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SuperPro DURO3741K Duroball spherical bearing for front control arm anyone?
I'm curious if anyone has tried this and what their thoughts are for ride quality vs stock or Perrin PSRS or Whiteline KCA400M.
In case anyone is curious, here is a link describing construction. Its has a metal ball-socket joint like stock/Perrin/Whiteline, but whereas stock is surrounded by gushy rubber and Perrin/Whiteline are full metal, Duroball is surrounded by urethane. Like Perrin/Whiteline, its available in an offset pivot to increase caster. And it has dust boots like Whiteline.
I didn't really notice an increase in NVH from the perrin psrs in my car. I assume you're trying to make sure you getting any more NVH. I did notice a huge increase in steering response and sharpness. Not to say that won't be a huge improvement, but urethane still moves..
I did several things at once including KCA400M, and now sharp-edged bumps are nasty compared to stock MR + GTWorx. Working my way back through the changes trying to smooth the ride. Not at all obvious yet if its due to a particular part or a combination. There's been mixed opinion on the full metal bushings, so thought I'd try to gather some intel on the Duroball as part of the effort.
Gotcha. I did the Perrin PSRS last as far as the front end goes. Did coilovers and whiteline RCK together. Then I did the psrs some time later. And I still have the OEM bushing in the front on the lower control, which could be helping mitigate some NVH from the solid bearing psrs.
I noticed increased NVH for sure with the PSRS, the worst offense are Botts' dots. Had I known about the Duroballs I'd have gone that way. It's worth noting the front lower control arm bushings get into a pretty high static angle with the offset PSRS. I've considered going spherical to reduce any potential binding there.
I noticed increased NVH for sure with the PSRS, the worst offense are Botts' dots. Had I known about the Duroballs I'd have gone that way. It's worth noting the front lower control arm bushings get into a pretty high static angle with the offset PSRS. I've considered going spherical to reduce any potential binding there.
What are the other changes you made?
yeah, i'm getting my *** kicked on those things.
suspension mods are rather extensive. key bushings are urethane and now on coilovers. sorta went all-in and now working to smooth daily. still other things to try before i give serious consideration to the duroball.
What are the details of your set-up? Ohlins are pretty transparent from an NVH point of view, as are anti-roll bars and some of the bushings. Tires have a huge impact though. But of all the changes I've made its the PSRS that introduce the feeling of sharp impacts.
What are the details of your set-up? Ohlins are pretty transparent from an NVH point of view, as are anti-roll bars and some of the bushings. Tires have a huge impact though. But of all the changes I've made its the PSRS that introduce the feeling of sharp impacts.
Interesting to hear about the PSRS. I wish I had the time to have tested out changes individually. I'm running a nice riding 255/40-17 UHPAS, so tires are not contributing. I did find that backing off the damper settings made a substantial improvement. I plan to try backing off a bit more this weekend. For downtown Portland roads that can be both rough and uneven, there's probably a limit to how well coilovers can do because of their limited travel. I may toss my Bilstein+GTWorx back on the car in a few weeks to get a feel for the coilover contribution.
My car had coilovers already when I did the PSRS, whiteline trailing arms bushings, and the whiteline rear bump steer kit. I really didn't notice a difference in feel over bumps. I do notive the "thud" from a sharp bump gets transmitted through the chassis a bit more. But that's just a noise, not a ride quality complaint.
Going to coilovers with likely 70%-100% stiffer springs, and valving to match from a basic lowering spring/shock setup is probably a lot of your new found ride harshness.
I'd get one with the boots over onces that don't if you are still DDing. When I was DDing the lack of boots on PSRS caused them to decay prematurely and then you'd hear them when you go over bumps.
I'd get one with the boots over onces that don't if you are still DDing. When I was DDing the lack of boots on PSRS caused them to decay prematurely and then you'd hear them when you go over bumps.
I was about to write a review about Super Pro Duroball + their RCK after track day coming Sunday, but I will give my initial impression, since Mychailo asked.
Super Pro Duro ball / Roll center correction kit
Super Pro Duroball
Duroball installed
Sorry for poor pictures, lighting was very poor, and pics are taken using my cell phone (better than my expectation though, Samsung Galaxy S6 camera is a big step up from S4).
As you can see from the picture, both sides have covers, and the pillow ball section moves relatively easy. Also you can see that the filling material is made of two different ones.
I suspect they have harder material only in the back to survive biggest stress from hard braking, and softer filling is surrounding most angle to isolate road NVH.
Since my front lower arm was stock (45k miles), I can't compare with other aftermarket parts, but after installing Super Pro Duroball + their roll center correction kit, front movement became much sharper and I can feel more feedback from the road yet very streetable.
Also more stable cornering I could feel, but I think this is mostly from roll center correction kit (05 MR Bilstein + Robispec lowering spring (~1 inch drop))
I also got their lower arm front bushing (urethane / 94 hardness), but the shop I rented the space didn't have a proper press parts to fit the lower arm, so it still remains stock. But stock bushing was in great shape (no crack at all) and due to metal casing thickness, the actual rubber part was very thin, so I guess upgrading this part to urethane makes little difference in performance or NVH-wise.
One local EVO VIII guy (05 GSR) installed metal bushing in the front and rear metal pillow ball about a year ago, but after a few amateur racing events and public road driving, one side developed clunking noise, so he had to replace both sides weeks ago.
Therefore, I think unless you are building track-only machine or living in a area with very good road condition, I suspect all-metal construction might not survive long, so I think Duroball is a perfect compromise between performance and reliability.
Very subjective review and advice though.
Last edited by ace33joe; Oct 11, 2015 at 05:46 AM.
Chris - Thanks much for the review and sounds very encouraging. I've got a set of the Duroball offset bushings on-order along with their front bushing for the A-arm. SuperPro says that compared to Whiteline, their urethane compound has better resiliency for the same durometer level. Resiliency is sort of like damping level. High resiliency means that it responds more readily short rapid pulses while still having the same static stiffness. So, they can respond to sharp hits a little better while still not deflecting any further than Whiteline under static loading conditions. And of course that's comparing urethane to urethane. For the rear bushing in the A-arm, its going to be metal vs urethane. I'm sure I'll be giving up a bit of precision with the Duroball rear bushing compared to the all-metal Whiteline, but but that's a sacrifice I'll gladly make if it takes the edge of the sharp bumps for daily driving. Hoping to have them installed in about two weeks.
BTW, what are the gold pieces underneath your Evo?
I do not have the same bushing from Whiteline, but compare to other Whiteline bushing I have, I like Super Pro better in terms of finish and more plastic like solid feel.
Of course, they are not the same hardness but I think your resilience explanation matches that solid feel.
Originally Posted by mrfred
BTW, what are the gold pieces underneath your Evo?
Haha, it is Beatrush bar connecting front member to chassis.
Not sure how effective it is but I just wanted to add some JDM bling while I do the lower arms. JPY is cheap these days too.
Sep 22, 2015, 08:18 AM
I think I'll have to get a pair.