I purchased new rubber body bushings from Camaro Central. I already have them installed and doesn't quite seem correct. I looked on line for installation instructions and I got two different answers. The first image below is the instructions that came with the body bushings (tells me the 1" think bushing goes in the back). The second image is what is provided on line from Camaro Central down loads (tells me the 1" thick bushing goes at the fire wall mount). The factory manual does not describe the bushing sizes/thickness, so I don't know which bushing goes where. Can anyone help

2nd Image is the down load from Camaro Central

 

In addition.... I think the second image is correct with the 1" think bushing at the firewall. As of now, the 13/16 (0.7813") bushing is installed at the firewall. What drove me to this questioning, is when I installed the bushings at the firewall, the bolt did not tighten down enough to firmly smash the bushing. The metal sleeve in the bushing is stopping the bolt and the subframe had lots of play up and down.

 

Soak bolt threads with WD40 before unscrewing, then coat threads with Anti seize when assembling.

 

Keep in mind that material used to manufacture the bushing is a factor in full height with the weight on the car. Think of it like a spring, the uncompressed length does not mean anything. This means you should go with the manufactures information instead of the generic information. The factory info assume the same crappy material that lasted 7-8 years in most daily drivers.

I agree with Everett, this is most likely a thread issue. Are these new bolts? Do you have the old bolts. If you do you can modify one of them to be a thread chaser. These cars are not perfect. There is a lot of variation in manufacturing process. If you needed to remove 1/8" to a 1/4" off the tip of the bolt it will not hurt anything. This bolt is going through a trapped nut so how much it sticks out past that nut means nothing. In this case make sure you follow the torque specs as over torqueing could cause the rubber to split. The torque spec is more important then the bulge you can feel/see as this will also vary with the material used. If the manufacture did not give you new torque specs use the factory ones.

 

Before I work on the torque, I want to make sure the bushings are in the correct location. Please take a look again at the details in my post, they are different. There is no manufacture info on the bushing size/thickness and there specific location. If anyone has a manufacture detail that gives the thicknesses of each bushing and locations, then please send my way. I put anti seize on the bolts and they go in just fine. Bolts are new and the square trap nuts in the body are in great condition. It's not a bolt/thread issue.

I understand the weight of the car and all, but it took little effort to tighten the bolt all the way to the metal sleeve in the bushing (could hand tighten about 90% of the distance). No compression of the bushing at all at the firewall. I can't imagine the subframe moving up and down over an inch in travel now, even more when the full weight of the car is compressing the bushings. That's a lot of travel. The fenders would defiantly pinch and buckle at the doors.

 

If you run the bolt in with no bushing measure from the bottom of the car down to some easy to access part of the bolt. Then grind 1/8" off the end off the bolt then put it back in. If the bolt goes in an 1/8" deeper then it something is going on and either the bushing is not tall enough or the bolt is too long. If the bolt stops at the same place s the first measurement then it is a thread issue.

I am not sure about bushing bolts but I have seen GM miss match threads just a little to make sure the bolts did not come loose. If you add even a small amount of corrosion to this it could be a problem.

Are these the original bolts?

 

Bolts are new and the threads are not corroded. The bolt is only stopping because of the metal sleeve in the bushing (see pic of bushing kit). This prevents over torqueing the bushing. I need to know if I have to correct bushing at the firewall. Each bushing has a different thickness and different length metal sleeve. At this point, I believe the 1" thick bushing goes at the firewall (currently at the rear). This is a thicker bushing and a shorter sleeve, allowing the bolt to tighten further and synch up the bushing. At this point, I have answered my own question and this would match the second installation instructions show in my first post.

 

I am glad you got it figured out. Might want to let the company know about their instructions that came with the parts. I guess I am still not understanding how. switching bushing with less then 1/4" difference got rid of over 1" of space.

 

Gorn... you got me, I don't know either. Thanks for being patient, I get hard headed.

Funny thing... I just got off the phone with Camaro Central and was treated like a crazy person. Turns out, between my email to Camaro Central last night, to my phone call to them this afternoon... the website was magically updated. Now I'm even more frustrated, because my assumption was wrong and according to their detail, the bushing are currently installed properly. I just don't understand... What you (Gorn) and Everret said makes sense, but I just can't see that happening. Everything is like new and that dam bolt screws in all the way with no issues. Got to dig into this more and take a bushing off at the firewall and play with the bolt and the bushing so see what I did wrong.

 

Here I go again........ but its driving me crazy and I just need confirmation. The car is now under it's own weight. Below is a close up pick of the drive side body bushing at the firewall. I have torqued it to 85lbs and the bushing does not compress at all. Should it be compressed at least a little??

Lower bushing

Upper bushing

Top of Bolt