Problem with early failure of replacement LM lower front control arm bushings FOUND!

[66vairguy]

For years there has been talk of the replacement LM (65-69) front suspension lower control arm bushings failing. I recall when I was about to rebuild my front end this came up on the CCF and folks advised to use ONLY NOS bushings. I was lucky and found a couple sets. Years later they are fine.

Recently a gentleman in the Corsa West club had some brake work done and the mechanic found his replacement front lower control arm bushings were coming APART! The bushing were about five years old with less than 5,000 miles on the car!!!!!!!!!! He called me and I said I had heard about the issue with faulty reproduction bushings and I purchased NOS from California Corvair who he called. No more NOS, but Jeff at California Corvair was selling CORRECT reproduction bushings AND seems to be the ONLY vendor who does after looking online by various folks (this includes the eBay kits).

This month Corsa West published an article in their newsletter explaining the problem and apparently California Corvair is the ONLY vendor selling the correct reproduction bushing!!!!!!!!!! See attached .pdf that explains how to identify the incorrect reproduction bushings failing early.

[Dennis66]

Nothing more frustrating than doing a difficult job (CORRECTLY) and have it fail because of inferior parts. Years ago I rebuilt the front suspension on my Isuzu pickup. I used upper control arm bushings from Advance Auto Parts. I installed them correctly (preloaded suspension while tightening the trunion nuts). Imagine my anger when a year and less than 5,00 miles later I found they were torn. No more Advance Auto Parts purchases (and don't think the name Moog means quality).

[jimbrandberg]

Good stuff and timely for me as I've got 2 LM suspensions to rebush soon.

On another note twice with LM Ebay kits I found the upper A-arm bushings the wrong ID.

I've printed off the article to read later and thanks for posting it.

[66vairguy]

Nothing more frustrating than doing a difficult job (CORRECTLY) and have it fail because of inferior parts. Years ago I rebuilt the front suspension on my Isuzu pickup. I used upper control arm bushings from Advance Auto Parts. I installed them correctly (preloaded suspension while tightening the trunion nuts). Imagine my anger when a year and less than 5,00 miles later I found they were torn. No more Advance Auto Parts purchases (and don't think the name Moog means quality).

The fellow in Corsa West was NOT happy when his mechanic told him the relatively new bushings had to be replaced!!!! Fortunately he called me and others and learned about this ongoing issue. This led to finding out California Corvair had the correct part. I consider myself lucky that years ago I listened to advice to use NOS (even though I'm not keen on old rubber parts). It was a bit of luck when he called Jeff at Calif. Corvair to find NOS and learned about the correct new reproduction.

Corsa West has some good gearheads in the club. Years ago South Coast Corsa did, but with changing times that is no longer the case.

[66vairguy]

Good stuff and timely for me as I've got 2 LM suspensions to rebush soon.

On another note twice with LM Ebay kits I found the upper A-arm bushings the wrong ID.

I've printed off the article to read later and thanks for posting it.

Good luck Jim. Always good when information gets out there to save folks aggravation and MONEY!

The Corsa West club publishes tech articles in their newsletter, but they have no master list/directory to find them. There was talk of putting up all the tech articles on their site to download ----- but no volunteers and of course that increases site costs.

[jimbrandberg]

It looks like Corsa West area is NW of LA which makes me wonder about the fires last year.

I'm the Vice President of Corvair Minnesota where I see my biggest responsibility as Tech Sessions. Last month and this month I'm fortunate to have someone else presenting. I'd like to not run again this year for personal reasons but I'm not sure who we'd get. Corvair clubs can be fragile these days as the oldtimers fade away. I suppose the cemetery is full of people who thought they were irreplaceable.
Depending on how you look at it, I'm at least the second generation of club leaders and maybe third or fourth.
I'm a little jealous of some of the stronger Corvair clubs but we're doing pretty good.

We had a nice Tech Session on wheel alignment in April and I'm hoping to follow up in June on some of the difficult work needed to get everything good and adjustable so bushing news fits in well. Minnesota parts tend to be rusted stuck.

[66vairguy]

It looks like Corsa West area is NW of LA which makes me wonder about the fires last year.

I suppose the cemetery is full of people who thought they were irreplaceable.

Jim --- relative to the nearly 10 million people in Los Angeles County, the people affected by fires was relatively small - HOWEVER that does not minimize the loss to those who lost a house and memories.

At work a "character" would try to get on my good side by saying "The company can't replace you". I would reply --- "The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable folks".

In fact the week I filed for retirement they hired a replacement for me to train!!!! One should never think the are irreplaceable ---- I never expected more than a paycheck from a job --- I planned ahead and that attitude served me well.

[66vairguy]

The bushing article has been downloaded a number of times, so I'm bumping it up so others will see it.

[rcavictor]

Thanks for bumping, would have missed it. Good to know!

[66vairguy]

Thanks for bumping, would have missed it. Good to know!

Your welcome.