Upper A-arm bushings - poly only available now?

[82DMC12]

On DeLorean.com they do not have the upper A-arm bushings listed. DPI shows only a poly bushing, and D-go only shows Poly bushings. Are regular rubber bushings NLA? I'm hesitant to use poly bushings based on the hard ride and maintenance I'm hearing about. Are the poly A-arm bushings no big deal, or does someone still have the rubber type?

[WHO1DMC]

On DeLorean.com they do not have the upper A-arm bushings listed. DPI shows only a poly bushing, and D-go only shows Poly bushings. Are regular rubber bushings NLA? I'm hesitant to use poly bushings based on the hard ride and maintenance I'm hearing about. Are the poly A-arm bushings no big deal, or does someone still have the rubber type?

D go shows they have 28 available in rubber!


Dave B.

[82DMC12]

D go shows they have 28 available in rubber!


Dave B.

Yes you are right, not sure how I missed that. Same question though - is it worth the money to switch to poly, or is it going to result in a much rougher ride that I regret? I don't want to pay more for something because it's "performance" but actually is detrimental to a "comfortable but firm and tight ride" if that makes sense.

[Delorean Industries]

Our poly upper bushings are proprietary to our bespoke upper A arms. We do not offer poly or rubber joints for factory stamped arms. This does not negatively impact the ride quality but actually assists with stabilizing the front end steering float issue most cars have.We have also since updated our chassis to prevent the fitment of stock upper arms as well.

[Mark D]

I don't think DMCH ever sold the upper control arm bushings separately and are only available NOS as part of the upper control arm assy 106940. The design of the upper arms makes replacement of the bushings difficult without some type of homebrew spacer arrangement to prevent crushing the arm during reinstallation. From a customer service standpoint the intention when the car was originally designed was to just swap out the whole arm if the bushings needed replacement.

When I refurbished my car I wanted to powder coat all of my suspension parts so I had to remove the bushings from the upper arms. For replacement bushings I opted to go with poly from DMC Europe (https://www.delorean.eu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=95046) rather than reinstall the old cracked rubber bushings. There doesn't seem to be a huge difference with the poly bushings overall. The upper A arm design doesn't allow for much compliance anyway, so if you're concerned about NVH and ride quality you'll see a greater change to how the car behaves when swapping shocks, LCA supports/bushings, sway bar bushings, etc.

[82DMC12]

OK thanks guys. I think I understand better now. Sounds like poly bushings aren't so bad on the A-arms. I would want to get the arms powder-coated at a minimum, if not outright replacing with SS, so I don't think I want to buy an OEM one with the old rubber already inside it.

[Chris 16409]

I just went through all this with my car. I'm going with polly bushes from SuperFlex as supplied by DeLorean Go. The new rubber upper arm bushings are supplied by DeLorean Europe. From owners experiences you'll need to hone out the metal collar to fit the suspension bolt. Yeah DMC won't sell you OE upper arm bushes. You'll need to buy new A-arms with the OE bushings.

[r00b]

If I were you, I'd get the DPI's upper arms.


I just went through all this with my car. I'm going with polly bushes from SuperFlex as supplied by DeLorean Go. The new rubber upper arm bushings are supplied by DeLorean Europe. From owners experiences you'll need to hone out the metal collar to fit the suspension bolt. Yeah DMC won't sell you OE upper arm bushes. You'll need to buy new A-arms with the OE bushings.

[vwdmc16]

I've put poly UCA bushings on a few cars now. It does not make anything harsher.

[Drive Stainless]

NOS upper control arms are cheap at $155. It is not easy to replace the bushings without deforming the metal; it is very thin.


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[82DMC12]

NOS upper control arms are cheap at $155. It is not easy to replace the bushings without deforming the metal; it is very thin.


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Yes but wouldn't those bushings be 40 years old? I would assume they will not last long.

[Drive Stainless]

Yes but wouldn't those bushings be 40 years old? I would assume they will not last long.

To give you a little bit of background, I replaced my upper control arm bushings in 2011 with NOS replacements (bushing only). By 2015, I noticed the bushings were spinning within the control arm. The thin metal simply couldn't grip after the bushing replacement. These were boxed upper control arms, BTW.

In 2015, I bought NOS control arms and have been driving on them since without issue. If I have any issue with them in the future, I will replace them with another pair of NOS units until something better comes out.

[82DMC12]

To give you a little bit of background, I replaced my upper control arm bushings in 2011 with NOS replacements (bushing only). By 2015, I noticed the bushings were spinning within the control arm. The thin metal simply couldn't grip after the bushing replacement. These were boxed upper control arms, BTW.

In 2015, I bought NOS control arms and have been driving on them since without issue. If I have any issue with them in the future, I will replace them with another pair of NOS units until something better comes out.

Gotcha. I wonder if poly bushings would work any better for this? Might just go OEM for the cost but I'd really like to get them powdercoated without damaging the bushings before installation.

[Timeless]

Gotcha. I wonder if poly bushings would work any better for this? Might just go OEM for the cost but I'd really like to get them powdercoated without damaging the bushings before installation.
I have upper arms with poly bushings but have yet to install them.
71180

[82DMC12]

I have upper arms with poly bushings but have yet to install them.
71180

I ended up installing poly bushings after getting my original arms blasted and powder coated. New hardware , etc. So far so good! No issues and very smooth, tight steering.

[Timeless]

I ended up installing poly bushings after getting my original arms blasted and powder coated. New hardware , etc. So far so good! No issues and very smooth, tight steering.
That's good news and confidence inspiring.

[painterdave72]

I replaced one of mine last year as the dgo bushings were loose in the arm.... the arms are cheap enough and have the bushings already installed.. nos bushings seem to hold up remarkably well....

[82DMC12]

The Superflex bushings I used are probably better quality than the D-go bushings. They also cost three times as much.