Urethane Bushings for T/C Rods???

[namz7791]

Ok I have done the search and have read the write ups on using urethane bushings on the T/C rods. Seems like alot of people here and at zcar.com are not using the urethane for these or are using some combination of urethane and rubber or drilling out the urethane.

 

I bought a complete urethane kit from Prothane and am up to the point of installing these bushings but am really wondering if it is safe. I called Prothane 1-888-PROTHANE and talked to there tech department and indicated what I have been reading about T/C rod failures with Urethane bushings and he indicated that I was the first one they had ever heard of this from and that there company has never had a complaint or failure that they were aware of.

 

Are these failures happening to everyone on all brands or have the failures been only limited to certain brands of bushings? I believe I read one thread that indicated if you kept the bushings lubricated then it isn't an issue.

 

Any insight to whether I should buy new rubber bushings or can do the urethanes safely would be greatly appreciated.

[Tim240z]

From what I can gather it is very uncommon, but does happen. Remember these TC rods are 30+ years old.....

 

Tim

[JMortensen]

I'd put a urethane on the front and one of the old rubber bushings on the back and see how hard it is to move the rod. If there is a lot of resistance, then consider all rubber or GMachine with a rubber bushing in back as an alternative.

[Afshin]

I think the t/c rod failure is much more common than may people realized. Once i brought up the topic after it happened to me I kept finding others whom this happened to (and I had never heard of it failing before it happened to me and started talking about it). It may be more common in 280zx than Z, but it certainly occurs in both. Obviously, most don't fail, but it does happen often enough to be considered a safety hazar (I almost hit the guard rail when it happened and some one else fliped their car. I was driving the car hard into a turn when it failed)

The Gmachine set up with a soft stock bushing on the other end works better than two hard poly bushings from a performance stand point, and is safer.

[namz7791]

Thanks for the comments! Which side of the frame are you putting the rubber bushing on? Do I want it toward the control arm or into the engine compartment?

 

Thanks Again!

[JMortensen]

Poly or G Machine bushing goes to the front on a Z or a ZX. When you brake, the rod on a Z gets pushed by the control arm into the front bushing, on a ZX the rod pulls on the front bushing by the control arm. The rear doesn't carry any braking load in either situation which is where this upgrade makes a difference.

[Phantom]

Are you road racing the car? If you are just daily driving with occaisional 1/4 mile track use then I wouldn't worry too much. If you are really concerned you might want to look at the Arizona Z Car front A-arm asemblies that include a drastically revised T/C arm.

Any experience from anyone here on those assemblies?

[Savage42]

Are you road racing the car? If you are just daily driving with occaisional 1/4 mile track use then I wouldn't worry too much. If you are really concerned you might want to look at the Arizona Z Car front A-arm asemblies that include a drastically revised T/C arm.

Any experience from anyone here on those assemblies?

 

I ran front arms with heims & adj. T/C rods similar to their setup on my 510 with great results and they are still going strong after a decade of street, track, hillclimb, & autocross abuse. I'll be going with that type of setup on my Z. There are a couple different ways to get the same thing. Here's how a fellow 510er did his.

 

http://datsun510.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=983&papass=&sort=1

http://datsun510.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=980&papass=&sort=1

 

You really don't need to go to that extreme unless you are autocrossing or running track days where you need to get the most out of the handling. Good tires is the cheapest way to go a lot faster!

[TomoHawk]

Instead of breaking them, can you just get NOS or new OEM ones? I would feel better if I had something I -knew- was good. Lotsa twisty 50 MPH roads where I live in OH.