Experience of poly-bushes
Discussion
Generally a little harsher but it depends what your aim is; for your indicated journey type, OEM might be the best choice.
You might already be aware, but the principal of operation between the two types is somewhat different. OEM style distort to accommodate movement whereas (in general) poly act as a fulcrum point/plain bearing (depending on installed position). The byproduct of this is that poly retain geometry better, but do tend to squeak (especially after some miles).
Regards Andy
You might already be aware, but the principal of operation between the two types is somewhat different. OEM style distort to accommodate movement whereas (in general) poly act as a fulcrum point/plain bearing (depending on installed position). The byproduct of this is that poly retain geometry better, but do tend to squeak (especially after some miles).
Regards Andy
There have been many threads on the Poly vs Rubber arguments.
IMO - The rubber is there for a reason, it needs to be flexible because metal isn't. I stick with rubber on the basis I'd rather the rubber wear out rather than transferring those forces into the metal and subsequent fatigue.
M
IMO - The rubber is there for a reason, it needs to be flexible because metal isn't. I stick with rubber on the basis I'd rather the rubber wear out rather than transferring those forces into the metal and subsequent fatigue.
M
I've fitted my RRS with orange polybushes. Sharpened things up quite nicely with no downsides showing themselves over the past three or four years. Given our cars share so many mechanical bits I'd suggest you should only have a positive experience too.
I did have to attend to one squeak coming from the O/S/R ACE antiroll bar u clamp and hindsight showed that I really should have initially paid more attention to rust removal from the mounting surface of the bar itself.
However, many years back I did the same conversion with a P38A and blue bushes which introduced an awful steering shimmy whenever the car hit a bump at speed. The front radius arm bushes were deemed to be the ones causing the issue, so I soon removed them and went back to OE.
I did have to attend to one squeak coming from the O/S/R ACE antiroll bar u clamp and hindsight showed that I really should have initially paid more attention to rust removal from the mounting surface of the bar itself.
However, many years back I did the same conversion with a P38A and blue bushes which introduced an awful steering shimmy whenever the car hit a bump at speed. The front radius arm bushes were deemed to be the ones causing the issue, so I soon removed them and went back to OE.
No one’s mentioned the biggest advantage - you can replace them in the field with spanners and a socket set, no need for a press. Even when you have the tools, it changes the job from hours of pressing awkward bushes to about 10 minutes of sticking new ones in.
I changed a complete set of 20 year old poly bushes in an afternoon on my Landy in Spain with just a cheap socket set and an adjustable wrench.
I changed a complete set of 20 year old poly bushes in an afternoon on my Landy in Spain with just a cheap socket set and an adjustable wrench.
camel_landy said:
There have been many threads on the Poly vs Rubber arguments.
IMO - The rubber is there for a reason, it needs to be flexible because metal isn't. I stick with rubber on the basis I'd rather the rubber wear out rather than transferring those forces into the metal and subsequent fatigue.
M
This.IMO - The rubber is there for a reason, it needs to be flexible because metal isn't. I stick with rubber on the basis I'd rather the rubber wear out rather than transferring those forces into the metal and subsequent fatigue.
M
Depends on your usage.
My defender 90 had oem rubber bushes put in by the PO about 10k miles before I bought it. A year of rtv trials and 5k road miles, the rubber had been torn to shreds and they were nearly all knackered.
Very high flex situations do not suit bonded rubber bushings.
Swapped to superpro poly bushes and those lasted about 2 years (ish) but took an afternoon to replace on my drive with a socket set.
If you do a lot of offroading, I would seriously recommend polys. Just for ease of maintenance. Don't go with the hard compounds though. Check what grade they are and go for the softest ones you can get
My defender 90 had oem rubber bushes put in by the PO about 10k miles before I bought it. A year of rtv trials and 5k road miles, the rubber had been torn to shreds and they were nearly all knackered.
Very high flex situations do not suit bonded rubber bushings.
Swapped to superpro poly bushes and those lasted about 2 years (ish) but took an afternoon to replace on my drive with a socket set.
If you do a lot of offroading, I would seriously recommend polys. Just for ease of maintenance. Don't go with the hard compounds though. Check what grade they are and go for the softest ones you can get
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