Purpose and Reason for the Front Poly Bushings

    1) Functionality

The original rubber bushings have wornout after 199,000 miles. The bushings are so worn and cracked that the upper A-arm has made contact with and bent the upper spring perchs on both sides.

Poly bushings will allow better setting of the camber and better use of the shock and springs to setup the front end. I have heard several times from good racers (i think they were good) that the best setup for a fiero is the 84-87 front end and the 88 rear end. This is what I am trying to get on my car.

    2) Cool Factor

Just to say I have Poly bushings.

The Plan

Very simplely buy and put poly bushing on the front of the car. To replace the picture on the left with what is in the picture on the right. The old bushing picture on the left is what was on my fiero. All the front bushings were that bad.

The current state

I have the bushings from Prothane. I bought mine from the Fiero Store for $67, they are sold from Prothane for $50. I could have saved some money if I had looked around more before buying.

Installing the new bushings was not easy, but I really enjoyed doing it. The hardest part about the whole job was fitting the lower control arms back on with the new bushings installed. The metal mounts were all bent in. I had to beat the metal out with a hammer and use the balljoint seperator to spead the openings. Then I had to beat the lower control arm in with a 2x4 and hammer.

The Result

When first driving the car there was a lot of squeaking. I had heard poly was prone to squeak, so I expected them to squeak. The more I have driven the car the less the bushings are squeaking.

Driving is awsome with the new bushings and shocks. The car is much more solid in corners and much easier to drive. It also definately points out the need to do something with the rear end of the car. I am actively looking for a rear cradle from an 88 fiero. I would be willing to trade a vented hood for an 88 rear cradle.

Costs