Poly bushings transformed steering feel

**Jknerr** · 03-28-2011, 06:44 PM

So i put poly bushings on the entire front end last summer. They are energy suspension, which i heard almost all good things about, and they definatly made a diffrence but i cant say it was good. The car has a spectacular road feel, but it isnt comforting, n im not sure its right. For instance, if i cross the crown on the highway the car jerks as each tire moves over the centerline, and on asphault with lots of sealed cracks and runs, the wheel gets tugged in random directions with the wheel. Any ideas to what may be wrong?

Before it gets said, I used alot of lithium grease, so i dont think it is binding, and i got a professional alignment on the front end when i was done too.

**huggerls1** · 03-28-2011, 07:11 PM

I've always thought that the wide wheels on our cars are the reason for that tugging and following the lines in the road feel! I could be wrong. Either way I've got the same feeling going on.

**Jknerr** · 03-28-2011, 07:24 PM

Did you switch to poly? and when i first got the car i LOVED

the steering feel. It sucks i think i screwed it up

**huggerls1** · 03-28-2011, 09:13 PM

All stock rubber except poly motor mounts.

**blackbird0230** · 03-28-2011, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by huggerls1

I've always thought that the wide wheels on our cars are the reason for that tugging and following the lines in the road feel! I could be wrong. Either way I've got the same feeling going on.

X2. I've been on all types of roads and some roads happen to pull my car, well atleast that's my take.

I figure 99% of all cars have smaller than 225 wide tires so our 275 and up catch in and out of the grooves created by the smaller tires. I could be wrong tho

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-29-2011, 11:34 AM

^^

May be onto something here, OP what is your tire/wheel size?

I say this because when I used to ride motorcycles the damn ruts from the big rigs on soft TX HWY's would force me to shift lanes sometimes at high speeds.

What is the condition of the roads your on? Crappy roads give a crappy feel. Poly's stiffen up the suspension to help eliminate body roll and flex. Because of the density of the material it makes you "feel" more of the road stuff that you drive over.

Tires and other mods like SFC, etc do this too. Have you installed any other mods besides the Poly?

**sjsingle1** · 03-29-2011, 04:09 PM

even with my poly front end.......i still get those damm road ruts

**Jknerr** · 03-29-2011, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

^^

May be onto something here, OP what is your tire/wheel size?

I say this because when I used to ride motorcycles the damn ruts from the big rigs on soft TX HWY's would force me to shift lanes sometimes at high speeds.

What is the condition of the roads your on? Crappy roads give a crappy feel. Poly's stiffen up the suspension to help eliminate body roll and flex. Because of the density of the material it makes you "feel" more of the road stuff that you drive over.

Tires and other mods like SFC, etc do this too. Have you installed any other mods besides the Poly?

No suspension mods. Just poly front end. The free rotation of the link and bolts in the poly is what i am attributing the extra road feel to, but is there anything else that would cause this? I know bent tie rods can cause strange steering feels too, but should i have had the rear aligned with the front?

Also did you experience extra road feel with an sfc?

Thanks everyone for the comments!

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-30-2011, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Jknerr

No suspension mods. Just poly front end. The free rotation of the link and bolts in the poly is what i am attributing the extra road feel to, but is there anything else that would cause this? I know bent tie rods can cause strange steering feels too, but should i have had the rear aligned with the front?

Also did you experience extra road feel with an sfc?

Thanks everyone for the comments!

When I change out all of my rear suspension (LCAs, PHB, Poly, etc) I'll get the rear checked for aliment. I still have stock bushings so I'm not sure how the difference in feel will be.

The SFC's, STB and Springs have given it a different feel already. It feels much stiffer then my friends stock 99 and drives like it is on rails with no body roll on cornering. When I launch my rear doesn't squat down as bad as before the new springs and launches pretty straight. Then again the old springs where worn out. New ones were a 1" drop and after I did the swap I gained a 1/2" on the rear measuring the center of the wheel well on flat ground.

**allbaugh_04** · 03-30-2011, 10:12 AM

Large tires is what tugs you off the road.

**tremiles** · 03-30-2011, 11:49 AM

The soft rubber stock bushings especially on a decade old car will definately absorb some of the road irregularities. How's the tread on your tires, and did you get an alignment after you put the bushings in? When I put new rubber on my car to replace some worn shoulder G-Force sports and got it aligned, tracking was SO much better.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

**Jknerr** · 03-31-2011, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by tremiles

The soft rubber stock bushings especially on a decade old car will definately absorb some of the road irregularities. How's the tread on your tires, and did you get an alignment after you put the bushings in? When I put new rubber on my car to replace some worn shoulder G-Force sports and got it aligned, tracking was SO much better.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

The tread is good an even, and my tires are the 17X9 from the factory. I will get a another wheel alignment when i get the rest of the bushings in the rear end i guess. 4 wheels this time.

**ZForce1** · 04-02-2011, 05:38 PM

All good points made, including the wider tires, but I would make sure your tie rod ends are not worn as well, as they would cause bad wandering as you described if worn

**rob2000gt** · 04-02-2011, 06:59 PM

From my experience of a previous car I had my factory 215/75/15 wheels on for winter drove perfect I then put my summer 275 35 20 wheels on the car would be all over the road to the point I wouldnt let anyone drive it

**Jknerr** · 04-03-2011, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by ZForce1

All good points made, including the wider tires, but I would make sure your tie rod ends are not worn as well, as they would cause bad wandering as you described if worn

This has been a concern of mine. How can i check if they are worn?

**Jknerr** · 04-03-2011, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by rob2000gt

From my experience of a previous car I had my factory 215/75/15 wheels on for winter drove perfect I then put my summer 275 35 20 wheels on the car would be all over the road to the point I wouldnt let anyone drive it

I havent changed my tires though. did you make any other changes?

**FMBL** · 04-03-2011, 05:25 PM

I changed Rear shocks 3 weeks ago and front shocks last weekend (Bilstiens) all the way around. When I did the fronts I changed the upper ball joints and then had the lowers along with the outer tierods and realigned. I have 275's all the way around. Going down the freeway I can let go of the steering wheel and it will go straight for miles by itself.

**ZForce1** · 04-04-2011, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by Jknerr

This has been a concern of mine. How can i check if they are worn?

Jack the front end, pull in and out on the front of the tire. If they are bad there will be play. You might put your hand on the tie rod and feel the movement. Rod ends will wear out over time. Mine sure did.

**JayTA98** · 04-05-2011, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by ZForce1

Jack the front end, pull in and out on the front of the tire. If they are bad there will be play. You might put your hand on the tie rod and feel the movement. Rod ends will wear out over time. Mine sure did.

agree. you could have some bad suspension components. I had bad hubs.