Seriously dangerous front bushings!!!

[dms]

LX owners,

for those of you who do drive your LX product in a "spirited" manner. you need to be aware of 2 seriously potential bushes that can fail. The front radius rod bush and the lower control arm bush. Attached are 2 dangerously bad bushes. We replaced them. the radius rod bush center can be knocked out with a hammer it is so bad.

Today, I did Pedders 28 point inspections on about 20 or so LX products. I saw 2 vehicles with bushes this bad, and only saw 2 or 3 strut bushes that did not show any signs of tearing. That means we had abut 15 out of 20 that DID show signs of tearing from minor to serious-danger tearing. Do not underestiamte the importance of these bushes!! Here are the pictures:
The one on the left is the radius rod bush,a nd the one on the right is the front lower control arm bush.

These are scary bad and common with some mileage, especially if driven hard. Pedders does have solutions for this!

Mike
DMS

mike
dms

[Cibalo]

What kind of mileage are we talking about? if it is less than 36000 then it should fall under the factory warranty provided that the 3 years isn't up. I know it depends on how hard a person drives but is there a general rule of thumb?

Also where did these inspections take place? I'm wondering if weather is a factor in the wear issues. What was the break down of the LXs you inspected, 300, Maggies, Chargers? What trim level were they as well?

If this is such a big deal, has there been a TSB issued on it, I don't recall hearing about one but then I don't keep up with them that much. And should someone bring this up to DCX?

[bac n black]

Why does this sound like an advertisement? Why is it that we have heard nothing of this in four years until pedders came on this forum....all this doom and gloom...this is the second such post I have read. Now I may have missed it but I don't recall anyone posting these issues in the past. You may have a superior product and are free to say so, and are encouraged to provide us with the benefits of performance and longevity, but using scare tactics is not admirable.

[JRod707]

true.......scare tactics are not cool.
next thing im expecting to see, is some story on how sombody died with a car full of orphan kids holding newborn puppies because a bushing went out.

[dms]

Originally Posted by Cibalo

What kind of mileage are we talking about? if it is less than 36000 then it should fall under the factory warranty provided that the 3 years isn't up. I know it depends on how hard a person drives but is there a general rule of thumb?

Also where did these inspections take place? I'm wondering if weather is a factor in the wear issues. What was the break down of the LXs you inspected, 300, Maggies, Chargers? What trim level were they as well?

If this is such a big deal, has there been a TSB issued on it, I don't recall hearing about one but then I don't keep up with them that much. And should someone bring this up to DCX?

the inspections tok place initially, in Phoenix with Jim's car and I think he has about 60k on them. 2 inspections/installs were done, the the 06 SRT8 with about 21k or so had cracking bushes

The bulk of the bushes we saw was yesterday in Fairfield; about 30 miles south of Sacromento. We had cracking bushes as early as 6k to 7k. The one at this mileage was already starting to experience some tire cupping.

the ones that were severe, however, were over 50k.

But here is the issue: The OEM bushes are clearly inferior for those who drive in a sporty manner. So if you replace them with OEM, you will continue to have the same concerns. Many members of this community saw the bushes

mike
dms

[GROUNDED]

Sounds like a buy Pedders ad to me.

Not knocking your stuff but if your gonna peddle your goods then become a supporting vendor.

[dms]

Originally Posted by bac n black

Why does this sound like an advertisement? Why is it that we have heard nothing of this in four years until pedders came on this forum....all this doom and gloom...this is the second such post I have read. Now I may have missed it but I don't recall anyone posting these issues in the past. You may have a superior product and are free to say so, and are encouraged to provide us with the benefits of performance and longevity, but using scare tactics is not admirable.

There are lots of issues with the LX that many of you just put up with, because until now, there have been no solutions. Do you seariously doubt these bushes are bad?? The 20-25 vehicles I inspected, I had the owners right there to see what I saw myself. So many of the guys have had pre-mature tire wear, not my observation, but the owners. There seems to be a pattern of excessive toe issues with lots of tire damage from it.

Replacing the bushings is not for everyone. But the bottom line is why haven't these bushes been inspected by dealers and the factory when there is excess tire wear?? Talking to the management at the Dodge store we worked with in Phoenix abut these bushes, since most of the vehicles we saw and had bushes that were in various stages of cracking, the Dodge store said they would not cover it because of the special wheels, and obvious mods to generate performance enhancements. Will all dodge stores have this poster? I do not know. I hope not.

there is a isue with the rear cradles having excess side movement. This was openly discussed with lots of guys at the LX event and when we described the systems and feel, the issue was very well known, but they haqd no idea on the repair to improve it.

Our Pedders product fixes and enhances the LX suspension way beyond OEM. Having the bushes inspected, which to be honest, was probably the first time anyone tok a serious look at the suspension on their vehicles, edcuates people to other possiblities when a dealer tells you you must have hit a curb or pot hole ad that is why your tires are wearing improperly.

Jim (MEISTER) is a very trusted member of this community. Email him to see if the pictures of his bushes that are as I indicated. If I can bring a potential issue for all to know and watch, then I am satisfied. We did see 2 additional vehicles yesterday that had equally bad bushes has the ones that are pictutre. so having 3 LX products wieht seriously torn bushes, is in fact a pattern, and not just me trying to sell all of you something. Many of the members of the LX community saw these bushes in the car, and I would think they all would aggree with me on the findings

Also keep in mind, the LX vehciles that I saw were all enthusiasts and not just basic drivers
mike
dms

[GoofyTimL]

Pedders is a supporting vendor of 3CF (and other forums). However, it would seem appropriate for them to register dms as a spokesperson and add Supporting Vendor to his username/avatar to curtail questions about "promoting wares."

[GROUNDED]

10-4 goofy

[GoofyTimL]

Meister is usually very good about posting his "research" into various performance modifications on this forum and LXF... but so far I haven't seen his summary here.

So... for those interested in "Meister Performance Mastery" (I'll coin the phrase) on this subject... check out this thread...

Pedders to the Rescue