Bushes and geometry...

[tribetype40]

Guys (and gals if there are any?!)

I'm building up to replacing the bushes and at the same time setting the suspension geometry.

For the Bushes I see 3 choices, Lotus, SJ poly or PUK.

the kit from PUK: does this 365E kit do the complete car as I cant tell by the picture on their site and it doesn't list the links the kit covers?

SJ build it up out of individual bushes (poly): anyone with experiance in these (costs and feedback?)

Standard stuff from lotus which seems to cost more?!

And as for the geometry... what settings should I use? 1997 GT3 but its running late 2002 V8 wheels?

Any help is greatly appreciated, cheers.

Doug

[Glyn Harper]

I'm in the process of doing this myself, but my car's being repainted first so I can't say which bushes are better.. I went for SJ Sportscars ones though as they're in two halves which makes them a lot easier to fit!!

As for geometry, this link on the LEW site has all the settings you'll need.

http://www.lotusespritworld.co.uk/EGuides/...WheelsonSE.html

[98GT3]

Lotus are also doing polyurathane bushes now, there are details on LEW

Phil

98GT3

[Jonathan]

I've bought and fitted 2 lots of PUK's kit,

I also have a few SJ ones (x4 for the rear if you're interested ?) and handled the Lotus ones.

I chose the PUK ones becuase of their design.

They are split bushes, they mostly come in 3 parts so fitting and removal is extremely easy. The Lotus ones are 1 part and, imo, harder to fit - they are softer than PUK and about the same as SJ's.

SJ's are similar in design to PUK but are noticably softer material, they'd be good replacement standard again becuase of their ease of fitting.

The prob with the SJ ones is that the polyurethane material does not fill the whole bushing so there is a void in the middle, this is why they move more (as the material has space to swell into) - personally I wanted a stiffer suspension (it's a supercar afterall !)

Your car, Dave just fitted the V8 wheels to it and always remarked the handling felt better, however geo and suspension settings are somewhat a personal thing. The car is also lower iirc so I'd stick with the GT3 settings (which I think are the same as the S4s which ran the same size wheels).

PUK bushes are explained here in little more detail on my site !

http://www.espritgt3.com/technical/modific...ushes/index.htm

The kit is enough for both front and back, but does not include the anti-roll bar bushes which you can get from SJ.

[tribetype40]

Cheers guys,

I think I will end up going for the PUK ones. buying a complete kit is easier than giving indiviual parts numbers etc. So PUK it is, Will order in the next week or so. Whats their delivery times like.

Also whats your experiance in fitting these as i know from previous experiance fitting poly bushes to my Corrado that some joints can be a real pain in the ar5e!

I have a press so most should be straight forward.

one more thing, does the PUK kit contain the Bushes for the rear trailing arms (the joint buy the engine mounts)??

Cheers

[islandbloke]

I got a set of polys from R&B - which LOOK the same as the PUK ones in the pictures. Around

[Jonathan]

The radius arms are not in the kit nor are they poly.

SJ do uprated vulcanised rubebr ones which I have fitted to my SE.

All I needed was a vice to fit the bushes, becuase they are 3 piece they go together really easily.

I put both 1/2s in and then squeezed the stainless steel core in using a vice on soft jaws, when it was all the way in I clamped it on the inner core and moved the piece up and down to relax the bushing in the component.

I would test fit them 1st, on my 1st set I had the corse needed skimming on a lathe becuase they were WAY too tight. The suspension is also fun to re-build afterwards as there is less give in the bushings.

[esprithk]

I got a set of polys from R&B - which LOOK the same as the PUK ones in the pictures. Around

[Paula&Marcus]

Hi Eric,

Yes you are right, we are working very close together with R&B, actually we are friends. Many of the R&B products are designed and built by us and also vice versa.

It may happen that we dont have a product in stock but R&B has it in stock. When this happens it may occur that R&B just directly sends it to the customer in our behalf ;o)

Cheers

Marcus

www.PUKesprit.de

I think they are the same

because sometimes, I order something from PUK, it ends up the delivery by R&B.

I think they have close business relationship.

anyway, my Esprit uses PUK bushes, too

but the front anti-roll bar bushes are ordered from SJ Sportscar UK