Subframe bushings: Who'd you use?

[SD-KC]

Hey all,
I'm looking to start the project to freshen my rear subframe/differential bushings on my E30. I've got a question for those who have done this already. I've seen products by Turner, Garagistic, Condor, etc. This car is primarily street car with a very limited track time. I'm thinking I'd go 80a poly but was wondering if anyone had any specific reasons why they'd use one manufacturers over another.

Thanks all for your help.

[e30austin]

AKG is the best, hands down. Powerflex is good, too.

[HerbE30]

Condor. Mainly because of the material type. I thought it would be better than poly. Personal opinion though.

Main reasons for me
-Self Lubrication
-Condor/Silence are GREAT to deal with
-Condor does great in SpecE30.


I've also pulled bushings out of a trailing arm to swap into new arms and they did fine up removal and re-installation.

I wouldn't run them as engine/Trans mounts.

[Cayoncrusier93]

I picked up revshift 95A for my rear subframe kit, diff bushing, trans, and motor mounts. I’m throwing them on in a couple of weeks. I went 95A because solid derlin would be too noisey from what i read for street use. I figure 95A would be a good medium between performace and road vehicle noise.

[moatilliatta]

Akg.

[zwill23]

Whatever manufacturer you choose, I strongly recommend OEM rubber lemforder trailing arm bushings for a street car. Poly trailing arm bushings will squeak over time no matter how much you lubricate them. I've dropped my subframe 3x trying to silence them until I finally switched back to rubber.

I am running garagistic poly all around other than that - no complaints.

[stonea]

Whatever manufacturer you choose, I strongly recommend OEM rubber lemforder trailing arm bushings for a street car. Poly trailing arm bushings will squeak over time no matter how much you lubricate them. I've dropped my subframe 3x trying to silence them until I finally switched back to rubber.

I am running garagistic poly all around other than that - no complaints.

Thats why I went with Condor RTABs. I've been using them on my ix for about 3 years now and not a single squeak.

OP personally I'm going to be running Condor everything on my 325i street car except for engine, trans, and diff.

[SD-KC]

Thanks for all the replies. Saw the comment about the rubber business for the trailing arms. I take it I shouldn't be concerned about rubber components mixed in with poly.

Thanks

[zwill23]

Thats why I went with Condor RTABs. I've been using them on my ix for about 3 years now and not a single squeak.

OP personally I'm going to be running Condor everything on my 325i street car except for engine, trans, and diff.

I haven't had personal experience with condor bushings, but if they're silent then I'd say they're a good choice. The garagistic poly rtabs were a nightmare.

Thanks for all the replies. Saw the comment about the rubber business for the trailing arms. I take it I shouldn't be concerned about rubber components mixed in with poly.

Thanks

No issues mix and matching.

[moatilliatta]

+1 on OEM Trailing arm bushings on street cars. I've reverted back to them, giving up on the squeak.

AKG Rtabs squeaked too.

Be cautious of eccentrics and cranking down the Rtab bolt. It will deform the bushing sleeve compressing the bushing event more. I think AKG upgraded there sleeve to stainless. Either way, they still squeak most of the time. Tried multiple greases, Maybe also the adjustment in the slotted Rtabs putting them in a bind.


Definitely stay away from Ireland!


I used condor 24 valve mounts and I was done with them. Cool guys though.

[varg]

I have condor bushings in the rear of my car, they're good. Easy to install too vs rubber ones. The NVH isn't too bad for me, YMMV. You can hear the diff whine away really well with the condor diff mount bushing.

[Vincent Vangool]

I'm trying to sort this all right now. This is for a daily driver. I grew up racing Go Karts so I like a firm ride but don't want a bunch of NVH either. At first I was gonna co with the Condor due to the noise and my buddy LOVES them, but when I called him he said they were too harsh for the street. He recommended going with the Garagistic 80A RED poly for the Subframe, rtab, diff bushings. He had never tired the blue and did not know if it would be too harsh for my use. He said the Garagisitic delrin was similar to the Condor and would be too harsh. Any wisdom on what would be best for a street application?

He and Garagisitc recommended not using different compounds in the rear as I asked both about using the OEM rubber for the trailing arm bushings, but you guys seem to feel that's not a problem? Any insight on what would work best on a firmish handling street car that doesn't lead me to having an overly noisy/vibrating E30 would be appreciated.

[nando]

It's sort of irrelevant since I doubt they make the exact ones anymore, but I've been running the same 80A Ireland Engineering subframe and TA bushings for like 20 years now. damn, time flies!

There's no NVH with an 80A bushing - you'll really only see that with something harder like Delrin or Aluminum. My TA bushings have never squeaked.

For the diff bushing I recommend staying with stock. Soft poly is too weak to support it, and harder materials are just going to turn it into a buzz bomb. There are solid rubber versions of the diff bushing too if you want a slight upgrade without rattling your teeth out.

I don't think there's any issue using various materials either.

[ForcedFirebird]

TA bushings for like 20 years now. damn, time flies!

There's no NVH with an 80A bushing - you'll really only see that with something harder like Delrin or Aluminum. My TA bushings have never squeaked.

might want to check in on those. Most poly bushings much over 15yr are usually dust.

[e30austin]

after some seriously poor quality bushings from AKG, i use Powerflex (purple) only now, for a street car, unless i'm reinstalling OE bushings.