Did replacing your body mount bushing make a great difference and type

[itllfly]

My bushings are original on 78 trans am   This is not a rally cross car to need performance but want to restore ride.  What has been your experience.  Also what material is best not to squeak and last, rubber or other. Have been resear ride tech. Thanks

[scarebird]

I disagree.  I ran the repop rubber on my build; no issues at the road course.

Pontiac knew about poly when the WS6 came out and did not use it.

[phil400]

I went with Poly bushings, the black ones with graphite in them so they don't speak, made a difference but originals were shot, I also installed Moroso/CE bolt-in frame connectors made a big difference really stiffened up the car, now when I jack the front of the car the back tire lifts off the ground.

[tinpusher]

My 79 has poly and my 74 has solid….can’t tell the difference. No squeaking from the poly (Energy suspension). I will be swapping out the 79 with solid , it’s recommended with sub frame connectors. My opinion, the sub frame connectors made a huge difference.
The best $$ and set up, would be using the Pro touring (sponsored) solid mounts and their connectors , they sell a packaged deal. Very good fit and finish.
If you wait a bit, I’ll give you my poly mounts….. start spraying those cage nuts now with penetrating spray…lol

[79T/Aman]

As a manufacturer of solid body bushings I will try to help .
First let's clear up why the factory use rubber bushings. Simple, that's just the way they did it, a left over vestige of the full frame cars, the frames were simply bolted to a frame and isolated with rubber, it also dealt with the misalignments of the days.
Those that say 1-2nd gens used rubber bushings as an isolation to nhv is not the only reason again "it's just the way they did it"

Understand that GM did not isolate the frame from the  body on the Chevy2/Nova, it was solidly bolted.

Modern cars have the front frame welded to the body.
if you install frame connectors you must use solid body bushings, and those that want to make any argument realize that the frame connectors will make a solid connection!

Poly body bushings are fine as a stock replacement for a cruiser, but they are not good for hard performance use they can pop out of their place.
I see this on a regular basis about body bushings "squeak", they can't squeak since there is no movement!
Polygrafite is a marketing gimmick.

[stros]

I installed the PTFB solid body bushings & subframe connectors 10 years ago and have been extremely happy with them.  Obviously a massive improvement over the completely worn out setup I had before.  The entire car felt sloppy before I added these items. 

I also went with the Viking double adjustable shocks.  Personally I think I'd go with the solid bushings/subframe connectors to get your TA as rigid/sturdy as possible and then focus on the type of shocks you're using for restoring the ride quality. 

If your TA was like mine you're going to want to replace the rest of your suspension bushings as well.  I know Dave @ PTFB recommends solid for the body bushings but tends to recommend rubber in most other locations to avoid other NVH issues. 

On other cars I've used poly bushings in the suspension and have definitely gotten squeaks if I didn't constantly lubricate them.  I think they tended to provide some good improvements in the handling but the squeaking overwhelmed the handling benefits for me.  Just my $0.02.

 

[itllfly]

Appreciate the input definitely do not want squeak as mine is a cruiser

[itllfly]

Anyone want to share shock s affect on ride as noted above as seeking to restore ride

[stros]

Anyone want to share shock s affect on ride as noted above as seeking to restore ride

What I like about the Viking double adjustables is that you're not locked into 1 valve setting.  It has a broad range of way too stiff to way too soft 

You have 360 different combinations of rebound and compression to mess with. 

[71455formula]

I'm running solid bushings on my 71 Formula. Main use is cruising. Car feels tighter and the front end doesn't seem to feel disconnected.

[roadking77]

I have poly on my 77 and I still have squeaks. Everything under (and above too) is new. It may be my shocks? I put solid on my 79 yet to get it on the road. Only thing I can ad is that if you have original bushings you should probably replace them. The ones I have taken out were all but gone. Its not too bad of a job to do, biggest problem being getting to the cage nuts.

[79T/Aman]

squeaks will come from poly control arm bushings not body bushings.
Another source of a squeak is the washer on the top of the front shocks aftermarket washers are larger than stock and can rub on the upper control arm mount, you will get a steel on steel squeak.

[FormTA]

I have Dave's solid mounts and subframe connectors. They are probably the nicest ones out there. I too have squeaks bit they are from tye front end. Like Dave said, I assume they are the control arm bushings but now I'm going to check the shocks.

[rkellerjr]

I have solid bushings as well on my '75 bought from PTSB (79/TA man above) and have no issues, car feels like "one" machine. As far as shocks, I am running the Koni Classics. I only use my car for cruising however, I took it out to the tail of the dragon as a fun trip and the cheaper shocks I bought, which worked fine, burnt up on the trip with all the turns. I replaced them with the Koni's. A much better shock. Not cheap but better made.