Pedders Bushings Worth It???....For Most, Not Really! Now, most would consider me a Pedders fanboy....research the posts! To be fair, my experience with my Pedders vendor (Renegade Performance Mustang Motorsports) in San Diego was great. I installed the Pedders "Full LX Repair" which runs about $1500. It was another $1500 for installation. I have 65k miles on my car and I drive it hard. To set the stage I already had KWv2, Hotchkis Sways, DC Front strut tower brace, and a Razors Edge rear strut tower brace. Those cost me about $2700 for parts and install. "Those" allow me adjustable dampening and a lowered ride. Now, I wish I could take out all the previous mods and just review what the Pedders bushings did for my handling. I'm sure it would be substantial. But, after installing them the only thing I've noticed is nice improvement in bump steer and a slightly tighter overall feel. My skid pad testing (lateral G's) did not improve (same tires). After all the money spent on suspension parts so far I would have to say that some good sway bars and some really good tires (Nitto NT05's or Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas) will be enough for 99% of LX drivers....unless you want a lowered stance...and who doesn't!! Maybe, the Pedders "Critical Replacement Bushings" ($500 parts) or just a "Bump Steer Kit" ($120 parts) is the way to go???
I think the bushings refined your suspension. I can't say they drastically improved it, but polished it up a bit. Your previous mods made a WORLD of difference however. Money well spent? IMO yes if you wanted to improve the ride while eliminating bump steer and maintaining the performance. Your M3 will make you forget about it all, however! Lol
lol, good to hear 'cause that's what I got (plus a DC front strut brace) I was able to feel the front brace. The Hotchkis sways were dramatic.
Yeah, the Hotchkis sways were night and day different. I like the lowered look, but as a daily driver on rough terrain (thank you CalTrans), its not really useful to me. I will be looking to upgrade to better tires over the el cheapo ones I've been running since the baby. They last forever, but not quite sticky enough for me to feel confident in sharp turns like before. I wondered about the Pedders, but didn't really feel like all the effort/research plus the cost to get them installed and make sure it was done right and that I wasn't just paying someone to wreck my car. Anyway, thanks for being the test dummy, Rick. Have fun with your bimmer.
I believe you to be correct. I think that the part about "slightly tighter" is the extent of different bushing material. I stiill stand by Hotchkis sways as the biggest truly feelable suspension mod. The Stack Performance "Chubby" series would probably also match. ..
Here's my take on the bumpsteer (from another thread on LX): "...The Pedders kit raises the steering rack ~5-7mm (0.19-0.27”) straight up, which alters the castor plane as well as the Instant Center. The claim is that on the two vehicles Pedders tested, bump steer was decreased from ~16mm to 0mm and 1mm. I asked what the millimeters reference refers to for these measurements. I was told the values shown on the graph at their website refers to total displacement (jounce and rebound) at 9 and 3 o’clock positions…at the tire tread. Further that the manner the jounce was determined was by using a come-along and cinching down the frame to collapse the suspension. If the tire radius (in my case – 275/40/20 Vreds) is 14.125”, and we apply Pedders idea of bump steer measurement/deflection in millimeters and work back the numbers we can equate a ~0.105” tire displacement (wheel direction moved off center) to ~0.25 degrees. This means the 15.5mm total bump steer displacement on a stock LX platform that Pedders measures at the tire tread equates to a TOTAL angular displacement of ~1.45° through + 40mm (1.57”) of suspension travel shown on the graph (0.105” = 2.667mm=~0.25°, so 15.5mm/2.667mm = 5.81 units, therefore 5.81units x 0.25° = 1.45°). Someone check my math…and draw your own conclusion. On my (lowered) magnum, I removed a coilover and disconnected the swaybar end link on one side to check* bump steer when Pedders announced our platforms exhibited horrendous bump steer (what angular + displacement and in what direction was not stated). I purchased a bump steer kit to see for myself. At rest my Magnum’s tie rod angles went from -5.5° to -4.5° (rises from inner to outer attachment points) with the Pedders kit installed. The point is…the delta is going to be ~1° no matter what the initial ride height is. Anyone see where I’m headed with this one? Two things were noted on my Magnum; 1) bump steer changed little, 2) bump steer is no where NEAR as bad as advertised. The best (only?) way folks can corroborate this is to go through the exercise of tracking the angular displacement themselves (see my method below). As far as driving my Magnum at the limits on a road course; the Pedders kit will stay in because putting the OEM units BACK in is just not worth the time. Given I have yet to bend any of my swaybar endlinks (Hotchkis bars), even after a couple of off-course excursions that resulted in alignment changes and bent front fender lip apexes, I'll spend my money on more brake H/W and track entry fees. *Using a LASER pointer attached to the wheel hub, and with the steering wheel secured straight ahead, the suspension was moved through + 4” of travel (taking a measurement every inch) from the at-rest point. The beauty of using the LASER meant I could slightly rotate the hub to re-acquire the target’s measurement area @ 1.0” increments”. I observed similar displacement values (using Pythagorean right-angle triangle theorem, knowing side b, angle A, and side c delta results in angle C - close enough for the girls I go out with). After repeated tests with the OEM bushings and with the Pedders kit installed, at one point I moved the LASER target further away to increase measurement fidelity. It confirmed my original findings."
