Cutting strut rod bushings for correct geometry?
...If you only drive your car on smooth roads or don't have the power to flex the suspension under acceleration. You will never have a proplem. My first poly bushing kit ended up on the street in pieces after a couple of launches and puting alot of pressure on them from the roll control. When you break your first strut rod from binding and the wheel destroys your fender. Don't say I didn't warn you all. Yes you want to get rid of as much forward and rear ward motion as possible but you want to increase its motion of pivot up and down to protect the rod. One of the reasons for upper a-arm bumper extensions and tie cables on early a-body race cars. I have been doing this for many years and have seen what happens to those who think they know because they got away with it for awhile. What do you think causes struts to break? Or Bend? They always break at the end where they are attached
I've done it for many years too.
You lube that poly bushing to the later/replacement type washer connection as well as the Use very thick grease or that snotty clear-like grease they give you with poly kits. You can see the lube still on those poly bushings on the picture I showed.
And there are cases where the strut has broken with rubber bushings too. Struts get rusty in there. Threads get stripped. And struts that have previous worn bushings that beat on the K-member hole. Or owners or mechanics that have jacked the car on the strut rod. Or cheap POS transportation cars for high schoolers imitating Dukes of Hazzard.
I've driven in 13 different states with that poly setup I showed above. Iowa winters, trips to downtown Chicago, Minneapolis, St Louis. I've driven it 1, miles straight trips back and forth from L.A. to Ames, IA SIX TIMES. Autocrossed it many times in Iowa and Nebraska. I loaded my Cuda to 5300 lbs on grain scales after finishing school and cracked the K-member on the way back. Strut rods were fine.
Then I drove it back and forth commuting to work from metro L.A. to Thousand Oaks everyday for work 80 miles round trip through the most trafficed freeway stretch in the world (I-405 between I-10 and CA-101)
I've also ran it at Willow Springs and Buttonwillow race tracks. And I've been off track a few times too. Once I even bent a steel 15x8 rim and dimpled up my shock tower.
All
of that and not a bent strut rod with that same cut poly setup shown in the picture above.
Examples of various other extremes of punishment, power, and flexing that my cut poly strut rods have taken... First tow pictures are of bent rim, shock tower hold dimpled up a little, bent valance a little. Had to dismount tire to get the rocks stuck between the rim and tire out.
