STRUT MOUNT FAILURE IS COMMON
If you have owned a G8 at all, you are likely familiar with failing strut mount bushings. This happens for a whole host is reasons, but most often it is due to the age of the bushings and the material used.
The stock rubber bushings simply collapse over time, leading to bad alignment, clunking, traction issues, ride discomfort and more. In some extreme cases, the strut piston can tear the sleeve and push right through the bushing and smack the hood, leaving a nice dent.
A quick way to tell if your bushings are on their way out is to check for a gap between your strut tower and the cupped washer atop it. If your gap looks like this figure (or close to it), chances are your bushings have failed.
AFTERMARKET OPTIONS
Seeing the high failure rate of the OE units, aftermarket performance companies wasted no time developing some performance alternatives. But which ones of these aftermarket offerings are the best?
That is a hard question to answer since most of them boast the same improvements “Better Bushing Material”, in which typically either a Polyurethane or Elastomer material.
But, is there a clear “winner” in the battle for the best aftermarket strut mount bushing? We believe there is.. and that winner is the SuperPro 1590AK.
WHY WE BELIEVE THE 1590AK IS THE BEST
Like most of the aftermarket options, the 1590AK uses a better material. But, it is the ONLY one to use what SuperPro coined as “Polyelast”.
Polyelast, a synthetic blend of both Polyester and Elastomer, merges these two materials into one, offering a much longer life cycle as well as a much “closer to stock” feel.
But, they didn’t stop there, the 1590AK is also the ONLY aftermarket option to use the Strut Bearings out of the newer Chevy SS Sedan, while all the others use the bearings from the Pontiac G8. If you’ve ever replaced one of these bushings then you already know the horror of watching those shiney little ball bearing drop all over the ground because the flimsy bearing plate cracked during install.
The 1590AK’s Chevy SS bearing plates are much sturdier and much less prone to break during install. This alone in my humble opinion is reason enough to give them the crown, couple that with the superior ride they offer over the others and it is not even close.
IF THEY ARE SO GREAT, WHY ARE THEY DISCONTINUED?
Thats a great question, and I’m glad you asked! These were discontinued due to the cost to produce. From our understanding, the process of combining these two materials, plus the improved bearings, did not leave much room for margin.
Not to mention that SuperPro also sold the 1590BK, which was still a major upgrade over the factory units.
Prior to discontinuing them, SuperPro did try to cut the cost by changing them from Blue to Black, as dying them blue was seen as an expenditure that could become a way to save a little bit during manufacturing. But ultimately, they ended up cancelling this item altogether.
SO, WHAT NOW?
Well, when our rep at SuperPro let us know these were going to be discontinued, we knew we had to do something.
So, we bought them ALL.. every one of them. Not just the ones here, in the USA, but also every one they had in any country.
That left us with about 395 units (pairs), we figured that would last us quite a while… well, not really!
Just about a year or so later and we are down to our last 55-ish units (at the time of me writing this). Once these are gone, they are gone for good!
So, if you’ve been on the fence, or have a set and love them and want a back-up set, now might be the time, the last time. And, if you are reading this late and they are all gone, I’m sorry you missed them!
get one of the last sets