that are just fine.
 
From Energy Suspension's website:

"Color
Energy Suspension makes parts in 2 colors. Red and Black.

How are these two colors different?

The only difference between the red and black parts is that most Black Energy Suspension parts are Graphite Impregnated. This serves to help self lubricate the bushings. The Red parts do not have this characteristic. Aside from the actual color and the lack of being Graphite Impregnated - the red parts are essentially the same as the black.



I thought that the RED parts were harder and more performance oriented?

This is a common misconception. The red parts have the same durometer (hardness) as the Black parts and differ only in their actual appearance (color) and the fact that they're NOT graphite impregnated like the Black parts.



Why do people buy the red parts when they're not Graphite Impregnated like the Black parts?

In the end this is really because some people simplylike the color Red more than Black.



I thought Energy Suspension Made parts in Yellow and Blue as well?

Unfortunately Energy Suspension stopped producing these colors a long time ago and they are no longer available on the market."
 
I bought the red body mount cushions.... didn't think that it's important for body mounts to be graphite impregnated, no really, I just bought them because they match my red interior :rofl:

red or black.... can't be any worse than the China crap I bought the last time....

I was really considering having a shop make me a set from aluminum but it's hard to find shops that are willing to do small jobs like these aluminum pucks....
 
MYBAD79 said:
I bought the red body mount cushions.... didn't think that it's important for body mounts to be graphite impregnated, no really, I just bought them because they match my red interior :rofl:

red or black.... can't be any worse than the China crap I bought the last time....

I was really considering having a shop make me a set from aluminum but it's hard to find shops that are willing to do small jobs like these aluminum pucks....
Click to expand...
All my ES poly bushing are red too, just because someone, somewhere changed his mind about the color and sold a complete set for a fraction of the price.

You know I got lifetime freeride for little/simple parts like those a my friend's shop.
If you supply me the exact dimensions, I could have a set made for you.

Won't happen before I can save $$$ and replace my dead DD (his shop is somewhat far from home), but you'd get them eventually.
 
denpo said:
All my ES poly bushing are red too, just because someone, somewhere changed his mind about the color and sold a complete set for a fraction of the price.
Click to expand...

I got my master set the same way, then I matched the sway bar bushings just to have them all the same color. If you use the silicone grease, the graphite impregnation shouldn't be an issue.
 
denpo said:
You know I got lifetime freeride for little/simple parts like those a my friend's shop.
If you supply me the exact dimensions, I could have a set made for you.

Won't happen before I can save $$$ and replace my dead DD (his shop is somewhat far from home), but you'd get them eventually.
Click to expand...

damn, I just ordered the poly bushings LOL

but that's an awesome offer I can't refuse.... take your time, I'm sure we'll have these aluminum pucks machined and ready by the time these new poly bushings fail....

I'll just measure and draw up the dimensions based on these new bushings and the space available, I don't see why they couldn't be a little larger in diameter, they don't need that taper either....

make more than one set.... you might want one for yourself.... maybe you can even sell a set or two and make some money to offset the work/time/cost for material....

I found onlinemetals.com has affordable prices, I'll check how much round aluminum stock is, probably 2.5" (or 60mm), whatever the more common size is.....
 
I would do my best to avoid urethane or aluminum "upgrade" to body mounts at all costs. Don't see any benefits to handling or otherwise, with the negatives of roughening up the ride and shaking the body apart.
 
00fxd said:
I would do my best to avoid urethane or aluminum "upgrade" to body mounts at all costs. Don't see any benefits to handling or otherwise, with the negatives of roughening up the ride and shaking the body apart.
Click to expand...

the early C3s came with aluminum body mount "pucks". I read somewhere that GM switched to rubber in 72 or 73 - not sure what year but I am convinced that the story about better ride quality is a bunch of rubbish, I am also convinced they did it because rubber is cheaper than aluminum and also it compresses so it makes up for shitty body alignment while the solid aluminum must be properly shimmed so that all mounts are loaded.....
thoghts/opinions???
 
If you are confident in your ability to re engineer the car to your liking then by all means you should. My thoughts are that for me if it originally had rubber mount and all is shimmed correctly it should true up just fine. If it had aluminum stick with that. Rubber mounts can go a long way to preventing body cracking etc. 63's had no pucks at all, just body birdcage to frame pedestal with shims. 64 and up got rubber donuts/mounts, shimmed.
 
this has nothing to do with re-engineering the car, just saying that I believe that cost was the main or only reason they went with rubber instead of aluminum. If aluminum is so horrible then why didn't all the chrome bumper bodies crack ??
Are you sure about the rubber/alu changed that early in 64?? I could have sworn I read somewhere it was 72/73.....

The rubber mounts that I removed in 2005 were completely shot, they did last 26 years though.... about 20 years longer than the poly I installed in 2005.
Now, today's reproduction rubber mounts I don't trust just like I don't trust poly made in China anymore..... there's just too much junk for sale nowadays....

one reason I started that other thread, as funny as it is but frigging wood is better than most of the junk that you can buy from the big vendors nowadays.....
 
yes it was in 73 that they switched to rubber, 72 and earlier is all aluminum mounts, as for 63s they don't even have bushings the body is mounted directly on the frame with some shims here and there. No body mounts AT ALL. The frame mounts are taller than on later frames:

63 frame

24b05e062eb13e.jpg
 
My Bad, I'm not tryin' yank your chain. It sounded to me like you had some idea's that you felt would work for you.

"as for 63s they don't even have bushings the body is mounted directly on the frame with some shims here and there. No body mounts AT ALL. The frame mounts are taller than on later frames:"

I think thats what I said: ....

"63's had no pucks at all, just body birdcage to frame pedestal with shims. 64 and up got rubber donuts/mounts, shimmed."

I'm pretty sure my '65 had rubber insulators last time I was in there ..... LOL

AllTheWires.jpg

After mid years I don't know ...
 
I'm pretty sure I saw rubber on all the non 63 mid years I saw also, maybe the aluminum was only used from 68-72? I know for a fact those have alu discs instead of rubber.
 
00fxd said:
I would do my best to avoid urethane or aluminum "upgrade" to body mounts at all costs. Don't see any benefits to handling or otherwise, with the negatives of roughening up the ride and shaking the body apart.
Click to expand...

Installing poly in my 77 didn't roughen the ride at all. Rubber was cheap, with the supposed side-effect of softening the ride a bit. IMHO, a soft ride is the complete antithesis of a sports car.
 
The brown truck stopped by today and dropped off a box with goodies from Summitracing :D

I got the ES poly bushings, they look ok but again, so did the other poly bushings that crumbled.... I hope that these ES bushings are as good as the other stuff I bought from them over the years ... time will tell....
 
00fxd said:
My Bad, I'm not tryin' yank your chain. ..
Click to expand...

no problem :thumbs:

Re-engineering or not, I have to say the stock rubber lasted 20 years or more..... too bad they only sell NOS GM bushings for some rediculous money, I checked Ebay and they go up to $200.....

on a not so serious note: pressure treated wood becomes more and more attactive..... that oil based stain that is used on decks is pretty good stuff, you'll probably get a few more years out of it than my china poly junk , think I got this crap from Ecklers, wish I could find the receipt, would love to bring the cumbled crap over there, they're only 30 minutes fom my house.....LOL
 
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