There’s not a lot of information out there on the Energy Suspension Subframe bushings and I know some people are curious.
I bought the urethane subframe and differential bushings to replace my stock, 15 year old rubber bushings. My S14 is mainly a street car with occasional road course duty. I knew I didn’t want metal bushings because of how harsh they would have been. After getting my urethane bushings installed, I know without a doubt I wouldn’t want metal. These are a great middle ground.
I drive spirited often. My rear used to be very unstable over bumps, very unpredictable. It felt like I was going to lose control of the rear any time I hit a substantial bump, like it had a mind of its own. Any time I would take a hard corner, the rear would feel like it was still trying to turn after I had straightened the car out. I installed these bushings and Energy Suspension urethane differential bushings at the same time. My car has literally never felt better. My rear end is very planted and predictable over bumps now. No longer does it feel uncontrollable in certain situations.
The only downside is the noise and vibration. Being urethane, the subframe bushings creak and pop constantly, any time the rear flexes at all. My S14 isn’t my daily so it’s not a huge deal to me, it was expected. The noise is actually kind of nice when I’m driving for performance reasons, I love the feedback, knowing when the rear is flexing. The differential bushings also create plenty of noise. Every shift is met by a very distinct clunk from the differential. The car gets some vibration from around 2K to 3K RPM also.
Honestly, I don’t really mind any of it. The car feels amazing and gives me loads of feedback. I made an amazing purchase. I highly recommend these instead of cheaping out and buying bushing collars like so many 240 owners do. Those are just band-aids.
UPDATE: An addition to this article – Installing the bushings without using the provided special lubricant WILL result in the squeaking and creaking I wrote about above. After removing and reinstalling the bushings, with the proper lubricant, the noise is gone. Somehow, my bushings got packaged WITHOUT the lubricant… what a difference!
If you have any questions about this article, here’s the place to ask them: Nissan Suspension Technical Discussion Forum!