Lower Control Arms -2 Hours

Three boxes of back ordered parts arrived today, one of which contained the lower control arms (LCA). In an earlier blog (November 25th, 2009) I discussed purchasing the Breeze LCA bushings and the perceived benefits, I say perceived benefits because when replacing the FFR stock bushings I find the outside diameter of the Breeze units to be 0.005” larger than those supplied with the kit.

Breeze state that their bushings have a smaller diameter to ease grease flow and provide less bind on rotation, in addition the shorter bushing is actually a little smaller than those supplied.

Plus point are the serrated ends definitely bind into the mounting wings and the OD surface is significantly smoother than the cut pipe supplied in the kit which should extend the life of the polyurethane bushings.

I did check that each polyurethane bushing was grooved to promote the flow of grease, and once installed checked that the poly bushing rotates around the steel bushing. Each of the four bolts was tightened to 110 ft/lb’s and both the bushing grease nipples and ball joints were filled with Super Lube Synthetic Grease (recommended for polyurethane bushings). Like others have recently found the rear bolt does not now have to be shortened as per the manual and Mk3Build suggest.

In summary, would I by the Breeze bushings again? Probably not, I would use the stock bushings first to see how they performed. I will keep a careful eye on the bushings and make sure they keep rotating correctly following the extensive discussions on the FF forum which discusses binding and even failure.