possibly at different times through the ages, the quality of poly has varied, or that the people that did use them used inferior quality/branded stuff, or unwittingly duped via fakes/copies .. or something.
Other than where it can't be used, I won't replace rubber with rubber going from my previous experience.
79 RRC, did 600+ K klms all up, basically 500K of which I did. I did this in it's first 10 or so years. A lot of it around central Aus, but obviously lots of highway use to get there too.
First 2/3rds of those klms, it seemed that every year I had to change some rubber bush. steering damper lots(and partly due to oil), chassis end rear trailing arm bushes for sure every year.
Radius arm bushes, at least twice in those first 2/3rds(ie, about 300k or so klms). Never the rear trailing arm axle end bushes tho. When I did finally pull them out they were fine.
About 8 ish years or so after I got it, I was told of poly bushes, Nolathane to be exact .. got a set, fitted never thought anything of them other than suspension nice and tight again(for a '79 RRC!) and so less banging crashing suspension on bumpy roads.
The drive out to Lake Eyre that spring 1994 was a joy by comparison to the previous trip on worn rubber bushes. Maybe no so much the ride, 79 RRC had soft coils, no sway bars .. so always rode nice .. just the drumming noise over corrugations mainly.
Same set of polys saw the car to it's final mid 600K resting spot .. probably 200ish K klms, always checking for wear. Only wear item I did have to do twice in that time was the panhard bolts(and nuts). Enough slack/wear to cause a shimmy in the steering.
Replace those two bolts and all good again, but never cracked chassis, or axles, or anything.
Some say that polys are too harsh, and give less compliance or whatever .. but I'd found every time I changed the rubber for rubber, it just gave a more taught feel back to the suspension ands steering .. back to new so to speak.
Never found the Nolathanes any different to when I replaced with rubber making it worth commenting about.
On my D1 the bushes are pretty much fine, just the chassis trailing arm bushes seem to be worn a little .. I get a bit of bump steer/chatter into some bends, and I think the A frame ball joint is also just slightly worn.
I've already changed the panhard rod bushes (and bolts) to nolathanes .. 60+k klms ago(sorry just checked 58K klms) no problems, no issues, no cracking .. even tho I've had a slight oil leak from various bits up front ... no softening or wearing out.
Also changed the useless rubber shock bushes to polys too.
Stupidly I first got some cheapies(some yellow rubbish from the UK off ebay) .. wouldn't fit properly, and they were more of a solid plastic, than a compliant poly .. zero compression to allow tightening the nuts.
removed and got some softer grade versions(not yet Nolathanes). Same 58K klms .. no problems.
Only thing I don't like about my D1 is that I think the ride is too hard, but a previous owner has fitted some aftermarket springs and shocks. They will also go.
So my plan one day(when $s are readily available) I plan to do the lot.
For you it's a hard question to ask, and get a satisfactory answer. Ask a group of folks the same question, chances are you'll get a split decision answer .. some swear by them, others swear about them!
So it's a matter of guesswork for you to choose which way with the bushes.
1/. you know rubber works, but due to it's inherent design, it has to wear out. Worn rubber bushes don't even look worn in every instance.
2/. poly has an element of uncertainty about it. It divides the group when it comes to their experience. The split design types make it a doddle to fit and then subsequently replace them, compared to rubber bushes.
They will cost you more than rubber too, and I think if they don't, then their quality could be sus .. hence the divided experience.
But for me .. just the ease of fitting is the major attraction(not just my previous experience of longer life).
When doing one set of the radius bushes on my RRC, I snapped dads vice. First couple came out with vice, but third one was a lot harder, I just assumed that it was just harder .. not impossible.
Snapped vice, quickly went down to local mechanic, more of a motorbike mechanic, but did odd car work too he had a press and it struggled to move that third one. The last one came out easier again tho.
Ever since that episode, this has always been a consideration when I look at when 'doing stuff' .. how easy is it to do/replace/repair.
Think of it the same way you do spares. say a fuel pump, or whatever other spare that could break. You may well take a spare part, but is it realistically serviceable without special tools?
The other mod I'm going to do to my D1 is cranked rear trailing arms. Back to the RRC days, the main rubber bush that caused me no end of grief was that chanssis end bush.. the large triangle shaped flange bush.
Quite easy to change, but every year!!?? Then one day I noticed that when new, the angle of the arm was too acute for the shape of the rubber bush. That is, the large washer never sat flat on the rubber face.
Looked into it, and later found that Rangie Spares made their own version that had a dish shaped rubber face, so when car sat and bush bolted up, the rubber mated evenly on the large washer face. Lasted a good two(maybe more) years.
Eventually it also wore out tho(that's when I went to poly).
So now(3 years back) with that past experience in mind) I searched for cranked trailing arms .. and because I'm now having that same worn bush issue as with the RRC all those years back.
Cranked arms were got(about 3 years ago!) to be replaced with the new bushes tho.
And yep .. I'm a bit of a procrastinator .. I think of doing things, get the things required to do them, then either forget to do them, or some other issue happens along the way(eg. like losing job, and zero income!
)
But no need to rush, unless something is desperately urgent.
Because you're not swayed either way with the poly/rubber bush arguments, then I'd say go polys!
Not because I reckon polys are better. You're better off experiencing this for yourself one way or the other.
Nope! .. only say go ploy because fitment is much less painful. Do you have a press? I reckon you'd want one of those '20 ton' jobs(in reality about 8-10 ton) cheapie jobs.
You could mock something up if you can fabricate stuff with a welder, but if you had to buy material .. just buy one! Needed to remove the rubber. But then thats is .. no need for it again.
So the benefit of poly bushes in your instance is
1/. the experience .. see if they work for ya.
2/. fitment and subsequent removal is easier. If you don't like them and they begin to crack your chassis .. remove them replace with rubber.
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