TR2/3/3A Your Opinion of TRF Rubber Bushes for Front Suspension

[Bruce100]

Hi all,

I have a brand new TRF rubber front suspension kit purchased by PO that has been sitting in the boxes for about 10 years. Am trying to decide whether to go with the Moss Motors Superpro Blue Prothane complete kit including bits for the Springs, etc. instead. The cheap part of me says, just use what you have. The anal part of me says do the prothane, and sell the old kit. My goal is a street driver, and the bushings last 30k miles at least, over 10-20 years. Thoughts?

 

[GTP1960]

I would be concerned about the effects of 10 yrs of age on rubber, even if it hadn't been used.

 

[TomMull]

The was another recent topic on these. Although the original rubber bushings were long lasting and efficient, I'm told that some of the replacement rubber bushings were not as good. The only down side I can see, other than inferior rubber in some replacements, is that they do deflect more than the urethane bushings. This is not a problem with a street car, in my opinion, and the rubber bushings may be quieter to boot.
Tom

 

[malbaby]

I agree with GTP.... Spend the money on new bushes. Some old rubber would be of questionable quality. You only want to do the replacement once.

 

[TR-3rg]

Hi,

I have ten year old TRF polyurethane bushings in my TR-3. They are holding up well. I cannot answer for the natural rubber bushings. I would buy new polyurethane bushings simply because it's too much work to change them for the amount of money saved.

Roy

 

[Got_All_4]

I may be the one Tom was referring to as I posted a thread not long ago if anyone here was using Super Pro bushings. Come to find out when they were ordered from Moss that no one has ever ordered them in the 3 years they started stocking them. Answered my question why no one replied to my thread.
Rubber bushings are less the a dollar a piece so your not loosing much if you don't use them. Plus the added risk of there age. I installed black urethane bushings from Moss 12/15 years ago and are already completely shot. You will still have to use the original metal and nylon bushings on the lower A arms. The Super Pro kit says complete but it is only the "rubber" parts and is very expensive. $139. You'll still have to shell out another $100 for the lower kit.
I read a lot of reviews on line for the SP bushings from BMWs to Focus and all but one have high remarks.

 

[Tybalt]

We used to joke that the the lower a-arm bushings on MGs were the second sorriest bushings in the world, the sorriest were the upper a-arm bushings on Triumphs. My suggestion would be to go urethane for those upper bushings, not so much for the lowers. You can get the upper bushings in urethane without having to buy a full blown suspension kit from Moss, Roadster or TSI. Probably from BPNW and VicBrit as well, but would have to look for confirmation.