Garage Star Delrin Door Bushings

[garageSTAR]

Replace your old worn rubber bushings with Garage Star delrin door bushings. The Garage Star door bushings will help with chassis rigidity.

http://garagestar.com/blog/?product=garage-star-delrin-door-bushings

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/sidewaysae86/garageSTAR%20Delrin%20Door%20Bushings/IMG_9750.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/sidewaysae86/garageSTAR%20Delrin%20Door%20Bushings/IMG_9746.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/sidewaysae86/garageSTAR%20Delrin%20Door%20Bushings/IMG_9740_25x25.jpg

[Phatmiata]

Very cool ! Nice work Kenjo !

[tsingson]

Do these need to be slightly fitted to each door?

[Phatmiata]

Do these need to be slightly fitted to each door?

you'll probably want to use a pencil to trace an outline where your stock bushings are at first, then remove and install these.

[tsingson]

That was my next question.

[Paul B]

that's a damn good price!

[tsingson]

I know. I think I know what to ask now for Father's Day.

[Phatmiata]

That was my next question. These do the same thing?

The OEM ones are a soft Rubber that get beat up over the years, these Delrin versions will probably out live you and me both :teehee:

[JamieH]

Aight, just ordered a set.

[Greasemonkey2000]

Awesome JamieH, please report back with a review! :)

[Andy]

I also ordered a set. Let's see how it goes.

[JamieH]

Got mine in.

Before installing, I checked fitment in the bushing cups on the doors. They fit with very little to no wiggle room.

I found the best way to align them was to just barely snug the bolts by hand, then close and open the door a few times. I'd tighten them a bit more as I continued to check alignment. Once satisfied, I finished tightening them with a 10mm socket and ratchet. I've not yet needed to do any wittling or sanding for them to fit.

So, how are they? Well first thing you notice is it takes a little bit more effort to fully close the doors. Not much, but just that extra bit that I have been finding myself only having the doors halfway latch if I close them with the effort I'm used to closing them with. And when they do close now, it sounds and feels more solid. So they close a bit more harshly, there's no longer that soft sound or feel when they close. Which is understandable and makes complete sense. Going from a hard rubber with a bit of give to delrin that is more or less solid with no give. But, they open just as effortlessly, with that same wonderful low "POP" sound and initial slight push out when they first pop open.

I've only been down the road a bit and back, maybe about 8 miles, with them installed. As is, with GS frame rails, GS fender braces, HD rollbar, and an OEM HT, I believe I have noticed a slight improvement. The doors feel more connected to the rest of the car now. Also, I had a tiny bit of 65mph cowl shake before, seems like these delrin door bushings may have nearly dimished that to none.

I don't want to say much more till I get more miles in with them installed. Also see what I notice without the HT when I pull it back off. Maybe have a friend or two get a feel behind the wheel, see what they notice and have them weigh their opinion in.

If anyone gets these and installs them in a car with less rigidity add-ons, report in. Oh, and I guess if you have better suspension than worn out stock replacement KYB silver GR-2s. I figure that has to have an effect on things as a whole.

[Greasemonkey2000]

Year/trim: 1997/M Edition
Suspension/braces:
-Fat Cat Motorsports Elite 2040 Coilovers 7" 375lbs F/7" 325lbs R
-Racing Beat 1.125" front tubular sway bar
-Racing Beat front sway bar blocks
-949 Racing adj. end links
-Flyin Miata frame rails
-Flyin Miata butterfly brace
-949 Racing rear subframe brace
-GarageStar fender braces
-Beatrush PPF brace
Wheels/tires:
-15x8 Konig Flatout machined finish(12.4lbs) w/ 225/45/15 Hankook Ventus RS-3's gen. II

Installation: Remove old rubber door bushings/stops and install new ones, really it is that easy. I did as others and left them just loose enough to shut the door a few times and then tightened. Unlike others i had very little cup to bushing contact/interference so i actually readjusted them so that when opening them you had to pull ever so slightly. You can see contact areas on the derlin and cups but nothing had to be sanded at all.

Observations: Doors now close with a nice solid thud with no perceived play. I took it for a quick trip on both city streets and highway and made a conscious effort to go over irregularities(pot holes, train tracks, manhole covers, etc) i normally try to avoid. The car just feels more solid no matter what the road conditions, where as before there would be perceived flexing/movement and noise from the doors. The few noticeable chassis noises and creaks that were present before are essentially gone and when the car hits a bump/irregularity it feels like the car is now working as one unit instead of several clumsily attempting to do so.

Overall Impression: I'm very satisfied with the results and think they are definitely worth the relatively small amount of money they cost! As others have pointed out there are other dedicated chassis braces that will yield more/better rigidity but for all intents and purposes that i feel these bushings are meant to accomplish, well i don't think you can find a better option/alternative!

[fwdtamiya]

I haven't bought or installed these myself so I can't review and rigidity portion, but a friend of mine with an NB is extremely satisfied and said he could definitely noticed a difference in rigidity. I just wanted to say how much I love the door pop sound. Kenjo drove down here and jumped out of his car, I ran over: "Did your door always make that noise!?" He told me it didn't, it was because of the derlin door bushings. I want that pop soo bad, it sounded so satisfying. Other people were playing with his doors all night,

[revlimiter]

I installed a set on my NB and went for a quick 10 miles. I'll do a lot more miles tomorrow and gather more data.

Initial impressions: holy crap! The car is much more rigid. It is most noticeable over lower speed bumps. Cruising along above 40 mph? Eh... it feels better, but I might be imagining it. Slow bumps around 15-30 mph? WOW. It feels like a real car.

In 10 miles, only one bump gave me that Miata windshield shake - a manhole cover I managed to hit just right. The windshield never shook the rest of the drive.

Hugely impressed. More data tomorrow, then I'll install Sharka's set.

[revlimiter]

I've driven around 75 miles with these door blocks over a lot of different surfaces. I have some feedback.

Car: base 2001 NB with a rollbar. There's like no bracing on Bucky at all. No diagonals on the rollbar either. The windshield shakes CONSTANTLY. Or at least it did.

I installed the blocks with one of my beloved JIS screwdrivers (shameless advertising) and went for a drive. The whole car felt immediately transformed. The windshield hardly shook and I could actually feel the front and rear suspensions being independent of each other. I only got cowl shake on one bump on this test drive. I was hugely impressed.

I then drove around 50 miles the next day. The car started out nice and firm, but by the end of the day, I was seeing some windshield shake and the car was feeling more like a normal Miata. I was a bit disappointed. I figured that the first day was just new-part-excitement and maybe things weren't as magical as I was imagining. I don't have any NVH meters after all. It's all subjective. But it definitely felt shakey.

When I got home, I installed Sharka's door blocks. I did this with a ratchet since no JIS screwdrivers were handy at the time. I was amazed at how much the bolts kept tightening down after I felt like I'd gotten them tight. The delrin smooshes down a pretty good amount. On a whim, I opened up Bucky's driver door and tightened down the door blocks there. The driver door? TOTALLY LOOSE. The screws had worked their way loose and were barely finger tight. I zipped all 4 down with the ratchet (passenger side was decently tight still).

On the next Bucky drive (today), the feeling of strength and rigidity returned. Bucky felt like a real car again, and that feeling lasted all day. I covered about 35 miles today over a bunch of surfaces. The "Miata feel" of a wet noodle with a shaky windshield never came back.

I effectively gave myself a blind test. I had no idea that the door blocks had loosened and I could definitely feel something had changed when driving around with them loose. I'm rather amazed this happened. It was an awesome blind test to take.

So. These things WORK. I imagine Ken will be extremely busy making these since 100% of all Miatas on the planet require them. It needs to be one of the early mods every novice Miata driver does: rollbar, shift knob, vent rings, door blocks. Not necessarily in that order.

I'll have a ton of photos posted as soon as I get some driving impressions with Sharka. That car has a ton of bracing and doesn't shake much at all. I'm guessing the blocks won't be as noticeable, but we'll see.

[etikoner]

I was not exaggerating when I installed my Ken auto ones how well they work. Love knowing The GarageStar ones do the job as well.

[Paul B]

Just to clarify, these come in a set of 2, one for each side? It's late and I'm exhausted.

Just placed my order. Sounds like these things are worth the money. Hoping they get here quick!

[revlimiter]

Yup. Sets of 2. One set per car.

[Paul B]

Pfew! Thanks Adam. working midnight shift this week has me delusional.

[revlimiter]

I posted a full review (http://revlimiter.net/blog/2015/07/garage-star-delrin-door-bushing-review/) on my blog. Warning, there are lots of robot pix.

http://revlimiter.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC_3036.jpg

[Paul B]

Installed mine a couple hours ago. Haven't driven the car with them installed yet, but damn it is much fun closing and opening the doors now.

[Tkblazer]

Sounds like using some blue loc tite on the bolt threads wouldn't hurt when installing these

[Paul B]

Drove the car for the first time today since installing the door bushings. Wow what a difference these make. Small price to pay for such major improvements. This is my review even though its redundant and a repeat of what others have said already. If you haven't bought these yet, order them immediately. Every NA Miata needs these.

My Car: 1990 w/ 95,000 miles. Race Land coils that are at least 6 years old (25 yr old stock suspension would be better than these). No chassis bracing other than HDHCHTDD rollbar. All OEM 25 yr old bushings. Drove car with soft top down and hardtop off. It's an old car and it feels like it. Rattles, shaking and noises everywhere in the interior.

Way to work I took the expressway that has horrible bumps crossing the overpasses and huge potholes. All the major bumps that I usually dread going over on my way to work are smooth and taken with no issue. It actually feels like my shitty RaceLands are working! Lol Bumps that usually make me white-knuckle, slow down and close my eyes are taken with confidence. All while cruising at 55+ on the freeway. Just a simple "thump" as the car takes the irregularity with ease. My old weak floppy glovebox doesn't make a sound anymore. The interior no longer feels like it wants to disintegrate with normal bumps.

My way home I took roads through the city; it was the same thing. "Thump thump" over railroad tracks, potholes and anything else I would usually swerve to avoid. Even the small angle up my driveway felt better. Car feels together now, if that makes any sense. These bushings make the Miata better. Well worth the money.

I still plan on doing frame rails, shock tower brace and other small chassis bracing but these will hold me over for a while.

Again if you own an NA Miata these should already be on your car.

[Vuti]

Thumbs up GarageStar for making these!

I installed these yesterday on my low mileage NA with rollbar/doorbars/framerails/coilovers/turbo etc.
To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed, the difference between the stock bushings and the Delrins are quite small in my case.
The doors pop and close like they normally did and I still get windshield shake at normal/high speed when hitting potholes. They do help with the vibrations on low speeds.
For some reason when installing the Delrin bushings they were not tighter than the OEMs on the door cups?

[revlimiter]

. All the major bumps that I usually dread going over on my way to work are smooth and taken with no issue. It actually feels like my shitty RaceLands are working! Lol Bumps that usually make me white-knuckle, slow down and close my eyes are taken with confidence.

Bucky's TEIN Basics are the same way. They're not the best suspension and are quite a few years old. Now, it suddenly feels like the supension is working.

I hope Ken sells a million of these. They're magic.

[revlimiter]

Thumbs up GarageStar for making these!

I installed these yesterday on my low mileage NA with rollbar/doorbars/framerails/coilovers/turbo etc.
To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed, the difference between the stock bushings and the Delrins are quite small in my case.
The doors pop and close like they normally did and I still get windshield shake at normal/high speed when hitting potholes. They do help with the vibrations on low speeds.
For some reason when installing the Delrin bushings they were not tighter than the OEMs on the door cups?

Are you sure you torqued them down enough? A thin, deep well socket will be able to get in there and tighten the 10mm screw/bolts. I initially installed mine just with a screwdriver and it was not enough. They came loose and needed tightening with a ratchet.

[Vuti]

Are you sure you torqued them down enough? A thin, deep well socket will be able to get in there and tighten the 10mm screw/bolts. I initially installed mine just with a screwdriver and it was not enough. They came loose and needed tightening with a ratchet.

10mm deep socket + Loctite. They are not coming loose ;)

[wannafbody]

I would think the improvement would be minimal on a car with doorbars. You don't have that much flex to try to tune out.

[wannafbody]

OK, I got my GS delrin door bushings. The passenger side went on in 5 minutes. I positioned it loosely and shut the door for the door cup to slide it into perfect position. Tightened it down and done. The drivers side was a bit more work. I couldn't get the door to close the whole way. I ground the outer edge down slightly and I elongated the inner holes slightly. I also readjusted the door latch slightly. Finally I got it positioned. It does require a firm slam shut. On the drivers side I couldn't get my socket in on the top bolt. On the passenger side I had no issue.

Ride quality was improved. The car felt firmer and didn't have as much flex over rough pavement. Overall, it is a quality product.

Disclaimer...at one point my car was in a wreck, so my fitment issue most likely is the cars fault and not an issue with the bushings.

Ken, one thing to improve is to enlarge the ovals so a socket can easily fit.

[garageSTAR]

There's a write up somebody did that has both bushings. It was on anther forum.

[Greasemonkey2000]

I think the end result of the comparison was if you want a super tight fit (possibly a little more rigidity over GS door blocks but couldn't definitively say) and don't mind more test fitting and sanding each block to fit then the ken auto is the answer but if you want more of a pnp door block with some adjustability then the GarageStar blocks are the better choice.

I like to support 'local' businesses whenever i can and have delt with Kenjo several times and always happy so i chose to be loyal to GarageStar and was very happy with the results.

[revlimiter]

Anyone know how these compare to the KenAuto version from Japan?

there is another thread about it. Pretty interesting.

Spoiler: the Kenauto ones are an interference fit. You have to sand them to allow the door to close. The Garage Star ones are a direct fit and need no sanding (usually).

[Phatmiata]

from what I have read the GarageStar are better for Daily Driver Miatas and the KenAuto are more Race oriented? I guess I just need to go install my KenAuto versions and quit procrastinating.

and install the other parts just laying about :fp:

[wannafbody]

I just don't see the need for these in a caged car unless your doors are flopping around. I also don't see the need for the Ken Auto ones to be so tight that you can't open the door.

[mx54life]

Probably the best $65 I spent for the car that made a difference that you can actually appreciate instantaneously after you get it installed. Its like buying a new pair of sneakers and using them right away. Funny that Ken can actually guarantee this piece to satisfy or your money back. Now I understand why Adam (rev limiter) dedicated a thorough review on this and he is spot on "every Miata got to have this". It made my miata drive more solid.

No door problems so far. Follow the instructions and the supplied bolts are more than qualified to hold these small pieces in place. Heck drive down to Garagestar store and Ken may just install it for you lol.

[HarryB]

I am sure these do tons of work especially on less stiff cars. I properly adjusted my OEM ones and they made a huge difference, albeit they allow some upwards movement owing to the fact that the bushing is smaller than the cup. Both KenAuto and GarageStar fix this, so I expect them to work really well with respect to NVH coming from doors shaking. However claiming that they will improve your stiffness is a step too far and I really doubt it; it is more of a placebo effect I believe. Of course I cannot tell till I try a set on my own...

[mx54life]

I am sure these do tons of work especially on less stiff cars. I properly adjusted my OEM ones and they made a huge difference, albeit they allow some upwards movement owing to the fact that the bushing is smaller than the cup. Both KenAuto and GarageStar fix this, so I expect them to work really well with respect to NVH coming from doors shaking. However claiming that they will improve your stiffness is a step too far and I really doubt it; it is more of a placebo effect I believe. Of course I cannot tell till I try a set on my own...

There is no way you can adjust the OEM ones, they are not designed to be adjusted LOL. Stiffness from the delrin what makes this bushing works. Regarding "stiffness", well they make the doors function as unit by anchoring it to the rear tub at the bottom corner of the opening. Try and remove your doors and drive the car well the easier way is "of course try a set of your own". If your are close by you are welcome to try mine for as long as you want since I will park the car for a while due to some coilover install.

I am not trying to convince anyone. I am just saying for $65 I am impressed. It may very well placebo but not hearing the stupid squeak as I leave my driveway is good enough at least for now. BTW I do have the FM butterfly and HD roll bar so if I that does not make the miata stiff then there are plenty here that are on placebo.

[RustRat]

Sure the OEM ones can be adjusted. Removing the bolts and moving the bushes upwards, before tightening them down again, helps reduce NVH a little bit. I am sure though, it's not as much as GarageStar ones, but it helps a little.

[mx54life]

[QUOTE= I am sure though, it's not as much as GarageStar ones, but it helps a little.[/QUOTE]

Right if it helps a little imagine what a stiff delrin bushing can do (material engineering can probably clarify that?). When I installed my $500+ roll bar it took some hard cornering to really feel the difference while these little pieces of rubber @ $65 proved its worth in less than a mile. Oh well the OEM had seen brighter days so replacing them with these made more sense. The better performance is just a bonus as placebo as it may be. Even my rear view mirror (IL cobra style sliding mirror) had stop vibrating that I prefer more than anything else.

[JLBMX5]

In the past two months I have added a hardtop. And replaced window guides and installed the bushings so its really hard for me to tell what part has made what improvement. But my car is so much more enjoyable to drive now. Thats all that matters.

[mx54life]

^^^return the old bushing and you shall see lol. Me I don't have to guess.

[HarryB]

There is no way you can adjust the OEM ones, they are not designed to be adjusted LOL. Stiffness from the delrin what makes this bushing works. Regarding "stiffness", well they make the doors function as unit by anchoring it to the rear tub at the bottom corner of the opening. Try and remove your doors and drive the car well the easier way is "of course try a set of your own". If your are close by you are welcome to try mine for as long as you want since I will park the car for a while due to some coilover install.

I am not trying to convince anyone. I am just saying for $65 I am impressed. It may very well placebo but not hearing the stupid squeak as I leave my driveway is good enough at least for now. BTW I do have the FM butterfly and HD roll bar so if I that does not make the miata stiff then there are plenty here that are on placebo.

You are right that derlin ones should work even better, partly because of the smaller gap (tighter tolerance) and partly because they are stiffer, i.e. deform less when load is applied to them. No argument they do a LOT to reduce Noise/Vibration/Harshness (NVH); but I would be really surprised if they do anything at all for chassis torsional stiffness, which is another story...

[mx54life]

You are right that derlin ones should work even better, partly because of the smaller gap (tighter tolerance) and partly because they are stiffer, i.e. deform less when load is applied to them. No argument they do a LOT to reduce Noise/Vibration/Harshness (NVH); but I would be really surprised if they do anything at all for chassis torsional stiffness, which is another story...

By solid and stiff I mean less NVH. I don't know about chassis torsional stiffness much but if the doors are anchored and secured tightly won't that improve chassis stiffness as well? I am not much help to this question.......all I know is that this little tub drives way better than it did with the factory bushing. A very cheap upgrade IMO.