Pedders bushing install and my impression

[DrBReed]

Last week I had the Pedders bushing installed in my 300 SRT-8. There was a bit of a rush as I had a test and tune day scheduled at Wonderful Willow Springs raceway in So Cal on May 1 (today) and I wanted the new bushings in place before the test day. I also had a Pedders recomended alignment done.

My car is stock except for a limited slip differential (Quaife) and a Diablo tune done by House of Power in Huntington Beach, CA by Josh Rickards (who also did the Pedders install).

I had my car at an event in late December after the Predator install so I was used to the power increase. I was not overly happy with the way my car handled, the vagueness of the steering input, the slowness of the car to respond to steering input and the "nervousness" of the car in corners, but I figured that was just the way the car was with the additional power.

I then read about the Pedders bushings, spoke with some of the Pedders folk, spoke with some people who had had the bushings installed and received glowing reports. That was not enough for me. I didn't want to spend a few thousand dollars "hoping" the car would be better and fearing the install would degrade the road performance I so like about this car. So I spoke with some "race" oriented suspension guys I know and ans respect and was told the info from Pedders was correct; the rubber bushings in our cars allow for a great deal of movement in our suspension that results in somewhat less than precise handling characteristics for our cars. This opened my eyes a bit and I was excited about doing something to upgrade the handling to match the increased power without degrading the ride.

Some brief background on me; I drove for Mazda in SCCA and IMSA in the 80's, did a lot of testing, tire and car and was asked by many drivers to help set up their race cars. So I have some experience in this field.

Having said that, I will tell you I was shocked the first time I hit the track, on the first turn after entering the track. I turned the wheel and the car turned immediately; NO steering lag, no delay like before! Almost as good as my race cars! In corners at speed the car felt tight, secure and not nervous at all. Before the car did not really give me a feeling of confidence in the corners. It felt sort of nervous like it wasn't sure what it was going to do. Now the car feels solid and more in my control. I don't have the uncertainty, the feeling the car was going to do something unexpected like I did before the Pedders install. It just feels really good and the street ride has not been degraded, it is no different than before. I call this a win/win of the highest order!

So is the Pedders bushing install for you? It will run about $2500 or so to do it, about what the Quaife cost me. I still think the Quaife is the best mod I have done. We bought these factory hot rods, the SRT's for maximum performance, not to decorate our driveways. The Pedders bushing install simply increases the performance capability of our cars, period. And that is important to me. Only you can decide if it is important to you.

[batwood]

Welcome the Pedders Nation! It is truly what we say, however the drive it portion is what really helps people understand what we are talking about.
Thanks for the writeup.

[dms]

Josh and I had a great time doing your SRT8 last week. Josh is a very smart guy and has and extreme attention to detail. which is exactly what we look for in a Pedders dealer. He is also extremly knowledgeable on the LX platform. He taught me a lot on it as well. We also were able to compare some E class suspension rear links. The LX bushes appear to be larger all around but the rubbers are softer.

I am very pleased you are happy with the bush kit tht we put in. ur OEM bushes looked fairly normal, except you had 1 radius rod bush that had the starting to split, but not anywheres as bad as the Meister's. Its a great feeling to be able to drive a car that is predictable.

Thanks again for the write up and as always, Pedders is here to assist you at any time

thanks
mike
dms

[MattRobertson]

I've got the full bush set on my car as well and I consider it a must for anyone serious about track driving. I'll be enjoying it on Thunder Hill this weekend, in fact.

[wildmark]

What about the daily driving what do you notice and what difference would you say I would notice, I have already fitted KW coilovers and Hotchis swaybars but feel the sharpness could be better?

Mark

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by wildmark

What about the daily driving what do you notice and what difference would you say I would notice, I have already fitted KW coilovers and Hotchis swaybars but feel the sharpness could be better?

Mark

Mark,

You will only notice the difference in a Pedders bushed LX when you use the accelerator, the brakes or the steering wheel.

Bushes are the foundation of a vehicle. Bushes create a stable platform that allows the remaining suspension components to work as designed. Your LX with KWs got worse and not better when you installed them. The dampers are better. The coils are better. The bushes that were weak when the car came off the assembly line became significantly weaker when you installed the stronger than OE KW bits.

A brick sh-- house is only as strong as the footing / foundation it was built on. If the foundation is not stable the motor and bricks begin to crack and fail. Your LX is no different. You now have dampers and coils mounted to Jello. Please do not take my comments as personal. I speak to top of the line techs and shop owners day after day who have interest in becoming Pedders Dealers. They don't have a clue what I am talking about. They smile, nod their heads and say yep. Then we do our first bush only vehicle. They say I had no idea it could make that big a difference. Every ..... Hmmm, didn't we just tell them how important bushes are?

A Pedders bushed LX is a jaw dropping experience. IMO, EVERY LX should have been bushed from the factory with Pedders. At the very least, sub-frame, front control arm, radius rod arm and a bumpsteer correction kit should be installed on every enthusiast drive LX. There are no mods that will makes such a tremendous difference.

[DrBReed]

I am glad you used the word "sharpness" as that is exactly how I would describe the day to day handling of my car now. The mushiness is gone, steering is precise, and the car responds when I turn the wheel, no lag. I noticed a difference on the street, but I REALLY noticed a difference on the track!

Originally Posted by wildmark

What about the daily driving what do you notice and what difference would you say I would notice, I have already fitted KW coilovers and Hotchis swaybars but feel the sharpness could be better?

Mark

[dms]

We did an energency response vehicle in Az, with a trainer. Had a complete trackII system and oem tires and wheels. the trainer was blown away at the changes! Pete, correct me if I am wrong on the data, but the 60 to 0 braking was reduced by 8 feet(8) and g forces on their skid pad increased by 2.8(?)

Ao the bushes are not just for roadracing, they can also be used for all around handling improvements. Add our springs, struts, and shocks, it becomes extremely impressive. Add our sway bars tht are custom made for our system, then it is reallly reallly cool.

mike
dms

[JusticePete]

The measurements were done using my own equipment. We installed the meter for the benchmark OE runs. It was not moved from that position until the Pedderised runs were made. Braking 60 to zero was 6 feet shorter Pedderised. The skid pad was very small. In OE trim on a 100' pad the benchmark was .68 and Pedderised was .75 or just about 10% better.

The key is vehicle control which is hard to quantify. Corners that the car tracked with huge commotion in OE trim were composed and controlled Pedderised. The tire factor has a lot to do with this. There is only so much grip in a typical all weather street radial. With better tires you would get better numbers. That said, what we are really talking about is the confidence you gain from the increase in stability and predictability. That is what Dr. Reed experienced. The end result was a vehicle that was easier to drive around the track. It also was faster. How much faster is it than OE -- I don't know and don't care. When I have hustled an LX around the track in OE trim, I know how much work it is. When I run the same track in Pedderised LX the speed and times are easy. I don't have to work as hard. Much of the decrease in lap times comes from overworked tires and over worked drivers.