Guest
My car's control arm bushings consist of a metal sleeve which is surrounded by a cylinder of rubber. I believe this rubber is bonded to the metal sleeve. The bushing is press fit into the control arm.
I used to think that this bushing was free to rotate on the bolt which goes through the metal sleeve when the control arm is mounted to the car. But I have since come to discover that when you torque the control arm nuts down, the metal sleeve stays still and when the suspension moves it actually causes the rubber in the bushing to flex. Therefore this rubber adds to the overall spring rate as far as I can tell.
My question is:
When mounting the control arms to my car, should I torque them to spec while the car is sitting level (or at least while the arm is oriented as if the car were sitting level)? In other words is the control arm bushing rubber supposed to be "un-flexed" while the car is sitting at it's natural stance?
Thank you
I used to think that this bushing was free to rotate on the bolt which goes through the metal sleeve when the control arm is mounted to the car. But I have since come to discover that when you torque the control arm nuts down, the metal sleeve stays still and when the suspension moves it actually causes the rubber in the bushing to flex. Therefore this rubber adds to the overall spring rate as far as I can tell.
My question is:
When mounting the control arms to my car, should I torque them to spec while the car is sitting level (or at least while the arm is oriented as if the car were sitting level)? In other words is the control arm bushing rubber supposed to be "un-flexed" while the car is sitting at it's natural stance?
Thank you