As mentioned in my other post, i'm rebuilding a set of control arms. i was thinking about delalum bushings to replace the polygraphite i now have. What is everyones experience/opinion of delalum? is it that much better than urethane?

 

Buy them. They work well.

 

I wore out the insert in one of my global west rear LCA's in less than 10k miles. The plus side is it cost more for shipping than the new insert ($3)!! The down side is the other end had a spherical bearing, which I also wore out and cost $60 for a replacement. I don't think it's worth it for the front A-arms.

 

if the existing urethane is good, then i'll just swap them over. I guess what i'm asking is if the delalum is dramatically better than urethane. 0 dollars vs 120 dollars. What is everyones opinion? Will i see a 120 dollar difference?

 

I don't think so...I would put your $120 to use elsewhere (maybe a strut tower brace...you'll feel a difference with that).

 

www.mcmastercarr.com

p/n #8576K25
not sure if that's the right diameter, but it's 1.5", $9/ft. Lop that into 2" long chunks, or whatever size you need, center drill the bolt hole. I'm seeing $9 to make a set for what you want. Assuming this delrin would work.

Nice to know del-a-lum = delrin. I was always curious what del-a-lum was....

 

The single one issue with Del-a-Lum bushings: are the lower A-arm pivot points in direct alignment with each other? If not, those bushings will wear out in no time.

And, there is no guarantee that they are in alignment. Nature of the beast (or design).

I'll never use them in this application.

Which is why spherical bearings are used for lower A-arm pivots.

RBob.
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Del-a-Lum stands for 'delrin on aluminum'. In the correct application it works OK.

RBob.

 

Correctl It is a machined billet aluminum core with a machined sleeve of Delrin over it. I've run them for about 8 years now without any problems.

Lon

 

lonsal, in what application? in a-arms, or other?

what would be the "correct" application for del-a-lum bushings Rbob? LCA's? panhard?

nifty, AL, and a delrin sleeve... hmm, something I could make at home.. How thick is the delrin? half and half AL/Delrin, or more swayed to the delrin?

 

Front a-arms is where I used them. I don't recall the exact thickness of the Delrin, but it was a thin diameter. Looking at the picture on GW's site has refreshed my memory of the construction. Check it out:

The advantage of them vs. polyurethane or OEM rubber is the lack of stiction.

Lon

 

Hey Lon! Also ran this set-up on '84 CMC third gen, no problems in five reliable years. Is it in my new '91 Formula street car project? - you bet!

 

This kind of machined support sleeve with a durlin or nylon liner is actually a very common industrial bushing assembly, global west just decided to give it a fancy name. Also, the ones that you’ll usually find in an industrial application will have the shoulder (the part that’s washer shaped in the GW part) as part of the liner, and then the whole deal will be fluted to channel grease from the zerk in the support piece through the whole assembly. My dad used to have a whole stack of them sitting in a cookie tin that he got as engineering samples for some equipment he was designing.

I’m not sure that there is a real advantage in them, and if you wanted to run something that doesn’t deflect you could get solid, circle track style bushings for the control arms for a fraction of what these things cost.