Energy Suspension bushings

[runxz]

Hey guys just got in my set of energy suspension bushings for the front and rear suspension. I hope they fit. I will let you guys know how it works out. I bit the bullet and went ahead and got front end control arm bushings, rear axle beam bushings, a set of engine mount inserts and an aem CAI (matrix xrs) with a water bypass valve. Im sending the car in on monday so i will update u asap. monkeywrenchracing.com has them all in stock.

later Scott

Edited January 5, 2010 by runxz

[thegourou20]

Sorry for my ignorance but what's the purpose of the "energy suspension bushings"? also why do you want to change the stock ones?

[SamO]

I'm curious too as to why you want to change your stock bushes..

[runxz]

polyurethane is much harder and stronger than the stock rubber parts, so it will eliminate any flex in the cradle arm giving improved steering response and longer life. also toyota dont sell the bushing seperate u have to but the whole arm which ent cheap.

[Suprathai]

Sure it will last longer then stock, but you are transferring more shock and impact to the rest of the car, but should be fine.

Steering response would improve quite a fair bit, just how putting the energy suspension engine mounts gives your car much better engine reponse.

[xoom]

just spotted this thread ..... how funny .... i also placed my order for the 3 sets earlier this week as well.

[runxz]

Ok so i got my car back and i can officially say that the energy suspension poly bushings made for the corolla 03-06 fit our cars. The verdict, the steering feel has improved by a good bit. It takes at least 20% less steering input to get the car to make movements. It feels tighter in general and the steering feels more direct. The cons, u get quite a bit more road noise but in my opinion its not bad. Onto the energy suspension engine mounts. Virtually eliminated the movement of the front of the car in acceleration and most of all decceleration, so much so that when i back off the gas u dont even feel the car deccelerate, which is wierd but pretty cool. I have found it improved the understeer quite a bit. Cons, on idle the car vibrates atleast 10% more and arround 3500 u realy feel the engine vibration in yah feet and slightly in the steering, but again i find the pros outway the cons in my opinion. We used the supplied lubrication so im hopeing that all the bushing dont start to make a set of noise in the future, but i will keep u posted. The final mod in this session was the aem cai and water bypass filter. pros, much better response accross the rev range and a noticable increase in torque above 4000. Revs raise quite a good bit quicker from 3500 and when u reach lift its quite a bit more violent. As for the sound well WOW out of lift its pretty much quiet untill u floor it, and gets increasingly louder up to 6000, then beautifuly loud as 6200 big cam comes in. When i first hit lift my pores raised :) As for the cons i dont know of any yet other than more volume from the engine bay. I hope i have not posted stuff people already know and i have not boored u to death :)

[thegourou20]

How easy/hard are they to change? :-/

[runxz]

My mechanic said the original joints were a bitch to get out, but once they were out the energysuspenaion stuff wasnt very difficult to get in.

[pirate125]

My mechanic said the original joints were a bitch to get out, but once they were out the energysuspenaion stuff wasnt very difficult to get in.

I own a 2001 Runx Z and live in Barbados and I was wondering if you could give me the part number of the kit that you ordered since I would like to get some front stabilizer bar bushings and any other bushings that I think may be necessary for my vehicle.

Look forward to your response

[runxz]

The stabilizer bushings will not fit, but the rest do. The U.S. model zze130 uses bigger bars than we do. Front end control arm set 8.3120 Rear axle beam 8.3121 Motor mount inserts 8.1101 (manual trans only)

The motor mounts are made for the matrix and the control arm and axle beam are made for the 03-06 corolla http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/toy.html You can buy them online at monkeywrenchracing.com How do you make out with the terrible caribbean gas? The best we get here in trini is 95. What do u run?

[pirate125]

The stabilizer bushings will not fit, but the rest do. The U.S. model zze130 uses bigger bars than we do. Front end control arm set 8.3120 Rear axle beam 8.3121 Motor mount inserts 8.1101 (manual trans only)

The motor mounts are made for the matrix and the control arm and axle beam are made for the 03-06 corolla http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/toy.html You can buy them online at monkeywrenchracing.com How do you make out with the terrible caribbean gas? The best we get here in trini is 95. What do u run?

It is quite a burden placed on our engines especially when run hard on the poor gas quality that we get down here, however if it's any consolation, I don't drive fast so pinging and detonation becomes much less of an issue.

In terms of the gas quality number, I've heard rumours of RON 89 or RON 90 but I'm not too sure what the exact figure is, either way, it's less than ideal.

Thanks again

Edited February 13, 2009 by pirate125

[runxz]

Well i drive hard as ****. So i have been experimenting with toluene and other octane boosters. I have found 2 gall of toluene to a 3/4 tank works well, as well as the nos octane boost ( the black bottle, the illegal one) works well. I heard your shell v power is 100 octane but its reel expensive. You should try it and see.

[SILVABULLIT]

Do you guys have toys shops over there that sell remote control cars?? If they sell ones that have petrol engines some of them run on Nitro methane. A small does of this with your fuel might get the RON up LOL

Tolulene will work but you need to find the right ratio to make it successful. Shell V power here in Aus is 100 octane but it is starting to be phased out so i am told.

[SuperDave]

Do you guys have toys shops over there that sell remote control cars?? If they sell ones that have petrol engines some of them run on Nitro methane. A small does of this with your fuel might get the RON up LOL

The main 'fuel' powered engines in RC cars is nitro. Just don't buy the pre mix, your exhaust will be really smoky with all the caster oil in it :P It is possible to buy the parts separately so you can 'mix your own'. Most pre-mix are between 5 and 20% nitro anyway. Also of note is they use glow plugs, not spark plugs, so might be an issue on your own engine.

[pirate125]

Did anyone have any problems installing this kit and reusing the OEM sleeve and if so, what was done to rectify this situation? Looking forward to any responses

[Guni]

I've got the front control arm bushings from energy suspension installed.

Took longer than the mech expected because the stock needed to be melted out but once that was out of the way, it was easy to get the replacement polyutherene ones in.

Steering is definately more positive is the least I can say.

[pirate125]

The problem that I am having is that the metal sleeve that is supposed to be re-used in the vertical bushing of the arm is straight and it does not have the oval-like bulge in the centre so when I try to put the sleeve into the Energy centre bushing 3304 (according to the instructions) it is not a snug fit and it has a lot of play in it (this "play" is seen to the right of the OEM sleeve in the picture below). I don't think it's supposed to be like that and I was wondering if people had similar problems and if they did, what was done to overcome such problems.

Just for the record, I had bought a RH control arm so that I could retrofit it without having any major downtime with my car and let me just say, it's a good thing I went this route if not I'd be in some serious trouble.

Looking forward to any positive responses

Edited July 21, 2009 by pirate125

[pirate125]

I was able to find some OEM “oval” sleeves from an old control arm that was on a vehicle and I’ve posted a picture of the Energy Suspension front control arm kit w/ the OEM sleeve since there was not much information on this kit’s installation on the Internet.

Additionally, I’ve also shown a picture of the bushings assembled onto the RH control arm. I have to purchase the LH control arm and install those bushings and when I’m completed the bushing installation, the installation of these arms on my car will be a swap with the OEM ones that are currently installed.

I'll post some pictures after I've made the installation as well as give feedback on the performance of these bushings.

[runxz]

Glad to see you got it sorted. Is it that the control arm you had bought had the wrong sleeve in it, like an aftermarket version and thats why it had the play?

[pirate125]

Glad to see you got it sorted. Is it that the control arm you had bought had the wrong sleeve in it, like an aftermarket version and thats why it had the play?

I bought a replacement arm from one of our local automotive parts stores and the correct part number was stamped on the packaging however, the sleeve was different. Our local dealer did not have anymore in stock. By the way, I PM'ed you a question pertaining to this issue but you never responded. You should check your PM's more often.

Edited July 22, 2009 by pirate125

[runxz]

You did, when recently? Sorry about that, i thought i replied to the pm u sent me. Maybe it didnt go through.

Glad to see you got it sorted. Is it that the control arm you had bought had the wrong sleeve in it, like an aftermarket version and thats why it had the play?

I bought a replacement arm from one of our local automotive parts stores and the correct part number was stamped on the packaging however, the sleeve was different. Our local dealer did not have anymore in stock. By the way, I PM'ed you a question pertaining to this issue when but you never responded. You should check your PM's more often.

[pirate125]

Just to update, I installed these yesterday and I really have to agree that they do tremendously improve the steering response. I have not noticed an increase in NVH, however, I did have to go for an alignment after the install since my alignment was thrown out of whack.

All in all though, I’d say that it was money well spent and I would advise anyone who is into handling and performance to buy this bushing kit. Additionally, the purchase of another set of control arms can greatly minimize downtime since you can install the bushings on the arms at your convenience and then the installation just becomes a swap.

[DANZZT231]

Did any of you guys bought bushings from Fulcrum? I remember they have one for Corolla with anti-lift and increase caster. May aswell get that one rather than just ordinary replacement bushing.

[runxz]

LsPOy