Hello, i was told that polyurathane will creak and make noise yet it gives a stiffer ride as opposed to rubber bushings. What is you guy opinions and experiences? Also I was told that there is a way to tighten up the steering box gears on my 69 camaro,something about the gears lose touch and wear down so they need to be adjusted after 30 years, to take the "slop" and play out. If so how does one do this? Special tools?Thanks for any info

I assume you're referring to suspension bushings - there are lots of opinions on this; if you're going to autocross the car and don't care about ride harshness or noise, the urethane bushings will do the trick, with much crisper steering response. However, for daily-driver use, they will drive you crazy - the car will be much more sensitive to minor pavement disruptions, you'll hear and feel every little bump, and the squeaking will drive you nuts (and there's no cure for the squeaking). If your primary use is normal street driving, I'd go with the OEM rubber bushings.

I'm not that familiar with the steering gear adjustment (others here are), except that it's critical to do it right (long procedure in the Chassis Service Manual), particulary the high-point centering due to the way the worm is machined. Others who are more knowledgeable on this will no doubt chime in on this.

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JohnZ
'69 Z28 Fathom Green

I wouldn't touch the steering gear. You may need the box rebuilt. Mine was trashed inside (my rebuilder told me)......or it could be a bad rag joint....

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'69 Camaro Convertible (http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Screen/1243/Camaro3-1.html)

Click on the "search" link at the upper right corner of this page.
Search on "steering gear" in this section.

You will find a lot of links like this. http://www.camaros.net/forum/Forum7/HTML/000124.html

David

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Check my web page for First Gen Camaro suspension info:
David's Motorsports page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/)
First Gen Suspension Page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/first_gen_suspension.htm)
67 RS 327
69 Camaro Vintage Racer
65 Lola T-70 Can Am Vintage Racer

Well Gearhead69 I put polyurethane bushings on my 73'. I use this for just a fun street car. It is rough and you do feel every bump, but your car rides really tight. Sometimes if I drive in it too long my lower back hurts. (I also have stiff suspension.) You might want to stick with OEM rubber bushings because I installed a new front end six years ago and am already having steering problems. This is probably due to having a stiff car. Hope this helps--

Also they do creak over every bump.(especially speed bumps) It makes your car sound crappy.

I can't resist it!!!

You know you won't be able to hear the "creaks and groans" of the poly if you got a pair of them cackling cop calling glasspacks on your car. LOL,LOL, pdq67

Ive got bushings from PST (performance suspension tech.) They use graphite impregnated poly bushings. While my car is not done yet, my freind has them on his 68 Pontiac Tempest. They do ride a little harsher but because of the graphite they dont creak. It also helps to use a good amount of the bushing lube that they supply. This helps prevent noise too.

Thanks everybody and jvolk for that refrence. Hey PDQ67, by the way, what are a good quality set of glasspacks and where can I get'em. I know pep boys have the $14 cherry bomb special, but im afraid Ill regret that on my restored black beauty. The flowmasters are a little too tame---good at idle but wimpy elsewhere. Gotta sound better than those Z-71's with 5-inch tips!!!HaHa

Now Gearhead, Now you have offended me. I have Flowmasters on my Camaro and they sound great. I also have them on my Z-71. Just because I don't build my Hotrod in a dirt driveway and enjoy the sound of mind deafening glasspacks at 4000 RPM doesn't mean I have a wimpy car!

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73' Camaro with 94' LT1 and 400 Turbo

Look for straight through glasspack mufflers that when you hold them up and look through them, you can see that the inner tube has a zillion little holes in it instead of protruding louvers or saw-cuts.

Think Dynomax sells them now as Thrush glasspacks. They used to be made by Walker,(I think) and called "continentals".

They are loud and have almost zero backpressure.

I want to run them say two of the longest glasspacks I can fit connected together from the headers parallel on each side and then mount two transverse in the stock mufflers location in front of the gas tank and then exit right after my rear tires like stock. I would have three long ones per side this way.

I figure the more I can hang together, the deeper and lower the sound and still have a 100 percent straight through exhaust system. It would be alota work, plus may still be tooo loud. This arrangement should be light, too, in terms of weight. IMHO. pdq67

Gearhead69
Installed poly bushings in my 69 and no one who has been in the car thinks the ride is uncomfortable, probably because the springs I put in aren't too stiff. Hard springs will ruin ride quality much more than poly bushings will.
When I installed them I made sure to use alot of lube. I have ten thousand miles on them and they haven't squeaked yet even though I have driven on alot of dirt roads and the suspension is filthy.

[This message has been edited by my69gofast (edited 01-16-2001).]

my69gofast,

Sorry ta be talking about mufflers here.

Fast, what rate springs did you install and what engine do you have in your car??? pdq67

The bushing by themselves are not going to make your car too rough. I have the Global West solid aluminum body bushings, coil springs and their del-a-lum control arm bushings. Their control arm bushings give practically zero stiction and allow the rest of the suspension to work. With good shocks, etc. you'll be surprised how compliant the ride can be.

pdq67
sorry I didnt respond sooner but sometimes takes me a couple of days to find time to check in.

My 69 conv. has a 383 (sr torquer heads, 270 magnum cam)...runs sweet but I desperately need to get a posi and upgrade the original 6cyl fuel line from the tank to pump.

I bought the springs from Nat Parts Depot. They're pvc coated and lower the front end approx 1". They're advertised as high rate but at 307 lbs I think they're probably closer to a stock rate.

[This message has been edited by my69gofast (edited 01-19-2001).]