JhnRX7's Weekend Track Toy Build

[JhnRX7]

Originally Posted by yzf-r1

I think I read somewhere that zerks could weaken the bushings because you need to drill through the body of the bushing to lube the inner wear surface (which would also prevent it from moving freely). I used the Energy Suspension grease which I heard is good for 30k+ miles if you stay out of the wet/rain.

I see where you are coming from, but I am skeptical that drilling a single small hole through the center of the bushing will make any difference. Especially when some of the bushings are designed as two piece.

The zerk fitting also serves as a set screw to lock the busing in place relative to the suspension arm. I see this as an advantage to assist the bushing in doing its job correctly. An OEM rubber bushing is designed to flex, where as a poly bushing is designed to piviot on the center shaft (see below). I have seen evidence that my bushings are binding up on the shaft and the entire bushing stays stationary while the suspension arm piviots around the bushing. My idea is that adding the zerk fittings will correct this.

Rubber bushing


Polyurethane Bushing

Originally Posted by speedjunkie

John, is your paint Innocent Blue Mica?

Nope. Electon Blue Metallic from a Corvette. Painted it myself in a makeshift garage paintbooth (some tarps and a box fan) about 8 years ago. Turned out pretty good, but I will never do that again. All the prep work involved sucks.


Some pics from back in the day when cameras first started appearing on cell phones

[yzf-r1]

Originally Posted by JhnRX7

The zerk fitting also serves as a set screw to lock the busing in place relative to the suspension arm. I see this as an advantage to assist the bushing in doing its job correctly. An OEM rubber bushing is designed to flex, where as a poly bushing is designed to piviot on the center shaft (see below).

Most of the guys installing zerks also cut grooves/channels in the body of the bushing (some have this from the factory), otherwise the bushing may pivot and block off the lubrication passage

http://www.timskelton.com/lightning/...e_bushings.htm

I've seen pictures of poly bushings without zerks that still looked new (of course the grease was dirty) after 30k - it's driving in hard rain that you want to avoid if possible. For track use, the zerks are probably a good idea.