Just replaced the hard plastic A-Arm bushings with the standard stock ones
from Sunbeam Specialties. Boy, what a difference !
When restoring the front end after the accident no-one had the stock
bushings or even knew when they'd get them in again. Tiger Auto was great
in getting me back on the road, I even ended up sending my A-Arms to them
to get them reconditioned after the body shop tried to remove the old ones
with a sledge hammer or something worse (but that's another story). When
all was said and done though, the ride was terribly noisy and abrupt. Each
Acceleration, brake, bump, or turn created distinct pops and pings in the
front suspension. It seems that in order to prevent them from binding they
could not be tightened enough to keep the front end from slopping back and
forth with each movement.
I have no idea what other peoples' experienced are or would be, but just
from my experience the softer bushings are much superior, provide a much
better ride, improve steering, yada, yada, yada (insert all standard
disclaimers, "this is personal experience", "the initial installation could
be bad", "I coulda hallucinated it all", I _really_ liked the guys at Tiger
Auto and they really know what they are doing! no flames please !). Since
I understand a lot of Tiger people use these bushings I wonder if the
increased front end weight of a Tiger makes them OK for them?
Meanwhile, I have an extra set of hard plastic A-Arm bushings if anyone
wants a set. They have been gently used in an Alpine and have about 500
miles on them and look like new (no warranty, guarantee, etc). After this I
really cannot recommend them, but maybe someone else who knows more than I
can make them work for them.
-Patrick Wheeler
SV, Richmond, CA
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