Sango

iTrader: (10)

When the bushings were installed, it's best practice that the alignment should be done right away.

I don't have inner wear but a bit of the outerwear because apparently the alignment tech put in more toe to take in account the stock bushings would have that deflection.

I believe the regular one should also work for me then?

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

FYI, we also are testing a camber changing upper arm bushing as well for additional camber/camber correction. Though I think really only additional camber would be desirable.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

A-ha. Now that makes sense, thanks.

chikoo

What about tram lining?
My gut tells me that would be much more pronounced if you put a bushing with not much deflection.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

Explain.
Tram lining is almost always the result of compliance...because the road overtakes control from the vehicle steering and geometry. These bushings offer resistance to that force and hold the geometry intact.

RCB

iTrader: (18)

I can vouch for the fact that tram lining is not a side effect of these bushings. I have very wide tires and live in an are of the country that has some really bad roads. When I worked as a dealer tech. I had new cars coming back all the time for so called alignment issues when the cars where really tram lining on a bad stretch of I95. On that same stretch of road I have no issue with my Figs bushing equipt ISF.

IMHO replacing the marshmallow, liquid filled OEM bushing for Figs offering is a no brainier. They actually do what they say and make an improvement to the car and not just in the motorsports aspect but also for regular driving.

chikoo

I have the IS250 with the soft bushings and have yet to experience tramlining.
I had cars with much more road feel (prob due to harder bushings) and they always tramlined at the lightest deviation in the road surface.
Therein I hypothesized that the softer bushings is allowing the individual tires to deflect without pulling the whole car along with it.

DekNgo

iTrader: (8)

In my experience tram lining is mostly attributed to the tires. It seems that the more parallel the tread design is to the rotation of the tires, the worse they tram line. I've swapped "parallel tread" tires with ones that have a more perpendicular tread design (on the same car) and the tram lining disappeared.

While these were by no means scientific experiments, I've noticed improvements every time I've switched from parallel to perpendicular tread designs.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

Tread and tire style present the guide force that the road will influence the tire with...how much the pitch of the tread falls into the pavement grooves. But a firm bushing will put control back into your hands vs the tire making the choice for you. The control experience should be better with a bushing that gives proper feedback. That falls into the "counter-influence" force that you can put on the tire trying to deflect. Past experience may not come into play because the geometry is not typical. In a true symmetric double wishbone with no rear radial bushing and depending on the type of bushings that were installed, you might see different toe changes.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

I agree, and all Max Performance summer tires that I know of have the "parallel tread" you describe. The trait is also exacerbated with wide low profile tires, again a trait of Max Performance tires. Over the years it's something I've learned to live with.

BTW, you've never really experienced Tramlining until you've driver a motorcycle with a center groove in the tire on the streets of Southern California. It can sometimes get pretty scary

Lou

chikoo

Quote from Tirerack...guess I was wrong
"Imagine a worn suspension that allows a front wheel and tire to swing between the recommended 1/16-inch of toe-in and 1/16-inch of toe-out when it encounters a rut in the road. This 1/8-inch difference in the direction that the tire is pointed will result in the vehicle tramlining. Replace the worn part to remove the play and you will significantly reduce or remove the tramlining. Many drivers with higher mileage cars have reported that replacing worn suspension components has eliminated tramlining and made the car drive like it is new again...which I guess it essentially is!"

08F

This bushing seems like a great product for the F. When discussing the inner tire wear on the front with my lexus dealer when I had to replace the fronts after 12k, the service guy said that he sees it on all the IS models and that it is just a characteristic of having these types of cars. I knew that there had to be a design flaw somewhere.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

What do you guys think is a reasonable amount of hours for a shop to bill me for installing these bushings? Two hours?

Thinking of getting these installed in my IS350 before I take it to the track for the first time this December. Hoping they can save me a little wear, and potentially improve steering feel.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

2 hrs should be enough. Maybe 3 if you count the pull in setup and torque lookup for the first time job.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

So I called a local tuning shop that has a pretty good reputation around here, and they quoted me $750 (7.5 hours) of labor!!!

That includes the alignment, but still... jesus christ. Anyone else who got these installed have any input? How much were you charged? I mean it only cost me about $500 to get my aftermarket coilovers installed and corner balanced at a reputable shop. Are these really 50% MORE labor than that?

I'm gonna try calling a couple other places, but if I can't do MUCH better than that, I'm not even gonna bother. Not worth it for $1K.