BETTER THAN BUSHINGS? Control Arm Bearings with Keith Tanner (FM Live 1-4-24)

This week, Keith Tanner will be answering your questions about our Control Arm Spherical Bearing kits. How do they feel? How hard are they to install? How do they compare to standard bushings? And more!

Available Now, at Flyin' Miata!
https://flyinmiata.com/search?q=spher...

Stiffer rubber control arm bushings are a definite suspension improvement as are quality poly bushings. But what do you do if you want zero deflection and zero resistance? You need bearings! Sealed spherical bearings, to be specific. This is a complete set of sealed spherical bearings for all of your control arms. Zero squish and basically no resistance to movement so your suspension can work on its own, with no bushing "spring rate" to work around. This means that your shocks and springs are the only thing holding your car up, meaning that there's no guesswork in getting everything dialed in perfectly.

So why spherical bearings instead of roller bearings? There has to be some misalignment allowed between the control arms and subframe to make it possible for the suspension to be aligned or it will bind. In addition, these are complete, custom, spherical bearing assemblies, not generic spherical bearings.

Since there's no deflection, your alignment won't change as you accelerate, brake, and turn. This means that your alignment will be what you set it to, assuming your alignment cams don't slip, at all times. This is especially great for track cars.

But won't they wear out? Not really. They're made of specially-plated Chromoly and are sealed against dirt and water intrusion. They also have a limited lifetime warranty. We have over 50,000 street and track miles on a few different sets at this point with no issues.

Installation is definitely more involved than normal bushings. Once you remove the stock bushings, you'll need to clean up the bore, drill and tap holes for set screws, then push the bearings in. While you don't necessarily need our specific tool kit for that, we do have a complete tool kit to make your life easier. If you're very mechanically competent and have a plethora of tools at your disposal, you probably won't need it. If neither of these describe you, we recommend getting the tool kit. When in doubt, get the tool kit.

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Flyin' Miata is the world leader in Miata performance. We offer a wide range of parts for all years of the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
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