Originally Posted by hahahaf

Group buy?

Originally Posted by RRRacing

Hi.... Well we did most of our development testing using 88 durometer bushing, and I can say emphatically that there was no detectable increase in NVH. Our polyurethane casting supplier also sent us some 95 durometer bushings for testing. When I went to the test the stiffer 95 durometer bushing, I was surprised that it too was totally smooth with no obvious NVH problems, so our production batch which arrives next week will be all 95 durometer.

The turn response with our bushing is phenomenal, but one of the biggest improvements is under braking. Our first time at VIR, we were running 150mph on the back straight and 140mph on the front straight into the braking zones, and I can tell you the car was wandering under heavy braking due to the toe changes induced during braking (it also chewed the insides of the front tires). If you look at the stock bushing design, it allows fore/aft movement, whereas ours utilizes a high strength thrust washer, redesigned bushing, and significantly beefed up 6061-T6 housing to resist the massive thrust loads that you get under braking.

We designed a new housing because we did not feel comfortable enough reusing the stock housing, knowing that it was not designed with the intent of taking all the thrust loads it would see with our new design. If you look at the stock housings closely, you will see that they are extruded from aluminum so that the grain alignment end up parallel to the thrust load. Extruding the final shape of the housing makes it cheap for Lexus to produce, but its not good if you are worried about long term durability/fatigue issues with the redesign we wanted. So in addition to significantly beefing up the cross section of the housing, we also machined the housing so that the grain flow would be perpendicular to the applied thrust load.

Designing a bushing/housing system also makes it easier to install, so that folks would not have to press out the stock bushing. So once you install our USRS, you can throw the stock LCA bushing in the garbage where it belongs:-)

Lastly, our USRS for the lower control arm is 100% made in the USA, from the design, material sourcing, to the manufacturing, this is very important to us in order to maintain quality, and for other reasons.

Rafi

Originally Posted by FIGS

I appreciate the competition, but I think you are reaching a bit when it comes to the factory bracket vs and aftermarket version and its structure. I would not add too much more caster being a lowered F has caster gain as is. Sitting over 9 degrees and steering response is where it need to be. We have never seen any issues with the factory bracket and our bushings coming with a lifetime 0 exclusion on use warranty. The reason being is that there are very few claims.

BTW we have nearly every bushing for the car currently, including the #1 inner LCA bushing which was recently released. There is only one bushing in the rear and subframe that we do not address, mostly due to necessity and demand.

Originally Posted by RRRacing

Hey Figs, I agree that there is nothing wrong with the factory bracket if you are using a bushing that does not see significant thrust loading. Our design is completely different and warranted a redesign of the housing for piece of mind, ease of installation, and additional surface area to accommodated a thrust loaded poly bushing.

I respectfully disagree with you about the caster. We have not found any negative side effects of the additional caster, only improvements in steering feel and weight. Plus we are talking about 0.25-0.5deg change, which is not drastic by any means.

-Rafi

Originally Posted by RRRacing

Just in case anyone needs further explanation between our USRS LCS bushing and the status quo, here is an illustration (utilizing my fabulous artistic talent:-)

Originally Posted by stick

What is the purpose of the bushing preload adjusters?