Melted Bushings
 

I had to end a track day early last weekend because my 22mm Whiteline swaybar passenger side bushing melted due to its proximity to my ACE A350 ceramic coated header overpipe. It wasn't just a little melted either. The top half of it is completely gone. Has anyone else come across this and found a solution? The steering linkage is also very close and shows where it may be hitting in extreme instances. Just wrap it? Any advice?

Yikes

Pictures? Have never heard of this issue on our platform yet. Surprised the stock ones aren't melting on other people's cars

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This is the downside of modding your car. Pics please.

The whole area near the overpipe is very cramped. I haven't seen what it's like with the ACE header. Can you take a photo? You may be able to put some heat shielding near the bush.

http://i.imgur.com/5zm1VZ5.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7lKr1eB.jpg

err your exhaust is touching...? how is that a surprise.....:lol:

see if you can move the exhaust upword a bit, i had this problem with my header when i just installed it, i end up sorta pushing it up while installing the whole thing again.

Cuz my overpipe was rattling my car under acceleration. :bonk: *such a given

Wow, that is ugly :(

@AceHeader-MT @CSG have you guys come across this before?

Does any other header get that close to the sway bar to touch or is it just the Ace?

what are your exhaust gas temperatures?

this is partly why I'm considering leaving my overpipe stock with its headshields.

I thought ceramic coating was supposed to help deal with heat issues... damn OP! that looks horrible.

If there is contact, due vibration at that point coating gets damaged anyway, so how can it protect? +with contact there is much more heat conducted then via heat radiation, if there had been even though small but gap with air.
Problem with that little space to work with is how to get long enough runners for most efficient exhaust gas scavenging. Nameless tucked excess in front of engine, Ace - using overpipe part. No clue, which approach is better, but from this case it seems that it's always worth double check any clearance issues one may have, not just when vibrations between parts can be heard.

You guys are mixing up the sequence of events. The sway bar came into contact with the overpipe after the bushing melted.

indeed, Ultramaroon. There was no contact prior to the bushing melting. I had more important things to monitor during my track day than EGT. I had 4 or 5 20 minute sessions at Florida International Rally and Motorsports Complex. Each run was 20 minutes apart. I think a majority of the melting happened after parking (4 cool down laps). I didn't hear it banging while I was still on track. I'm still running the stock front pipe, waiting on my ACE unit to come in. The lack of flow past the overpipe could have contributed to this.

I was thinking the same, that it was hot while stagnant. Even the shielded stock overpipe is rough on that bushing. Melts all the grease out of it.

Still odd. Lots of A350s out there by now. Staying tuned. :popcorn:

Wow that is melted for sure. I've never heard of this happening before though. Could it be the bushings that came with the Whiteline sway bars being subpar?

I think someone on here had issues with aftermarket poly engine mounts.

One of the comments on that post went along the lines of:
The aftermarket poly mounts couldn't handle the heat, but the stock ones would have been fine because they are designed for durability so could handle higher temps.

Not sure if that helps?

I had the same thought. Consensus doesn't make us correct but...

It also looks as though part of the axle bushing is melted too, though.

Shit, that looks like the inner tie rod cover. :(

Would using some type of exhaust wrap help in this situation?

yeah, the inner tie rod cover it busted too. Hopefully my ACE front pipe will be here soon and my exhaust will be able to move heat away from that bushing a little faster. I'll probably heat wrap that portion as well for extra safety.

maybe we could get @AceHeader-MT to weigh in on this?

The stock sway bar bushes look awfully like a soft poly rather than the traditional rubber. That doesn't mean the whiteline ones don't have less temperature resistance though.

OP melted his inner tie rod cover (bellows). I haven't seen that issue pop up.

Changing my take on this issue. I don't know how but that area must have gotten exceptionally hot. Maybe an exhaust leak? More pics from different angles if possible?

I'm pretty sure I'd have heard an exhaust leak, my car is still pretty quiet with the stock front pipe-muffler. Header/Overpipe are also ceramic coated inside and out btw. I'm leaving town for a few weeks, but I'll investigate further when I get back. Going to try wrapping the overpipe and install new bushing. The tie rod cover looks more like it split than melted from what I recall seeing.

My first mod exhaust wise was a catless over/front pipe combo, then headers. No problems with heat that started melting stuff.

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No word from Whiteline or ACE on this matter

Did you fix the issue by going back to the standard bushings?

I am willing to bet this is out of the norm for either company. It is interesting to see the responses here though ranging from thinking ceramic coating is a cure-all for heat to wanting to blame the manufacturers immediately. While parts failed, it is a bushing in a part of the car that almost retains heat while also being in close proximity to heat. Stuff like this happens when you track a vehicle and / or drive it aggressively for long periods of time. Bushings wear out, all of them do. This is a severe instance, and definitely a new one on the forum, but it does not mean it is a call to burn ACE and whiteline at the stake. Obviously there are many members with products from both companies that have not had this same kind of issue. I'm not sure who is running both the swaybar and the header in conjunction, and this may simply comedown to a compatibility issue between two companies that design completely different products. Just saying.... take a step back and maybe not instigate a witch hunt quite yet.

Yep, this happens all the time, this platform is VERY spoiled for choice with different components designed in some dramatically different ways. That simply means that this will happen.

I think in looking at this, I'd be tempted to replace the bushing, reinstall the header and confirm clearances, then see what play the components have to gain extra clearance 'here and there'.

My guess is that repairing the ceramic coating on the header, and making a small shield you can tack weld to the sway bar bushing bracket with a small strip of DEI reflect a gold would resolve your issue.

#justRacecarThings :D

or @CSG Mike

I've melted the sway bar bushing and steering tie rod boot on the track too, with a different setup. My issue was an exhaust leak.

I'm pretty sure nobody would dispute that my car is driven hard. My bushings are just fine. I'm on OEM.

I took this picture last week while doing some maintenance on my 17. Ace A/350 w/ CSG double ceramic + flex fuel tune.

https://i.imgur.com/V07D8DA.jpg

I just replaced the bushing with another one from Whiteline. I'm guessing it must have been an exhaust leak spilling gases directly onto the bushing. I found one bolt at the collector to frontpipe location missing on the bushing side. I did not ever hear any exhaust leak, but I'm posting this as the cause for now.

New exhaust bolts and heat wrap installed. I'll have a track day in early November and report back on any further damage.

I had the same problem on my 2017. Gruppe s ceramic coated headers and overpipe and my oem bushing starts melting (not as much as you tho). When ill install my new front swaybar amd engine mount ill do a heat shield for it or either gonna wrap the exhaust. I have no exhaust leek btw. Not much track i inly did 4 run of autocross but sometimes i drive my car 7-8hours straight and i drive it hard so might be that