DIY: Make your own cradle bushing inserts.

[Darth_Emma]

I am not taking credit for this DIY mod, but I did help tkrupinski with this project, so we are posting this DIY as a joint venture.


Make your own street version cradle bushings.

This mod is for someone that needs a cheap alternative to street bushings.

1 Purchase a large tube of self leveling two part seam sealer. Any brand will work fine but I do know that the 3m in the picture below gets very hard and sets up in about 10min.



You also need the proper gun and tips to dispense the dual tube material.



2 remove or lower suspension cradle to access the top of the cradle bushings. (If you don't know how, then you'll need to find another DIY to show you how to do this.)

3 Remove dirt and debris from bushing air pockets with compressed air.

4 Apply self leveling seam sealer into the bushing filling the air pockets completely.



5 Wipe off all excess sealer before it starts to harden.

Front bushing:


Rear bushing:


6 After sealer starts to harden wipe mounting surface with some sort of paint thinner to avoid potential squeaks due to body rub.

7 Let dry one hour then reinstall suspension cradle.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

That right there is smart, That is Camaro Fabrications at its best.

[Madness11]

What is the point?

I am missing something.

[JusticePete]

Creative as I have come to expect from D_E.

[The Stig]

Originally Posted by Madness11

What is the point?

I am missing something.

This mod saves you about $250.

[MARINE1991]

looks good, wounder if it has the same effect.. also since its a lot of work to drop the cradle woundnt be best to just change out the bushings..

[Madness11]

Originally Posted by stieger

This mod saves you about $250.

But what does it do. A solid cradle bushing.

[Darth_Emma]

Originally Posted by Madness11

What is the point?

I am missing something.

This is from the Pfadt website about using their solid subframe bushings:
With the Pfadt Camaro Solid Subframe bushings you can completely eliminate subframe movement. By solidly mounting the rear subframe you will find that the car feels more precise and reacts to your steering inputs more quickly. Drag racers will find that their launches will be more controlled and wheel hop will be drastically reduced if not eliminated. When launching the car before we found that the subframe would violently oscillate and cause a drastic reduction in traction. Now with the solid subframe mounts the launch is substantially smoother and more controlled. Auto-crossers and road-racers will find that the rear end is more controlled and the car is far more stable and predictable. After the installation of the solid subframe mounts the chassis and subframe are no longer acting as separate structures so the rigidity and strength of the rear subframe and chassis is also improved.

This mod should provide similar results for a lot less money.

Originally Posted by stieger

This mod saves you about $250.

The solid subframe bushings I put in my car cost about $700. This costs less than $50. The street kit inserts from some shops cost about $200. So, yeah, it saves some money.

Originally Posted by MARINE1991

looks good, wounder if it has the same effect.. also since its a lot of work to drop the cradle woundnt be best to just change out the bushings..

I'm pretty sure you have to drop the cradle to change out the bushings.

[Squintz Palladoris]

Nice DIY DE!

Just want to point out that the title should be DIY Rear cradle bushing INSERTS as this will not perform the same as a solid bushing or a polyurethane replacement. If the seam sealer hardens to roughly the same durometer as the bushing inserts that are on the market, then the same performance could be expected.

Oh and BTW dropping the cradle is not that big of a deal. Its easier than removing a solid rear axle. Changing out the entire bushing can be a major pain in the butt, depending on how well the OEM bushings are seated in the cradle.

[Darth_Emma]

Originally Posted by Squintz Palladoris

Nice DIY DE!

Just want to point out that the title should be DIY Rear cradle bushing INSERTS as this will not perform the same as a solid bushing or a polyurethane replacement. If the seam sealer hardens to roughly the same durometer as the bushing inserts that are on the market, then the same performance could be expected.

Oh and BTW dropping the cradle is not that big of a deal. Its easier than removing a solid rear axle. Changing out the entire bushing can be a major pain in the butt, depending on how well the OEM bushings are seated in the cradle.

Thanks. But this was tkrupinski's idea.

We think that this method is even better than the cradle bushing inserts some vendors sell because it completely fills the bushings without there being any seams to make for extra play in the bushings.

I've asked a mod to modify the title to make it more accurate.

[Sterling]

Nice Budget Mod!

[JusticePete]

It is a good budget mod, but does not come close to the stability a quality sub-frame bush insert will offer. The control surfaces that contact the monocoque are unchanged. The underside of the bushes are not filled. That said it is a step up from the OE deeply NVH voided sub-frame bushes coming close to the new improved OE rubber sub-frame bushes that began coming down the assembly line with the Vert.

I say cool mod and very creative!

[tkrupinski]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

It is a good budget mod, but does not come close to the stability a quality sub-frame bush insert will offer. The control surfaces that contact the monocoque are unchanged. The underside of the bushes are not filled. That said it is a step up from the OE deeply NVH voided sub-frame bushes coming close to the new improved OE rubber sub-frame bushes that began coming down the assembly line with the Vert.

I say cool mod and very creative!

This is an alternative to the "STREET BUSHING" which consists of poly spacers that are inserted into the original cradle bushing"NOT A REPLACEMT FOR SOLID BUSHINGS". The mod is to save someone money, time and the hassle of changing bushing if not really needed.

[Synner]

Originally Posted by Darth_Emma

I'm pretty sure you have to drop the cradle to change out the bushings.

No just lower it same as inserts; that's how I did my full replacements.