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Is Nolathane too hard?
Nolathane formulations have evolved over many years. As the clear market leader in Australia & New Zealand our formulations have become progressively softer whilst becoming stronger. Each bush is designed using the most suitable grade of softness to suit the application. Misinformation spread by small competitors suggests that Nolathane is hard - this is simply old hat! We invite you to compare the "leading brands" and you will find virtually all bushings are now of similar softness. As the Australian & New Zealand markets are so small with only 24 million total population we have focused away from just motor sport application to what we call 'Streetable Polyurethane". In other words you can fit Nolathane products to a family car and obtain good performance improvement without compromising too much on ride, improved handling, steering & in many cases brake response without a harsh ride. Most Polyurethane you might see in the USA or Europe is around 93-95 Durometer shore A as they concentrate on a racing / extreme performance market, less than 1% of the Nolathane range is 93 Duro and these are normally to replace original hard nylon bushings. Most of our products are 74 or 85 Duro. When we design a bush we evaluate the best duro (hardness) for the application and that is what we design to, we do not normally make the same part in different hardness's as we try to pick the best handling / ride compromise.
Do urethane bushings squeak?
Basically NO. squeaking is caused by high frequency vibrations that can be heard rather than felt. Usually the cause of squeaking is the incorrect application of grease (not greasing the correct areas eg: flange faces & internal bores), greasing the incorrect areas (outside of bushings designed to be installed inside the suspension component) or even over greasing (applying grease everywhere), however the presence of rust, paint or rubber deposits between the bush and the component or housing can also be a major factor.
Where can I buy Nolathane suspension components?
As Nolathane is the manufacturer we do not sell direct to the public, we do sell through established national distributors in Australia, New Zealand and France. Please contact us for the nearest stockist of Nolathane in your area. We also welcome enquiries for potential distributors in other countries.
What if my vehicle/bushings are not in the catalogue?
Located in this web site is a regularly update & maintained Online Catalogue that can be checked to see if there is a current listing for your vehicle. If not our dedicated technical support team can be contact 5 days a week on the Technical Hotline -1300 88 2355 to assist with your requirements.
What is the grease supplied and where do I put it?
The Nolathane lubricant supplied is designed to optimise bush durability and performance. Nolathane grease is a molybdenum disulphide (LM) based grease and has excellent stability & extreme pressure qualities for extended life and high melting point. Grease supplied in the kits where required should only be used and applied to the bush surfaces designed to pivot (eg flange faces and internal bores) DO NOT grease pressed fit surfaces (eg outer shell) or outside surface of shackle bushings. DO NOT use rubber grease as this can affect urethane bushings.
Can special bushings be made to order?
Located in this web site is a Bush Identification & Size Sheet that can be filled out and submitted to us or contact our dedicated technical support team 5 days a week on the Technical Hotline -1300 88 2355. We can than look at matching it up with products already manufactured. If we can not find anything, we will only be too happy to discuss about manufacturing to suit your requirements & quantity required.
How do I know when my suspension bushings need replacing?
Usually if your vehicle suffers from any or all of these systems it is a good indication that your suspension bushings need replacing.
Camber Angle, what is it & what to look for?
Camber is the measurement of the inclination of the wheel from the vertical, viewed from the front of the vehicle. Camber's main purpose is to reduce uneven tyre wear on the edges of the tyres by maintaining even contact across the entire tread surface. The vehicle has "+" positive camber when the top of the tyre leans outwards away from the vehicle and has "-" negative camber when the top of the tyre leans inwards towards the vehicle. Under normal driving conditions original rubber bushings or worn components distort and squirm causing the suspension arm to move altering camber setting, resulting in unwanted angle changes. Nolathane suspension products are far superior in maintaining proper camber settings because they do not distort as much as the original rubber components.
What to look for: Smooth edging on the inside of the tyre is caused by excessive "-" camber, smooth edging on the outside of the tyre is caused by excessive"+" camber causing the vehicle to pull to the side with most "+" camber. Always wheel align camber settings within manufacturer's specifications.
Caster Angle, what is it & what to look for?
Camber is the measurement of the angle of forward and backward tilt of the upper and lower steering pivots (i.e. top and bottom ball joints) relative to an imaginary vertical line intersecting the road surface, also measured in "+" positive and "-" negative degrees. Caster is the angle that most effects directional stability. "+" caster occurs when the contact patch of the tyres is behind this imaginary line, "-" caster being in front of the line. Ideally the contact patch of the tyres would be "+" providing steering 'feel', stability and helping to self Centre the wheels, so they point in the direction the vehicle is traveling. Too much caster causes heavy steering and when extreme, can cause wheel shimmy. Too little caster reduces steering feel and the vehicle's ability to track straight and has a tendency to wander. Under heavy braking and steering conditions, original rubber or worn components can cause caster angle change effecting the vehicle's self-centring ability and reducing turn-in ability when cornering. Nolathane suspension products provide better control under all conditions, especially braking, controlling and preventing movement. Negative effects caused by the camber of the road can be counteracted by increasing the caster of the vehicle on the passenger side by approximately 1/2°. This spread is provided by Nolathane's range of offset caster bushings reducing LH tyre wear, rectifying a slight pull to the LHS, common in many front wheel drive vehicles.
What to look for: Unless there is excessive "+" caster on cars not designed to have such setting, caster will not cause tyre wear. Always wheel align caster settings within manufacturer's specifications.
Toe In / Toe Out, what is it & what to look for?
Toe is the measurement of the difference between the front centre line of each tyre and the rear centre line of each tyre on the same axle. Incorrect toe settings are one of the main causes of excessive tyre wear, notably feathered edging across the tyres, is due to incorrect toe settings due to the tyres trying to run in different directions. Vague, unresponsive steering is indicative of excessive toe in, whereas excessive toe out causes the vehicle to dart or wander across the road. Toe angle is measured in "degrees" or "mm" by subtracting the distance between the front of the tyres from the distance between the back of the same tyre. A "+"result means the vehicle is toeing in, a "-" result means the vehicle is toeing out. Typically production vehicles are normally aligned with a "Toe In" setting as steering alignment takes place while the vehicle is stationary. When the vehicle is in motion steering linkage tolerances allow the wheels to move out under normal driving conditions. This is referred to as "Running Toe" which should be zero to maximize tyre life and achieve the least rolling resistance. Toe Settings can be altered because of soft original rubber bushings or worn components allow the control arms to move during performance driving, heavy braking and cornering causing toe out. Nolathane suspension products are far superior in maintaining proper toe settings under performance situations, when weight transfer is high, such as acceleration, braking and cornering as they do not distort like the original rubber components.
What to look for: Feathered edges on the tyres indicates incorrect toe setting. Feathering pointing to the inside of the tyre indicates excessive toe in, whereas feathering to the outside of the tyre indicates excessive toe out. Always wheel align toe settings within manufacturer's specifications.
What is the function of the Sway Bar?
The function of sway bar is to improve the tyre contact with the road, thus reducing body roll and stabilising the vehicle under lateral (cornering) loads. Soft original rubber bushings will often deflect excessively before the sway bar begins to operate, therefore permitting initial body roll. Nolathane suspension products allow the sway bar to work with much higher efficiency as the bushings do not distort, resulting in improved performance, control, less tyre wear and better traction.
How are Nolathane Suspension Kits packaged?
Nolathane is Packaged in 3 formats:
Kit Format: This is the most common format, for example a Toyota Corolla Lower Control Arm kit such as 45246 has 2 x bushings, 2 x steel centre crush tubes & 1 x sachet of grease. Basic instructions are on the back of the header card which is stapled to a plastic bag with the parts in. The kit includes sufficient parts to fit the application ( in this case front lower control arm inner rear bush) on both sides of the car as we do not want rubber on one side and Nolathane on the other. Just as it is safer to replace the rubber bushings on both sides not just one. The current Nolathane printed & on-line catalogue shows this in the "Kits Req" column just how many kits to suit the application for both sides of the vehicle. In some kits additional specific instructions and other items such as new bolts, washers etc are included where we deem necessary.
Vehicle Enhancement Format: This format is a box containing the essential components to "Nolathane Your Car. In some cases you will find combined Front, Rear or All enhancement kits. The concept is designed to assist in fast and efficient quoting of your bush requirements, The "Veh. Kit" column in the Nolathane current printed and on-line catalogue identifies items supplied in the respective kit. the Vehicle Enhancement kits contain a voucher for a bonus set of sway bar mounts (where listed). There are over 100 Vehicle Enhancement kits (with more being added all the time) listed to suit all ranges of vehicles from all Commodores & Falcons through to commercials & 4WD with most makes having there top selling vehicles covered by a Enhancement kit whether it being Front, Rear or All.
Bulk Bushings Format: The Bulk bush format all start with a "KU" prefix followed by the last 4 numbers from the original kit format part number and "/100" as a suffix. In other words 47005 kit is a KU7005/100 in bulk. These are simply boxes of normally 100 looses bushings without grease or instructions but with steel crush tubes if required. This format covers 11 fast moving part numbers consisting of 1 x sway bar link, 1 x pan hard rod kit & 9 x 4WD spring bushings which are used in bulk in some 4WD markets which is the main reason for this format . There are listed in the current Nolathane printed & on-line catalogue and summarized on Page 11 of the catalogue.
What accreditation does Nolathane have and what testing do we do?
Nolathane is accredited to ISO9001:2000. As part of our quality process we undertake certain checks or tests on each batch of material. These include Hardness Build-up (hardness whilst curing) Durometer, Ratio of mixed material, Tear test, Tensile test and Elongation. Ensuring that all Nolathane product is correct and suited to the material requirements.