ALFAGTV6.COM

[GarthW]

I've noticed these kits for the GTV6 from Powerflex, a company in the U.K.
http://www.powerflex.co.uk/products/Alf ... 201/1.html
They supply kits for the front and rear,
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180818728004 ... 1438.l2649

I'm thinking of purchasing this kit, should be a good upgrade and change all the old rubbers. Has anyone installed this on their GTV6 at all?

[MD]

Garth,
I suppose this stuff can be debated until the cows come home. Pros & Cons.
If the car is headed for the track some of this will apply and then the debate will expand to what rigidity grades to use. In any case, for race applications you would be better of using self lubricating rigid plastics which are tough as..
If its just a street car, the likely wear of this material in critical areas that can't be regularly lubricated may in fact lead to more slop than you think in time.
On the other hand, rubber bushes do not need lubrication as the joins simply flex. Quality rubber bushes last a long time and for a road car are perfectly adequate and certainly isolate the driver better from unwanted harshness.With the exception of the castor bush which should be changed to a ball joint anyhow, I think switching to these bushes for a road car is a marginal gain and certainly ok for a finite time. I think the claims made for them are overstated.

Your call.

[Giuliettaevo2]

The front upper bushes from Alfa are very good, just use original parts there. Also there seems to be an issue with the polybushes that replace those. they are two halves and tend to 'work' themselves out during use. There should be somekind of buffer to keep them in place but not all company's supplie these with their kits.

The original rubber sandwich rubbers for the casterrods are rubbish, use the 105 balljoint conversion there or go for the powerflex items, they are way better then the original.

The swaybar polybushings are available in different sizes which can be handy.

On the rear the Powerflex is a nice alternative for original and always better then worn rubber bushings in my eyes. But if you just use original bushings it's also tight for a long time...

The powerflex items that i know that are most used over here are the ones for the casterrods, the dion front one and the watt's system.

[GarthW]

Hey guys thanks for the heads up, i'll give them a miss. Although the rear set up might be a good upgrade, but yeah i'll just leave everything as is.

[kevin]

We only like to use two of their products here in SA . The caster arm bush and front dedion . Stay faaaaaar away from any on control arm - they wiggle out . Anyway I think they only good in compression . The standard alfa watts linkage and upper control are good . Oh also the sway bar bush on the biggerb30 mm AR bar are pefect from powerflex. Seems to be some form of consesus here .

[GarthW]

Ooh okay, i'll remember thst, thanks Kevin.

Kevin how have you been? Been building any rockets lately?

[Mats]

+1 on all the above. Poly bushes are only usable in semi-stationary bushings like the de-Dion, NEVER in a rotating position like a control arm joint. But even there it's not lilely to add a whole lot of performance, probably will add noise though.

[Greg Gordon]

The poly bushings in the upper control arms require spacers to prevent them from working out. If you don't use them, the two piece designs will work out before you leave the driveway.

Strangely only one vendor sells the bushings with the proper spacers. In the past I have just made them myself. With the proper spacers, soft poly bushings work very well in the upper control arm.

The one place I have found where poly bushings don't work well is the front of the DeDion triangle. I have tried them twice there, two different brands. While they do work, the seem to have a strong negative effect on handling. The SZ spherical bearing is a lot better, otherwise I just use a new OEM rubber busing in this location.

I also use poly bushings in the watts linkage, although a few vendors sell heim jointed units which are probably a little better.

Greg,
www.hiperformancestore.com
www.okinjectors.com

[75evo]

I think the STOCK bushings in the control arms and watts look solid. No need for poly. I had my poly front upper control arm split because I was too stupid to put the spacers.

Only poly I would go for is the dedion center bushing. The castor rod, just go for the ball joint.

[Greg Gordon]

I think the STOCK bushings in the control arms and watts look solid. No need for poly. I had my poly front upper control arm split because I was too stupid to put the spacers.

Only poly I would go for is the dedion center bushing. The castor rod, just go for the ball joint.

I am having a hard time following your post. Are you saying your upper control arm split? Or that the bushings worked their way out? Which dedion center bushing are your talking about, the big one at the front of the triangle, or the center watts linkage bushing?

Greg

[75evo]

Just the upper control arm poly bushings. It's a split design. And I bought it way back in '98. I was later told to put washers in the gaps to prevent the bushing from working themselves out. The stock upper control arm bushing is good enough for a road car, even for a club racer. If anyone is serious about racing, then skip the poly and go for some custom spherical bearing type.

The dedion big center bushing is what I would use poly for. The SZ bearing type bushing if not installed properly makes a clunking noise.

The whole watts linkage setup, everything stock should be just fine. They last for a long time. And when I replaced mine with the poly, I couldn't really detect the difference. Way back in the 90's it seems that everything poly must be good....

[Greg Gordon]

The SZ bearing is completely silent if installed properly. You can't even tell it's there. Like just about every other part on the car, if it's not installed properly it's going to cause some problems. It's far outperforms the stock bushing and lasts longer. I haven't seen one wear out yet.

I am certain poly watts linkage bushings make a difference. I noticed with Yokahama AVS (yes, this was a while ago) 225/50-15 tires, the inside of the rear tires would just barely rub the inner sections of the wheel wells during hard cornering at the track. With poly bushings they didn't. Thus, the rear of the body shifts more with the stock rubber bushings, which makes sense.

I agree the upper control arm bushings don't matter as much, but poly last longer.

Greg