WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

Wow. Night and day difference between what my tires looked like when they hit the dumptser last month.

What is your front toe alignment? Is it just set to within factory specs, or did you ask them to get closer to 0?

240M3SRT

iTrader: (3)

Chicken-Thanks for keeping us updated, thats great front tire wear you have for that many milesI have F-Sport sway bars and am wondering if adding this mod will be too harsh for a DD, but it seems like this wasnt the case for you. Have you noticed any creaking sounds coming from these bushings, vibrations in the steering wheel, etc?

It appears they only offer the high performance 90 version now-can you confirm that this is the one you ordered? Did you consider ordering any of the other bushings to help with tire wear, or is that bushing the main culprit reducing front inner tire life:
http://shopfigs.com/v1/index.php?rou...product_id=138

I noticed they also have offset versions of this bushing. At highway speeds my car tries to keep pulling to the right when i turn the wheel that way even just slightly. I was wondering if the offset bushings would be the way to go, but it looks like they require an alignment and theres no guarantee it will even solve this.

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

The tire shop is using the factory alignment specs stored in their machine's computer. I have never told them anything about the bushings. I only ask them to check the alignment and they have made some minor tweaks here and there over the past 2 years since purchasing the lifetime alignment.

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

You are welcome. Adding these bushings to your car with the F-Sport sway bars will tighten up your front end even more. I can't emphasize how much more stable my car feels compared to the stock rubber bushings.

No creaking or squeaking coming from the bushings. You can feel more of the road through the chassis and a little more feel in the steering wheel. Nothing too bad or else my wife would tell me to do something. Granted the Yoko Avid Envigor tires on the car are pretty soft. If they were something stiffer the ride might suffer more, but it would also handle better. Overall it is more of a sporty feel than anything else.

I have not installed any other bushings on the car. The high performance 90A bushings are what I ordered because that was all Mike had in stock. I took a risk on them potentially being too stiff, but it worked out.

My car didn't have any pulling problems other than how the factory bushings caused the car to tramline over uneven pavement at highway speeds. I used the 0 offset because the past alignments have been pretty consistent left to right and the factory bushings did not have an offset.

firelikeiy

Maybe it's just me but it looks like they are still wearing on the very inside edge (The first inch of tread). Are you still seeing wear there but just not as much? The picture of the driver side tire looks the worst.

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

There is more wear on the inside of the front tires compared to the middle and outside. The driver's side has more wear compared to the passenger side. That being said, both still look much better than past tires did with the same amount of miles.

Might be time for another alignment check too.

240M3SRT

iTrader: (3)

Just completed my bushing install. Was happy to see how easy it was. However finding a shop to press them in was a challenge. 2 places said they didnt have the right attachments for their press. One high end place quoted $125 but was too busy to do it until Jan1. Another place said $75 and could have it done in 1-2 hr so i took that option.

In all honesty the car feels a bit more finicky in turns, mainly around those on-ramp loops that are so much fun. But maybe its just me getting used to the new feel. Keep in mind i just did front and rear Fsport swaybars a couple weeks ago and loved the neutral feel they provided.

Did anyone else do these in conjunction with Fsport sways who can comment? I mainly did this mod for reduced tire wear just hoping its not one of those things where one things leads to another like having to do the rear busings to get that neutral predictable feel back.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^Have you gotten an alignment since the install?

reyoasian

iTrader: (2)

I was checking out FIGS website for alignment parts (arms, bushings, etc.) and there's so many that it's soooooo confusing

240M3SRT

iTrader: (3)

Have not sir. Took the OP's advice that it wasnt really necessary since the bushings are centered, not the offset version. I know better than this in my head...as nothing is ever 100% the same, but the way it feels it wants to oversteer more, im not sure if an alignment would help this. Also before i do an alignment i want to make sure im going to keep these bushings on. Im wondering if replacing the front Fsport swaybar with the factory one will bring it back to neutral now that i have the stiffer bushings up front. What do you think?

reyoasian-i agree theres a lot of stuff to sift through, a lot of that stuff is more for hardcore track guys IMO. Its great that someone offers this stuff for the IS-but it is pricey. I just wanted these bushings because i figured for the <$300 i paid for the bushings with install i will save many front tires from being worn out on the inside over the life of this car(im one of those people that keeps my cars 10yrs lol)

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

That is for sure.

My suggestion, get your eyes on a diagram or picture of the suspension. Sewell, and/or parts.com have decent diagrams. Keep the diagram open on half of your screen and open FIGS website on the other half. That will give you a visual of where the arm/bushing goes, and what it may affect as far as alignment goes. You might want to do the same thing using Megan Racing's website too, there are some differences in how some of their products adjust alignment compared to FIGS.

You might be right about the bushing causing more oversteer. If you sift through the whole thread on the IS F forum about these bushings you will find that the OEM bushing is purposely soft in order to induce understeer at the limit through toe changes (at the expense of tire life). Making that bushing stiffer prevents the toe from changing to induce the understeer.

It still might be worth the $$ to get the alignment checked. As you said nothing is ever 100% the same, and removal and replacement of these brackets has the potential to change the toe setting on the car, which as stated above can change the car's tendency to under or over steer.

As far as swaybars go, it has been a-long time since I've done any swaybar tuning, but from what I remember a the stiffer the rear bar gets, the more tendency the car will have to oversteer. There are guys who autocross (granted not the 2IS that I know of) who remove the front swaybar to help the car to rotate better. You might try putting your stock rear swaybar back in and see what happens, the rear is also easier to change than the front.

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

I agree you are experiencing go kart like handling with thicker sway bars and the new bushings. Sway bars took some of the roll out of the chassis, but were designed around the factory bushings with the aforementioned front end push included. With the new bushings, that push is pretty much gone and your front wheels are tracking true in turns. The result is your rear end being flatter and wanting to come around faster.

What tires are you running? Might consider changing tire pressures. Have you had the driver aid kick in? If not you may not be as close to loosing your butt as you thought. That being said, you don't want to learn the hard way be seeing your rear fender by looking over your shoulder. IMHO should explore your car limits in a safe place before changing more parts.

Not this:

This

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

Driver side greater inner wear partly due to this onramp which is taken everyday at a decent tick by my wife.

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

Small update for those who don't troll the IS F forum; if you don't want to deal with finding a local shop to press these bushings into your existing brackets, FIGS now sells the bushings pre-installed in brackets:

I've been toying with the idea of ordering a set of new brackets, sending them to FIGS and having them press in the bushings, so when FIGS posted that these were available I ordered a set.
I know I am way too excited about mundane things like bushings, but this is the 2nd to last item I "need" before getting the car aligned properly, and putting some seriously sticky rubber on. With the way the stock car eats front tires there is now way I could afford putting new tires on the car every 5,000 miles.

ChickenIS

iTrader: (1)

Have just over 21k on the front bushings. I bought energy suspension grease ($6 on ebay or Amazon) because the old stuff dried out and the ride was sounding ghetto. Squeaking on speed bumps, going across dips, in and out of driveways. My son and I used energy grease on a job 7 years ago and it is holding up well. My past bushing replacements were also done with energy grease and had no squeaks.

I replaced the front rotors with Raybestos from Amazon $99.00 each with free shipping. One came from Indiana and one was local. I sourced AKEBONO PROACT BRAKE PADS - CERAMIC part# ACT1113 for $67.00 at my local...PEPBOYS??? I was surprised to find them there. Good quality rotor and much better than the Autozone blanks I installed in 2011.

Lastly, I had the front tires flipped so the insides are now outsides LR-RL.As you can see there is still abnormal front tire wear. However, it is taking place over a much greater distance than ever. If I drove this car daily there would be much more life than what my wife can squeeze out of front tires (and front brakes).

So this is the 4th (or 5th lost track) set of front brake pads. I really had to clean the rotor that came from Indiana because there was so much rust inhibitor in the plastic the rotor was wrapped in. One of the front pad spring clips was broken. The new pads come with 4 new spring clips (and moly lube) which was cool.

I had to remove the bushing housings in order to apply grease. This is easy to do. Car is now quiet over bumps. The brakes are nice and bedded in.