C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

[William G.]

I'm wondering if the strut rod bushings I've been purchasing have less than ideal quality. Hence I'm hoping for some advice. The bushings I have have somewhat less than 5000 miles of use and appear to require replacement. I shouldn't perhaps question the quality until I've had a few responses to my concerns. These bushings have "walked" fore and aft within the outer steel sleeves which are centered in the strut rod "eye". Mostly it is the rubber sleeve which has moved (as far as the constraining parts will permit--by constraining parts I mean the forks of the spindle support and the bracket bolted to the carrier). The inner sleeve may have moved a little also. I thought that these rubber inserts were firmly attached (chemically?) to the two steel sleeves in similar fashion to the process used on the front A arms bushings. The bushings I'm in the process of removing from the strut rods have slid or walked forward (that is the rubber insert has walked) in relation to the steel sleeves. Is this usual after only 5000 miles? The rubber has moved enough that on close inspection there appears to be no bonding "residue" or agent remaining on the inner sleeve or the inside of the outer sleeve. I assume that acceleration forces transmitted from the driving wheel through the spindle support could leave the bushing metal sleeves in correct position while the rubber would then appear to have moved forward relative to the fork. It would appear that the bonding agent would have to be quite strong to resist this Perhaps these bushings are not treated to bond the rubber to the sleeves? These bushings are, of course, under a significant amount of stress when the suspension is hanging and I'm wondering how much these rubber components can take before permanently distorting. Also, I've read that the bushing caps on the inner bushings originally were 1 1/4" in diameter later increased to 1 3/8", however mine measure less than 1 1/8" (about 1.100"). Any thoughts how these caps came to be on these strut rods? The distortion I'm referring to above is not limited to only the inner ends of these rods, though.

Thanks for all advice.

[Frank D.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

I used only NOS leaf spring cushions and strut bushings in my split widow rebuild.
I don't have a press, so installed them "old school".
I also reused the original bushing "caps" as the repros I received looked cheesy and poorly made.
The rubber-to-sleeve bond appeared strong in the bushings and with only a few hundred miles on them have held up perfectly.
Likewise, repro leaf spring cushions are poorly made and the rubber is overly hard.

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Bill, I had the same problem with the rubber walking out, i think that because I had the car stored in the air on a two post lift it caused them to walk out, but not really sure. I did like Frank and installed a NOS set. I think the rubber on the NOS set was slightly thinner and looked th be better adhered. Time will tell.

[Frank D.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

My reproduction strut rod bushings didn't even get through 7 months of light use on a base motor 63 - I'm conviced modern rubber formulations are sub optimal.

[William G.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Thanks for the replies. The bushings I have that have "walked" are not as bad as the one shown in Frank's photo but they are on the way to that point. I'm reluctant to admit this but I'm not literate enough, in this digital age, to post pictures or I would..............must be getting old. As for Ed's comment about suspending the car in the air and letting the suspension hang for LONG periods, although I'm slow at getting jobs done and hence the suspension does hang for a time, I've never stored it for LENGTHY times in the air. But I suspect those bushings cannot stand for very long in a position of extreme travel of the suspension before they are compromised. The bushes that I'm presently replacing due to the "walking" issue (pulling out of the rubber from the steel sleeves, if you prefer that) have been installed on the car for ten years or so but only approximately 5000 miles. The bottom line, I guess, is that in this day and age we have no idea where the parts we are purchasing were made or what quality control standards, if any were employed.

As to the issue of the diameter of my caps being so small, I may be mistaken and I need to search the old posts and refresh my memory as those posts from maybe four years ago may have been referring to the diameter of the "eye" ends of the strut rods having been increased from 1.25" to 1.375". However, my bushing caps do look quite small.

Perhaps other replies to this bushing issue will permit me (and others?) to better understand this problem, and in particular the fact that the bushes are really stretched when the suspension is hanging.

Bill

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

My reproduction strut rod bushings didn't even get through 7 months of light use on a base motor 63 - I'm conviced modern rubber formulations are sub optimal.

Frank------


Do I see a "slit" across the strut rod end or is it just some phenomena of the photo?

[Bob W.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Joe Are these bushings still available from GM ?


Thanks Bob

[James W.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

NOS ones sometimes show up on EBay, otherwise you are stuck with repros. I bought mine from Long Island Corvette Supply.

James

Joe Are these bushings still available from GM ?


Thanks Bob

[Jim L.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Folks,

In my not-always-humble-opinion if you plan to drive your C2, buy and install the Moog replacement struts.

The ends of the Moog struts are the larger C3 style, but the rubber is bonded to the steel and, by virtue of the greater volume of rubber, has a greater capacity to endure the rotational and torsional stress of normal suspension operation.

The replacement press-in bushings have, by their very design, far less compliance than even the factory-installed originals and are simply a poor technical choice.

Jim

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Joe Are these bushings still available from GM ?


Thanks Bob

Bob------


Yes, they are under GM #3775762 but they GM list for about $29/each.

[Alan D.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

FYI; And the caps changed, the early, left (63-74) and later, right (75-82)

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Folks,

In my not-always-humble-opinion if you plan to drive your C2, buy and install the Moog replacement struts.

The ends of the Moog struts are the larger C3 style, but the rubber is bonded to the steel and, by virtue of the greater volume of rubber, has a greater capacity to endure the rotational and torsional stress of normal suspension operation.

The replacement press-in bushings have, by their very design, far less compliance than even the factory-installed originals and are simply a poor technical choice.

Jim

Jim-------


Yes, GM did not go to the 1-3/8" bushing size for 1975-79 (and 63-74 SERVICE) because the 1-1/4" worked just as well.

The MOOG strut rods with vulcanized-in-place bushings are MOOG #K6213.

[Frank D.]

Re: C2 Strut Rods or Camber Rods

Frank------


Do I see a "slit" across the strut rod end or is it just some phenomena of the photo?

Its just a weird aspect of the photo - there is no slit in any of them....

My lightly driven base motor car didn't require anything fancy so the NOS bushings server the purpose and yes, they are still available.