May 19, 20203 min read

MOTORSPORT BUSHING FIX

If you look closely here, you can already see that the old control arm insert was slightly oblong.

Whiteline Performance makes one of my most favorite modifications for my car: the motorsports alloy anti-lift and caster kit (KCA334M). These bushings, alone, helped shave a few seconds off my lap times, and the noticeable difference in handling, braking and acceleration was immediate. These bushings straight up put the "motorsport" in motorsports.

Sadly, though, and perhaps for reasons similar to my fitment issue here, Whiteline has discontinued these bushings. I could in effect try hunting down a pair of Perrin's "offset" PSRS alloy bushings, which are also discontinued, or else settle on one of various polyurethane versions (meh...), but the Whiteline alloy bushings are tried and true. I am simply too pleased with the resulting performance and response to quit them while I still run on OEM arms.

There are a handful of new Whiteline sets still floating around, so I may have to find myself one more box for backup, but I decided for now to try my best at salvaging the one bushing that's been giving me headaches.

Some quick background...

In 2015, I was cruising a mile from my apartment when a guy pulled out from a side street without warning. With no time to process the event, I t-boned him at 40mph while still on the throttle. Fortunately, however, I gathered myself and was able to walk away with just a stiff neck and a broken heart. (The other driver admitted to the officer upon arrival: "I couldn't see, so I decided to wing it." Smdh...)

I naturally reacted just enough before impact to start turning the wheel toward the left, so the brunt of the impact was central to the front passenger side. The hood was smooshed in and arching almost halfway up the height of the windshield so I was hesitant to try and start the engine, but after the tow-truck driver argued that my car was not all-wheel-drive [as I was yelling at him to not hook up a front dollie while frantically pointing at the "Symmetrical AWD" badge], then proceeded to call my car a "Japanese tin-can piece of crap," I jumped in, fired it up and drove away like a madwoman.

To top it off, the body shop I left Matches at kept him for almost ten whole months - 10 months!! A lot of shady and shoddy work later (and plenty of I-wonder-if-my-Subaru-thinks-of-me-too memes), I finally got him back. Although, another four years went by before I discovered that my RH control arm stud bolt was bent and not even torqued to specification since it took a mere 10-20 ft-lbs of effort to extract. The RH control arm measured oblong at the bushing, too, and the inner bushing cylinder at the subframe appeared slightly twisted compared to the new arm. I luckily had the OEM bushings in at the time of the accident for other diagnostic purposes, but I hadn't the knowledge yet to check these things before reinstalling the Whiteline bushings. The RH bushing has thus been popping out at full-extension ever since, whether upon angling steep driveways, or when simply jacking up the front end.

Watch my video below for a quick run-through on my efforts. While I was at it, I also installed Whiteline's roll center and bump-steer correction kit (KCA313) since we're sitting low on KWs, now. I'll report on the outcome of all these developments after my next track day.

This is not a sponsorship or endorsement, btw. I just really like Whiteline's products. 😜