Offset bushings..am I in trouble?

[TylerW]

Hey guys:

I had new upper arm bushings pressed in yesterday, and I was shocked to see that the bushings I provided the shop were offset bushings.I had not inspected them prior to giving them to the shop..I just assumed bushings were bushings.

Reading the literature enclosed, it appears that this increases positive camber.

Are these usuable, or do I have to re-order different bushings and go through all of this again?

They have directional arrows to orient the bushings in the A-Arm and that was done correctly.

Thanks.

 

[charger70]

As long as it will align within specs you will be OK.
If it doesnt, then you can push out the rear one and reverse it. It'l allow you to have a little more positive caster. Its more stable at high speeds, but a litttle harder to parallel park if you have manual steer.

 

[Mike Z]

I had issues getting more caster without the camber being too low. I installed these same bushings but only in the ft. of each arm i used standard in the rears. Worked awesome.

 

[mvh]

The offset bushings, when installed per instructions, increase positive CASTER, not camber (you don't want positive camber unless you want to look like a tin lizzy).

But there should be plenty of room for the alignment shop to adjust the caster to factory spec if you want. But my suggestion is that you don't want. Most people running modern radial tires will want more positive caster than stock -- 3 or 4 degrees, or even more. I have manual steering set to 3.9 degrees positive caster, and I can't even tell the difference, so don't let people tell you it will increase your steering effort enormously.

Hey guys:

I had new upper arm bushings pressed in yesterday, and I was shocked to see that the bushings I provided the shop were offset bushings.I had not inspected them prior to giving them to the shop..I just assumed bushings were bushings.

Reading the literature enclosed, it appears that this increases positive camber.

Are these usuable, or do I have to re-order different bushings and go through all of this again?

They have directional arrows to orient the bushings in the A-Arm and that was done correctly.

Thanks.

 

[6pk2goDemon]

If the offset bushings you are referring to are the Moog K7103, they are indeed designed to allow additional positive CAMBER adjustment.

They will also increase Caster, but that was not Moog's intention for the application.


blitzkreig, Indeed can be used in this manner and a good alignment tech will understand that. Those bushings can be tailored to the individual vehicle and alignment issues as you have described.

 

[Mike Z]

If you turn the ft cam out it will increase camber and caster also. you lower the rear cam to increase caster and also you lower camber. Thats what 2 cams do. Cam bolts arent set that if you increase camber caster always goes up. It depends ft. or rear cam. Both cams work in sequence. thats how it works.

 

[6pk2goDemon]

If you turn the ft cam out it will increase camber and caster also. you lower the rear cam to increase caster and also you lower camber. Thats what 2 cams do. Cam bolts arent set that if you increase camber caster always goes up. It depends ft. or rear cam. Both cams work in sequence. thats how it works.

Great way to explain and totally agree 100%..........:cheers:

 

[fishy68]

I used stock type bushings in my car and wish I had used the Moog bushings cause they couldn't get enough pos caster. It drives ok but doesn't return to center automatically after turns.

 

[mvh]

Technically, perhaps, they MAY allow more positive camber (I don't know), but nobody in their right mind WANTS more positive camber, so that aspect is really irrelevant. The only reason to install these bushings is to enable more positive caster. And that is what the "offset" feature is designed to accomplish (though I suppose you could install them in the reverse orientation and increase negative caster, there is absolutely no reason to do this).

Factory caster was in the range of -1 to +1.25 degrees, and there was not enough adjustment available to get more than maybe 1.5 or 2 degrees positive. With modern tires many people wanted more positive caster (3, 4 or even more degrees), creating a demand for this product. In other words, Moog introduced this product for CASTER correction, not camber. Sorry.

On the other hand, factory camber was set from 0 to +3/4 degrees positive. But modern practice is to have a small amount of negative camber, often -1/2 degree. It is unimaginable that anyone would want to increase positive camber from the factory setting. The resulting appearance, with the tops of the front wheels leaning outward, looks almost ridiculously old-fashioned and is very detrimental to cornering and stability.

If the offset bushings you are referring to are the Moog K7103, they are indeed designed to allow additional positive CAMBER adjustment.

They will also increase Caster, but that was not Moog's intention for the application.


blitzkreig, Indeed can be used in this manner and a good alignment tech will understand that. Those bushings can be tailored to the individual vehicle and alignment issues as you have described.

 

[autoxcuda]

If they installed them like the instructions in the package they might not help you much. The Moog intention of the bushings are for rusty cars that have sagging frames that bend inward over time.

The "trick" is to install them like this diagram below and ignore the Moog instructions. The arrows will be pointing opposite directions front bushing to rear bushing.