Timing Bushings when lowering (How to)

[chozn4service]

Originally Posted by TwentyTen2SSRS

bringing this back from the dead -

I have very loud "groaning" or "croaking" from the rear. Is this a result of that as well?

Your signature doesn't say what type of springs you have. Not sure if what you're hearing is due to the equipment you chose or not. Timing or recocking the bushings wouldn't cause the noise that you hear, I wouldn't think.

I had Eibach Pro Kit on my previous Camaro, a 1LT/RS V6 and I had a noise in the rear as well but not all the time. My springs had rubber covers on them in areas to reduce any noise I know. I think my issue was the springs coming out of perch in the rear. It always happened and I got a hold of Eibach who gave me my money back and I ended up going with Pedder's and no more issues or noise. Now that I have a newer SS and couldn't get Pedder's I opted for Detroit Speed Engineering and love them! No noise what so ever and the ride is impeccable, the stance is perfect!

The timing of the bushings should be done anytime the cars ride height has been altered either by lowering or raising. This helps the car to have a smoother ride in my opinion as the bushings had been set to the factory height and equipment. Timing basically re-establishes the bushings to the new gear and height.

[CamaroLS]

Thanks for the great write up!!

[TwentyTen2SSRS]

Originally Posted by chozn4service

Your signature doesn't say what type of springs you have. Not sure if what you're hearing is due to the equipment you chose or not. Timing or recocking the bushings wouldn't cause the noise that you hear, I wouldn't think.



I had Eibach Pro Kit on my previous Camaro, a 1LT/RS V6 and I had a noise in the rear as well but not all the time. My springs had rubber covers on them in areas to reduce any noise I know. I think my issue was the springs coming out of perch in the rear. It always happened and I got a hold of Eibach who gave me my money back and I ended up going with Pedder's and no more issues or noise. Now that I have a newer SS and couldn't get Pedder's I opted for Detroit Speed Engineering and love them! No noise what so ever and the ride is impeccable, the stance is perfect!



The timing of the bushings should be done anytime the cars ride height has been altered either by lowering or raising. This helps the car to have a smoother ride in my opinion as the bushings had been set to the factory height and equipment. Timing basically re-establishes the bushings to the new gear and height.

Thanks for your response!

I have pfadt 1.25" springs installed.

It's like a groaning or a croaking...

Will it ever go away? They do have some rubber Isolators on them as well but I can't determine what would cause this.

So you don't think retiming or clocking bushings will do anything?

What could it be then?



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[760bowtie]

Anyone know of an alignment shop in San Diego (preferably north county) where I can get this done? Do most alignment shop techs know how to do this? I don't want to go to a shop that says they can do it only to find out it's the techs first time attempting to do it. Thanks

[760bowtie]

Thanks for the help.

[Burt]

Subscribing to this so hard. I'll be replacing my sway bars and toe rods soon, and I wouldn't have thought about timing the bushings on the toe rods. I'll keep this in mind when I eventually get coilovers too.

[Burt]

Thanks! Always nice to learn something new.

[ZL1Naboz]

Originally Posted by BMR guy

This has been a popular topic lately and it seems to be very misunderstood as well. Why and when do you "time" your bushings? This isn't a new practice, it has just been given a new name recently. We have always referred to it as re-clocking or re-indexing the bushing. In the following post I will explain the whens and whys of this procedure and hopefully put to rest the mystery that surrounds it.

The majority of suspension components hinge on rubber bushings. All bushings have a center steel sleeve (or ferrule, compression stop, etc.) that prevents you from over-tightening the bolt and compressing the bushing. The sleeve also provides an established width for thrust loads on the bushing to minimize bind. These inner sleeves are actually bonded to the rubber bushing and, in many cases, to an outer sleeve as well. When this connection is tightened, the sleeve remains stationary in the mount while the suspension component rotates by twisting the bushing.



For years we have told our customers to tighten all suspension components with the vehicle at rest and the suspension loaded. This means that the vehicle is at ride height (static height), not with the suspension hanging. Tightening a bolt with the suspension hanging puts the bushing in a pre-loaded state since the bushings will already be "twisted" when the vehicle is set to static height. This can create irregular ride heights, premature bushing wear, and even inconsistent handling tendencies.

Lowering your car creates the same problem. All of your bushings are already tightened in the OE position. When you lower the car, the suspension rotates to the new lowered position while your bushings are still "clocked" in the original position. Loosening the bolts and bouncing the car a few times will "re-clock" or "time" the bushing to the new position.

So which bushings do you need to re-clock? Basically every component in the front and rear suspension that rotates on a rubber bushing. This includes the following:

FRONT:
Inner control arm bushings
Inner radius rod bushings

REAR:
Inner and outer toe rod bushings
Inner and outer trailing arm bushings
Inner control arm bushings
Lower shock mount bushings
Rear upper control arm bushings

With the vehicle resting on the suspension, loosen these bolts up loose enough to spin the nut by hand. Bounce the car up and down to pop any sticking bushings loose from the mounts, then re-tighten the bolts.






Certainly this is not an easy task to perform at home. Getting the car up high enough to access these bolts while keeping the weight on the tires definitely requires some work. Many are using transitioned ramps to get the car high enough. Regardless, after installing springs, an alignment is necessary to correct toe and camber. This means that not only will the car already be on a drive-on lift but most of the bolts will already be loosened for adjusting the alignment. It doesn’t take much more effort from your alignment technician to loosen a few more bolts while he is setting the alignment.

We have seen cars change ride height by as much as 3/8" by simply re-clocking the bushings after a spring install. In a multi-link suspension such as the Zeta platform, this condition becomes even more pronounced because of the multiple links. More links means more bushings and more bushings means more potential for pre-load if not setup properly.

In summary, re-clocking the bushings should be as much a priority as aligning your car after a spring install. Hopefully this has been helpful to those that were not understanding why or how to do this procedure.

Great Post BMR Guy

I swapped SP-019's onto my ZL1 and am in the process of indexing/clocking my bushings. I am have everything loose except for the rear upper control arm bushings. I can't get a tool on the bolt to loosen it! Any tips on getting to those bolts, loosening them and then getting them back to torque?

Anybody have a good way to do the upper rear control arms?

[ZYBORG]

Subn to this thread..

[Bretts]

this thread in my pocket training the local alignment shop

[p.s.]

Would it make sense to loose the applicable bolts then put a jack under the brake lift with jack to simulate load then retighten loosened bolts?

[ZL1Naboz]

All the instructions that I saw, indicated loosen the bolts and drive the car very slowly in order to settle the bushings. Tighten the bolts to spec with load on the suspension

[RupertPupkin]

What dhould be the alignment specs on a BMR (sp077) lowered SS when the bushings are timed?

[Abelardoo_12]

I am about to install some bmr 1 inch bmr lowering springs on my car and I've called a couple of shops already asking if they do the timing of the bushings and none of them know what im talking about, all they say is that i just need the alignment of camber and toe and all that and they ask if what I'm trying to mean is the alignment, so does this "re-clocking" the bushings is the same as getting the alignment ?