Rubber Bushes VS Poly Bushes

[oddsoul]

Good morning everyone!

Am looking at changing the suspension bushes on my 300tdi. Have recently been introduced to the poly bushes and they seem like a good move. However I have read from some forums relating to the LR's that poly bushes are worse off for the lifetime of the vehicle as they don't allow for the same amount of "play" as the rubber bushes do.

Any thoughts regarding the topic?

Thanks,
Oddsoul

[rick130]

So a forum search for Super Pro and then make up your own mind. ;)

I can't do the link thing from the phone.

[oddsoul]

So a forum search for Super Pro and then make up your own mind. ;)

I can't do the link thing from the phone.

Have had a look and wasn't looking at Super Pro bushes.. But can see that some people don't like them..

Was more interested in who has what and whether they think its worth the extra cost

[twr7cx]

Was more interested in who has what and whether they think its worth the extra cost

It's not as simple as poly vs rubber bushes. It's very much dependent on brand. For example, the el cheep Britpart rubber bushes are usually not so good, but genuine Land Rover rubber bushes should be good. The same applies with poly bushes - not all are made equally.

There is a UK brand that makes orange coloured ones, Flow bush or some name like that, stay away from them. I've tried their product in my D2a Watts Linkage and couldn't be more disappointed. They were unable to handle the factory torque settings which caused them to over compress and crush, their tech department advised not to tighten them so much without being able to elaborate on the repercussions of leaving the watts linkage not tightened and were unable to advise on their alternative recommended torque settings.
I've seen that Britpart also have a yellow coloured urethane bush range now. I wouldn't recommend being the test bunny for it.

Then there are some Australian companies/suppliers - SuperPro (blue), Whiteline (used to be yellow coloured now black), Nolathane (red) and Repco's in-house brand Maxtrac (orange), I'm not sure if the last three make anything to suit the Land Rovers, but I've used all four of them on various vehicles in the last 16 years without issue. So long as you completely clean the area that they are fitting to and adequately grease them you should have a good service life out of them. Sometimes there can be different hardness ratings in the bushes and SuperPro may often have an extreme option to choose if your that way inclined.

There are some areas were genuine bushes are superior - e.g. the D3/4 front control arms which have some fancy bush type.

An advantage with the urethane bushes is that often they are much easier to fit than rubber - they're often a split type design so can be fitted by hand without a press required, or will have a crush tube that goes in the middle after fitment, so the bush will press in easily and quickly without the crush tube.

[rick130]

Have had a look and wasn't looking at Super Pro bushes.. But can see that some people don't like them..

Was more interested in who has what and whether they think its worth the extra costUm, most people are more than positive with their review of Super Pro.

They are the only urethane bushes I'd use, their design is superior to OE in a lot of positions and the durometer of the bush is tailored to the application/spot on the vehicle.

[Albert]

I had a spare pair of front radius arms for my 110 that i fitted with super pro.
What a difference! was like driving a new car! maybe because the old ones were hard and old?
Recommend them.

[oddsoul]

Well Cripesamighty and I have been wrecking a 300tdi/man and let me tell you.. The A-frame OE rubber bushes were an absolute nightmare!

I think we spend at least over an hour trying to rip out one of the arms.. as the inner metal sleeve had fused itself with rust to the bolt!! AND to top it off the rubber bush had become hard to the point where the whole thing had to essentially be ripped apart before it would even move..

Maybe Poly would be a better move just to get rid of that headache..

Need to think it over

[loanrangie]

When I replaced the Poly's in my rrc front arms they were rusted solid and needed a gas torch to remove, never again.

[oddsoul]

When I replaced the Poly's in my rrc front arms they were rusted solid and needed a gas torch to remove, never again.

Yeah we didn't have that option.. The car was in a warehouse that we had permission to use but burning out bushes would have just made for too much smoke! I agree.. NEVER AGAIN!!