poly urethane bushings anybody have em

[justin10morrissey]

im lookin at buying a set of polyurethane bushings wondering if anybody else has done the kit and how much of an improvement it is

 

[Hib Halverson]

Polyurethane bushings can improve handling, but unless you really drive the car hard on a regular basis, or your existing bushings are very badly worn, the difference will be incremental.

There will also be a modest increase in noise, harshness and vibration compared to stock rubber bushings in good condition.

If you race the car or you regularly drive very hard on the street, you will feel a slight decrease in compliance, an improvement in the car's response to steering input and better predictability at the handling limit.

 

[boomdriver]

im lookin at buying a set of polyurethane bushings wondering if anybody else has done the kit and how much of an improvement it is

As with most things, theres a downside to poly-bushings...
Most notably would be noise. The kind of squeek thats embarrassing unless you;re at the track where all the entries squeek....

Life of the bushing. From what I have seen, they wear much faster than the rubber.

Once good rubber is in place, the secret is simply keeping the undercarraige clean. Spray it off without using harsh chemicals. the road grit and dust that collects on moving parts that have an oil film from rain soaked streets is what wears out bushings of every kind.
Your underside is a magnet for dirt, with every oil leak leaving evidence and every dusty road sticking to it.

I've got a friend that is unable to comprehend "the downside" and just wasted close to $2000 on a suspension kit for his rustang.. .. .(major case of Corvette envy)
2 months later it squeeks, rattles and his wife hates it, and he cannot understand why the shop that sold it and installed it all can't do anything about it.
Because it's the nature of the beast. Thats what poly bushings do...

To tighten it up...tie-rod ends and ball joints. 4 Good hub bearing assemblies (50% of all looseness)and it'll be good to go if the rubber is still in one piece and not cracking out of the suspension. Inspect all those parts, replace whats bad and there will be a noticable improvement.

 

[justin10morrissey]

-Life of the bushing. From what I have seen, they wear much faster than the rubber.
my rubber is shit but it has been 25 years, i heard the bushings will last longer than original and im picking up a kit for 125 off of craigslist

 

[boomdriver]

-Life of the bushing. From what I have seen, they wear much faster than the rubber.
my rubber is shit but it has been 25 years, i heard the bushings will last longer than original and im picking up a kit for 125 off of craigslist

25 yrs is a darn good service life. Mine are the same and still tight.

$125? get what ya pay for.

There's 2 types of Corvette aftermarket part.

1. the stuff thats real OEM spec made and sold by reputable places.

or

the kind thats cheap, too good to be true and ALWAYS IS !

 

[justin10morrissey]

25 yrs is a darn good service life. Mine are the same and still tight.

$125? get what ya pay for.

There's 2 types of Corvette aftermarket part.

1. the stuff thats real OEM spec made and sold by reputable places.

or

the kind thats cheap, too good to be true and ALWAYS IS !

its a 200 dollar kit from energy suspension

 

[muddywaters]

Ah urethane bushings, they wear like iron, no, they wear out iron. Went the urethane route years ago and will never use them on weight bearing components again. I do miss driving over a quarter and being able to tell if it was heads or tails.

 

[boomdriver]

its a 200 dollar kit from energy suspension

I did some searches last night after seeing your price and did find there are some good kits for that price...pretty surprizing. Still, be cost pro-active and shop around for places to do the install....labor can eat you alive. Do the simple ones yourself, and let the shop do the things that have to be pressed. Some pieces require special attention to avoid bending or distorting the metal part. With aluminum suspension, hammering a bushing in with a socket just can't be done.

Last time I checked, it was about $500 labor to do the rears at a reputable vette shop.. That was several yrs ago. The front was quite a bit more.
That being said, I still believe that most of the "tightness" in a Corvette suspension comes from the hub bearings and other hard parts. The bushings are there to absorb stresses that ordinarily would be transfered to a hard-part that you do not want to wear out. The (OEM) Bushings absorb random stresses rather than transmitting that stress to a hard part that would wear or be damaged. There again, shop carefully for bearings and tie rods etc...there are lots of cheap copy stuff that some members here have bought and found to be looser than the worn out GM part they pulled off their car...

Welcome Chinese bearings/steel to the American auto parts market.:ugh

 

[Schrade]

I thought about poly when I built an old CJ-7, but decided to go with rubber instead.

So I can't compare rubber and poly, but I can tell the difference in old rubber and new. With new suspension, you probably want some flex in the system. Getting them under a Jeep body was easy. The vette won't be, I don't imagine...

Are you putting in new springs too?

 

[justin10morrissey]

I thought about poly when I built an old CJ-7, but decided to go with rubber instead.

So I can't compare rubber and poly, but I can tell the difference in old rubber and new. With new suspension, you probably want some flex in the system. Getting them under a Jeep body was easy. The vette won't be, I don't imagine...

Are you putting in new springs too?

ive decided not to buy the poly maybe if i can find rubber at a decent price ill do that plus new shocks there are no springs just the fiberglass piece

 

[WhalePirot]

My car has had Heim joints on the rear for over a decade. I just replaced them with new. The front has Energy Poly, but I put zerks in the A-arms to lube them. I clean/grease the sway bar bushings at every oil change (per the instructions) and notice an improvement in the suspension workings. They take a special, red grease.

Never heard a squeak and the car's stance in a corner does NOT change with bumps.

Years ago, I drove a stock '90 ZR-1 that was incredibly clean with 50k in the clock. It was real loose compared to my car; a major turn-off. Never thought, as gorgeous as that car was that the rubber might be shot.

Some prefer Prothane poly; no lube needed & slightly softer I think.

Even my 1955 F-100 project, with full C4 suspension, has poly throughout (Energy). I like the solid, predictable feel and don't mind some ride harshness.

Hell, the '84 Z51 defined harshness out-of-the-box!

 

[stevegoetsch]

Poly Bushings VS. Rubber For Suspension

Unless you are driving a track car you will not notice the difference between new Poly and new Rubber bushings compared side by side for any kind of street driving,(been there,done that) Also you will have to deal with the annoying noise Poly makes on bumps in the road unless you regularly take them apart and grease them or have grease fittings put on the joints where the bushings are. Dont fall into the advertising hype on performance suspension parts, a street drivin car cannot take advantage of race engineered parts. Poly also wears out faster then rubber bushings. Make sure you have good wheel bearings, heavy duty shocks, and your steering componets are tight and you will be way ahead.

 

[catbert]

Unless you are driving a track car you will not notice the difference between new Poly and new Rubber bushings compared side by side for any kind of street driving,(been there,done that) Also you will have to deal with the annoying noise Poly makes on bumps in the road unless you regularly take them apart and grease them or have grease fittings put on the joints where the bushings are. Dont fall into the advertising hype on performance suspension parts, a street drivin car cannot take advantage of race engineered parts. Poly also wears out faster then rubber bushings. Make sure you have good wheel bearings, heavy duty shocks, and your steering componets are tight and you will be way ahead.

All true. I used poly bushing exclusively when I raced, but they ARE NOT worth the effort and expense for street driving. They do require lubrication to perform quietly. Newer rubber formulas for quality replacement bushings are a huge improvement over old technology. Poly looks good, but who looks that close?:L