Re: [Amc-list] urethane bushings

[Jim Blair <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

If you meet "Uncle Larry" I hope he's in a better mood than when I met him years ago. He ranted and raved about my AMC like it was the biggest POS ever and said I should quit even looking at cars. Great thing to say to an impressionable kid (that was sometime before I turned 18 because I wasn't married yet). At the time my uncle worked in the Brampton Ontario plant. (I saw the prototype Eagle when it still looked like a Hornet but I was more interested in the AMX, which looked a lot like my current '82 Spirit)

Jim Blair, Lynnwood, WA '87 Comanche, '83 Jeep J10, '84 Jeep J10

From: "Armand Eshleman" 
Subject: Re: [Amc-list] urethane bushings
To: "AMC/Rambler owners, drivers and fans." 
Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
 
Hi Steve,
 
I have urethane bushings on both front and back of the strut bar on the
white 70 Javelin. As I don't use this car for a daily driver, I am very
careful about trying to miss potholes and other suspension bangers. I lift
the car from under the end of the outer part of the lower control arm by
using a piece of 1 x 4 with a hole drilled in it for sway bar link bolt
clearance and to protect the arm from floor jack damage. I do not allow the
suspension to go to full droop any more than absolutely necessary, although
it will compress the front urethane bushing, I am afraid of overstressing
the strut rod and damaging it.
 
The lower front spring perch has been rebuilt with urethane bushings as
described by John Elle. I purchased the bushings from Performance Suspension
in the Phoenix, AZ area. The guy I talked to knew exactly which bushings I
needed. I'll send you more from John Elle's emails to me if you need them.
 
The upper and lower control arms are still rubber, I have replaced the
originals as they were totally shot, and the car could not be aligned. Make
sure you get the MOOG suspension parts as the other stuff is pretty much
crap I hear.
 
I would like to eventually replace the rear leaf springs, and at that time I
will be installing urethane bushings.
I purchased the addco front and rear bar setup from an ebay auction, 200
bucks, includes mounting hardware both front and back. I have not installed
it yet so don't have any knowledge of improvement or ?? I believe the front
addco bar is a copy from the later cars because the 79 Spirit AMX I owned
for a short time had a 1-1/8 inch bar same as the addco. The rear addco bar
is 3/4 inch. I'm not sure if AMC ever made a rear bar for cars, as I've
never seen one. All the addco parts are cadmium plated and look great. I
just haven't replaced what's on the white Javelin yet as I am planning a
rear axle upgrade and will install bars at that time.
 
I visited the Larry Mitchell site (amx-experience) and read about his
suspension kits. He claims other rear bars (didn't mention the company name)
will actually tear out of the frame, it must have happened to him, as he
reads like a very competitive driver. I would like to meet him some day. His
kit requires a 3/8 hole be drilled in the rear frame on each side. I believe
the addco kit installs without drilling holes. Larry's kit is more expensive
than the addco kit, but is probably worth it. After all there is no
confirmed racing results that go along with the addco kit and Larry's got
racing experience to prove the value of his engineering. He has adjustable
shocks for sale too! Wish I would have found out about his parts before I
committed to buy the addco stuff and a set of KYB gas shocks that don't
adjust. Oh well I'm not going to be racing this car, I don't think, but it
still is nice to have a car that handles as well as a late model performance
car, just so you could kick their butts if you had to prove a point.
 
To finish up this long post, I would like to add that I have seen a dramatic
increase in road handling alone by just putting 17 x 7 and 17 x 8 Ansen
Sprint wheels with Kelly Fierce 245/45-17 and 255/40-17 tires on the car.
All my prior experience with this car was on bias ply tires, but the front
suspension rebuild had to have helped dramatically too. I hope to improve it
even more with a rebuild of the rear suspension and the addco bars.
 
 
 
Armand

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