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Poly bushings

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Taz

Taz

Jedi Trainee
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Are Poly bushings alright to use on the street or are they to harsh. Were is the best place to get them. This would be for the front.

Carl
 
There will be the usual range of opinion but I'd use 'em with no hesitation.

Upside: better control, more feedback/feel, longer lasting than OEM.

Downside: stiffer ride, more feedback.

*shrug*

I don't really look for "comfort" in an LBC anyhow. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif


Check with Tony. "The Autoist" banner at the top of the page.
 
Good question, I was wondering the same thing. My sway arm bushing in the front looks awful! I can't even really recognize it's original shape, it's all cracked and mushroomed out from the bracket.
 
I get enough feedback already. I might go poly of the top link, but I'm not sure I'm ready to do the lower/inner yet.

But... I'm told that the newer rubber bushings do not last nearly as long as the originals.
 
Oh... wait, yes I have poly on my sway bar. This is the source of many jolts that rattle many things. ...The car does corner nicely though (very flat through the turns).
 
Rubber bushings should last years and years and of course provide a bit more cushing than the poly ones. For the street folks have preaty well agreed in the past to go rubber.
 
I have poly bushes on my car, and it rides as well as my wife's '01 Toyota.

Do NOT buy the bushes they sell on the Moss site. They are as hard as rocks! I bought my bushes at https://bhive.tierranet.com/ . They may not be listed on the site, but if you call, they have them.

As I recall, they were cheaper than rubber bushes. They are only slightly harder than rubber bushes, and they will not rot. My only complaint is the fit was a bit tight on the inner fulcrum pins and installation was quite difficult.
 
I agree with Jack, except I've seen so many newer rubber bushings failing in 3-4 years.

I recently helped a fellow with his suspension problem, and the inner bushings were shot, and he had replaced them about 3 years prior. Mine are about 5 years old and I'm going to give them a close look this spring.
 
What can one expect to pay for a decent set of rubber and of poly? Just a ballpark figure.
 
Check the Moss site or catalog, they all in there.
 
A lot of the VB items are a little suspect, but a friend and I rebuilt our bugeye front ends 3 years ago when we went to disc brakes. My front end was ok before, and I didn't notice any difference. John's front end was in need and it made it like new. It is one of those projects that when you do it, you think, why didn't I do this sooner. It is a good weekend project that is very doable.
 
I went with poly everywhere in the front end. I looked at it this way. They won't go bad and it could not ride any rougher than the old rubber ones that were wallowed out and was basically metal to metal with a little slop added in. I could not find poly for the rear spring bushings so I went with rubber. Someone told me that the newer types of grease and oil have additives that break rubber down quicker than the old types, but I don't know about that for sure. I have only driven mine up and down the drive a few times so I can't confirm any ride difference. This is my experience with all the LBCs I have fooled with. If you are taking a short trip, like ten miles or so, who cares about the ride. If, you are taking a longer one, back the air pressure off to about 22-24 psi and it will ride better. This is for the highway of course, not for taking lots of curves or it might start to wear the edges of your tires. It might get like 1 less mpg or something too, but it does ease the ride a bit.
 
I recommend you do a google, or other search engine, for Polyurethane suspension bushings.
There are vast number of suppliers selling bushings.

Poly bushings come in a variety of hardnesses, kinda like rubber used to. Once upon a time if you didn't lube poly bushings when you put them on a metal contact surface you would "hear" about it no end. Squeaking would result. But almost all poly suppliers are including the grease and making a "softer" external coated bushing now.
Big benefit to poly is the resistance to "rot" or ozone deterioration that rubber suffers.(and fluid soaked deterioration when oil/fluids leak on it).
You can get poly bushings that are quite comfortable to ride on. A firm down in Australia has been selling them to their lbc owners for a while now and from what I've read, everyone is quite content with them.
 
How difficult is it to change out the bushings on these? It's a ways down the list, but I need to get that done as well.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
a couple of links:
https://www.superflex.co.uk/
https://www.prothane.com/
https://www.superpro.com.au/
Click to expand...

I would add Polybush. They are British, but I just ordered through their Rover distributor in the US. Will be doing the full front end (including swaybar) in the next week or two, in preparation for summer.

Particularly interesting, they offer two levels of comfort, red for 'race' feel, and blue for 'OE' feel.

On a side note; while urethane may be slightly stiffer than rubber when first installed... I would personally;

a) be surprised to be able to feel a substantial difference, and;

b) prefer that any such motion be taken up by the suspension (springs & shocks) rather than bushings. If the rubber is deforming enough that it's making a perceptible difference in ride quality, it's not going to last long anyway. And a blown rubber bushing is certainly less comfortable than the harshest urethane!

-Duncan
'78 Midget 1500
 
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