Rebel Racing RSR bushings vs Elephant Sphericals bearings for control arms

[Tremelune]

It seems that the main difference is that the Sphericals will maintain low stiction even when the chassis is loaded and flexing, whereas the RSR bushings might not.

To me, the primary benefit of either over rubber would be an improvement in ride quality (due to the lower "spring" rate of no twisting bushing) with a minor increase in noise/vibration in the cabin (which is subjective).

Anyone have experience with these? I've read a bunch of threads on them both, but it seems like a lot of posters confuse them with polybronze or some kind of hard-compound solid bushing (polyurethane, Delrin, etc). It's also very rare to find someone who installs them without also changing spring rate or some other component that has a large effect on the system (such as monoball shock tower mounts or shocks themselves), which makes the anecdotes difficult to judge.

[Knockdown]

I installed the ER sphericals on my 77, but like you mentioned, did the whole suspension, no rubber anywhere. I really liked how the sphericals worked. It took some fitting to get them installed into the cross member.

[70SC]

Those look just a little too much like Rebel's. I'd just go with the orignal ones, Rebel's . I have the Rebel Racing product's on a couple of cars front & rear. Remove the Stiction from your suspension and make your car ride like it's on rails. You'll be happy you did !!!!! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year All !!!!!!!

[Tremelune]

The Elephant Sphericals rotate on two axis.

[Duc Hunter]

I have 2+ years not eh Rebels on my Rat Rod. I can say they ride great, not much extra noise/vibration at all. Great piece of kit if you ask me.

[jamesjedi]

I have had a hard time getting one my control arms to drop freely with the Rebel ones. I think it may be easier to get the conical Elephant to fit better - however I have not tried to fit the Elephant bushings.

[evan9eleven]

I've been running Sphericals 3 years now, but like most I did the whole Elephant package at once so I can't give you a review of these alone. My setup also includes monoballs, raised spindles, uprated torsion bars, and polybronze on the rear. In spite of going stiffer the ride got better, and the handling is vastly improved.

[Tremelune]

Well, I wound up going with the Sphericals. The yellow compound that forms the inner "bearing" doesn't seem to move at all by hand, but...as long as they work on the car.

[WP0ZZZ]

I'm about to fit a set of Sphericals on my SC and the inner metallic race seems to be stuck to the whitish spherical bit. Has anyone had this issue?

As far as I can remember, when I purchased the Sphericals a few months ago the inner race could easily be removed by hand...

[70SC]

Just stick with the original Rebel Racing Products. Stainless Steel & a Delrin Bushing.

[Dodge Man]

How much does your chassis really flex? Not some bench video. Any comparative skid pad data or course data?

I prefer to keep my pivot shaft on the design axis. Stiction is from rubber bushings. These cars were not built "perfectly" square decades ago. Rebel has spherical washer kits if a simple flat does not get shaft install perfectly free. This car had to use NO simple flat washers. We had a car with a professionally done front clip that had to use some washers. Cudos to the body shop that did the repair.

Maximizing plastic bearing material in contact with shaft is important. I have actually designed plastic bearings. I have Rebel RSR bushings front & rear. Make yourself happy; it's your money.

Properly aligning/bushing mounting surfaces is too difficult? Plastic bearings are all about PLI (Pounds per Linear Inch) so I went with Rebel. Are you too lazy to do it right??

[mike sampsel]

Originally Posted by Tremelune

Well, I wound up going with the Sphericals. The yellow compound that forms the inner "bearing" doesn't seem to move at all by hand, but...as long as they work on the car.

Will we get a report of how these worked out for you?
Assuming with list of other suspension goodies, please.

[Tremelune]

Absolutely, but there will be a lot of variables. My car is in the shop for repairs after I discovered collision damage behind the dash. It's also getting new Turbo tie rods, ball joints, and a close-ratio steering rack.

I believe the bushings that are in there are old rubber, but since I'm not taking the car apart, I can't inspect them.

[mike sampsel]

Originally Posted by Tremelune

Absolutely, but there will be a lot of variables. My car is in the shop for repairs after I discovered collision damage behind the dash. It's also getting new Turbo tie rods, ball joints, and a close-ratio steering rack.

I believe the bushings that are in there are old rubber, but since I'm not taking the car apart, I can't inspect them.

The turbo tie rods are a great addition to the steering, I really like mine. New ball joints made a big difference for me in wheel shimmy. Shimmy at 50 to 70 mph Gone completely after new ball joints added some 18 k miles and 20 years ago. Funny how no one diagnosed it as ball joints then, just changed them myself. I’ve got old rubber too. If I do go with “ER” I’ll likely have them install the sphericals.

[regnihe]

Any update on this thread. Now currently making the decision between Elephant and Rebel

[Tremelune]

I'll get my car back soon, but a lot has changed on it, so I don't know if I'll be able to provide much more than loose anecdotal data.

[911pcars]

The advantage of a spherical bearing over a linear bearing is that the bearing alignment axis can shift slightly and not bind while traveling through its normal range of motion.

Not sure, but the colored surface could be a coated PTFE dry lube/friction material. Can anyone confirm?

S

[regnihe]

I ordered from Elephant today. This is a full race application. My car has had multiple front end taps over it's years of use. We are thinking the Elephant design will help us compensate for the lack of squareness in the chassis.

[Jakub902]

Can anyone tell me how are either one of the brands on street driving? My car will mostly see street driving/occasional autoX and I am debating if I should just put rubber ones in.

[donbecker1234]

Originally Posted by Jakub902

Can anyone tell me how are either one of the brands on street driving? My car will mostly see street driving/occasional autoX and I am debating if I should just put rubber ones in.

You're likely to get opinions all over the place. It seems that most people that do suspension work on these cars change more than one thing at a time.

So the majority of feedback you will get will most likely involve many different parts being changed out at once.

For every recommendation you can find for rubber, you can find another for the solid bushings. Or poly.