Rubber bushes - the last straw...

[isuzurover]

I recently bought some bushes from a very reputable supplier which I was assured were "OEM quality" from the "same manufacturer as OEM".

Radius arm bushes after <2000 km.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

The trailing arm bushes after <6000 km aren't much better (pics to follow soon).

I think I will be contacting the supplier for a refund and fitting super pro...

[JDNSW]

I think I would do that. My experience has been that these bushes last a very long time - at 500,000km they have only been replaced twice.

John

[Bearman]

I think I would do that. My experience has been that these bushes last a very long time - at 500,000km they have only been replaced twice.

John

I think that is why the replacements sometimes dont last very long - because the originals last a long time, the dealers stock has been sitting on the shelves for so long that the rubber is deteriorating when you buy them. I have found this especially with shockie rubbers. Some I purchased were so soft you could squash them between your fingers. It would help if all these rubber stock items had a manufacture date on them.:(:(

[justinc]

Ben, some so called OEM stuff just isn't up to it. I haven't had that issue yet, I'll PM you.

JC

[PAT303]

I'm with John on this one,I replaced mine at 400K and the ones that came out weren't much different than the new ones that went in.I fitted super pro on the trailing arms and they are going strong. Pat

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

"OEM quality" is not OEM. OEM is Original Equipment Manufacturer. It'd either OEM or it's not. I've been in the OEM for over 20 years. PM me who it was.

Cheers

Andrew

[Benny_IIA]

When I got my OEM bush kit all the bushes came in little Land rover bags.

What packaging did yours come in?


Ben....

[windsock]

Aren't OEM radius arm bushes sleeved with steel inserts and covered in a steel sleeve?

Pictured examples (from the web) of what I recently installed look like these...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/120.jpg

[Psimpson7]

Aren't OEM radius arm bushes sleeved with steel inserts and covered in a steel sleeve?

Pictured examples (from the web) of what I recently installed look like these...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/120.jpg

Other end of the radius arm ;)

I just buy genuine ones. wouldn't touch anything else

[isuzurover]

"OEM quality" is not OEM. OEM is Original Equipment Manufacturer. It'd either OEM or it's not. I've been in the OEM for over 20 years. PM me who it was.


The supplier initially told me they were "OEM quality". When I queried that they said:

We purchase these items from the a UK wholesaler who sources these items
from the OE manufacturer.
We can confirm they are OE and we certainly have had no issues with them

I am still waiting to hear back from them - if they don't resolve things in a couple of days I will PM you who they were. They are on the east coast though, not WA.

The bushes were all loose - i.e. no packages/boxes to check the markings on.

[rick130]

Aren't OEM radius arm bushes sleeved with steel inserts and covered in a steel sleeve?

Pictured examples (from the web) of what I recently installed look like these...

http://www.hollandrover.co.uk/ekmps/shops/hollandrover/images/ntc6860%5Bekm%5D400x300%5Bekm%5D.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/120.jpg

Except 110 and the later Defender ones (narrow and wide ?) don't have the centre steel sleeve.

[Radz]

About a year ago did the trailing arms and radius arm bushes. Same packages (from memory) as windsock has shown.
No problems at all.
All the bushes were purchased from a well known Sydney Landrover specialist.

[stig0000]

i fitted a new complete front end bushs to my car, all OEM parts, the chassis mounts are still fine but iv have one rear bush on the diff end fail and looks like the center has spun inside the rubber, and mine DOSENT have that middle metal ring either, its a 05 td5 fender,

all bushes come in a separate LR bag

[Benny_IIA]

i fitted a new complete front end bushs to my car, all OEM parts, the chassis mounts are still fine but iv have one rear bush on the diff end fail and looks like the center has spun inside the rubber, and mine DOSENT have that middle metal ring either, its a 05 td5 fender,

all bushes come in a separate LR bag


just went and looked at mine nic, no middle ring either.

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

just went and looked at mine nic, no middle ring either.
have look at the applicable vehicles in these 2 pics
NTC6781 BUSH FRONT SUSPENSION | shop | www.lrseries.com | L. R. Series (http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/9322/NTC6781-BUSH-FRONT-SUSPENSION.html'search=ntc6781&page=1)

and then

NTC6860 FRONT OF FRONT RADIUS ARM BUSH | shop | www.lrseries.com | L. R. Series (http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/9332/NTC6860-FRONT-OF-FRONT-RADIUS-ARM-BUSH.html'search=ntc6860&page=1)

[justinc]

i fitted a new complete front end bushs to my car, all OEM parts, the chassis mounts are still fine but iv have one rear bush on the diff end fail and looks like the center has spun inside the rubber, and mine DOSENT have that middle metal ring either, its a 05 td5 fender,

all bushes come in a separate LR bag

Did you tighten them on the ground, or a ramp/ 4 post hoist? The steel tube WILL delaminate if the bolt is nipped tight in the extended/ 2 post hoist position, and then left like that under tension when driving around at normal ride height.
The metal ring type is foreither late OR earlier models, you can fit either. The other non inner floating ring type IMO will flex better, but they can both last as long as each other.

JC

[mark2]

Just recently, I had a set of rubber radius arm bushes fail after only one weekend. They lasted less than on tank of fuel. Yes, there was a fair amount of corrugations and flexing involved with the trip, but even so....
They came from a reputable supplier on the east coast. I did tighten them when all the weight was on the wheels. Maybe I damaged them in some other way during the installation. The set prior to that lasted about 4000km of mostly off road use.
Now running a set of Superpro bushes in the radius arms on the basis of forum recommendations - so far so good......

[350RRC]

Rebuilt my POS about 4 yrs ago and used blue poly bushes (NOT Superpro) for all the suspension except shocker rubbers and rear chassis / trailing arm mounts (ones supplied were so stiff I was worried about breaking the threaded ends and the crush tubes were 10mm too short).

Used the rear trailing bushes that were on it when I bought it with new crush tubes (300k km old and still fine) ....... red poly and angled, maybe Peddars.

Some of the blue (NOT Superpro) bushes failed very quickly, namely panhard rod and compression side of front radius arms. Former replaced with Superpro, latter with rubber. All good for many k's now.

OEM rubber bushes might be good but there is the time factor involved if a press is needed to fit them, i.e. panhard bushes.

I use rubber bushes on the compression side of the shocks and poly on the rebound (to retain pin location) with those thick Toyota metal cups and this has worked well for 70k km now.(those with a lifted RRC will be aware of the angle induced in the rear lower mounts and the resulting wear probs)

A mixture has worked well for me, but any poly bushes that need replacing will be changed to Superpro.

cheers, DL

[Dougal]

Those killing radius arm bushings, was the vehicle jacked up under the radius arm?

[incisor]

and best place to get superpro bushes from?

:D

[abaddonxi]

Suspension Products, Lowering Springs, Shock Absorbers, Airbags, Lift Kits, Bushes, Sway Bars, Coilovers - Wholesale Suspension (http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.au/products.html)

Dobbo bought a set for the Turdis at what sounded like a good price a while back, dunno where from.

[isuzurover]

Suspension Products, Lowering Springs, Shock Absorbers, Airbags, Lift Kits, Bushes, Sway Bars, Coilovers - Wholesale Suspension (http://www.wholesalesuspension.com.au/products.html)

Dobbo bought a set for the Turdis at what sounded like a good price a while back, dunno where from.

Super Pro are apparently manufactured by/for Fulcrum:
SuperPro Polyurethane Bushes - Fulcrum Suspensions ? 1300 SUSPENSION ? The Steering and Suspension Gurus (http://www.fulcrumsuspensions.com.au/superpro.html)

[lokka]

and best place to get superpro bushes from?

:D

This may sound strange but i found super cheap had the best price here in newy and the super pro distributer was nearly 100 bucks dearer for a rangie or county compleet kit and once i informed him of this he rang his supplyer to find out why and called me back saying that he will now beat the super cheap price it pays to shop around :D

Also double thumbs up for the super pro over the rubber crud

[mark2]

Those killing radius arm bushings, was the vehicle jacked up under the radius arm?

I have jacked it up under radius arm on the odd occasion, yes. The underside of the radius arm fits nicely into the cup on my trolley jack...

[Dougal]

I have jacked it up under radius arm on the odd occasion, yes. The underside of the radius arm fits nicely into the cup on my trolley jack...

I have a suspicion this tears the rubber from the centre sleeve. Unconfirmed because I've been using poly bushes for at least the last 10 years. Now I can jack it up where-ever and not worry.

[isuzurover]

Finally got some pics of the trailing arm bushes:

On vehicle at ride height:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/971.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/972.jpg

Buggered bushes removed:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/973.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/12/256.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/974.jpg

LEFT to RIGHT: 2 bushes that lasted <6000km; old bush which was fitted for >240000km (should have left it alone!); SuperPro bush.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/12/257.jpg

The dead bushes have these markings on the end plates:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/975.jpg
Do these mean anything to anyone?

[rick130]

Ben, that's how my OE ones ended up looking (isn't the rear steer great ? :eek: ) but they were well over 100,000km old when I replaced them.

[Psimpson7]

Interestingly it looks like my axle end radius arm bushes are again scrap. They were fitted at 60000miles and it has now done 75000

They are genuine LR.

Only defence really is that they were hard miles.