Radius arm bushes

[dero]

I have tried most makes of replacement bushes for the radius arm on my 130 defender , lucky to get 30,000km out of them at best .
Has anyone tried genuine bushes ? Are they worth the extra money ?

[Tote]

There's a bit of a discussion here Poly bushes don't flex, do they... I'm pretty happy with the superpro bushes I put on the back arms.

Regards,
Tote

[dero]

Thanks , I tried the super pro ones but they didn't last very long either .
The original ones lasted for around 500,000km , so very dissapointed that none of the ones I have tried even come close .
Allmakes ones have been the best I have tried so far , but still way short of the originals .

[Max Headroom 2.3m]

Thanks , I tried the super pro ones but they didn't last very long either .
The original ones lasted for around 500,000km , so very dissapointed that none of the ones I have tried even come close .
Allmakes ones have been the best I have tried so far , but still way short of the originals .

If you are getting 500K km out of genuine bushes and 30K km out of aftermarkets, I think you have your answer. Break even would be if the genuine bushes are 16 times more expensive than the aftermarket, not including labour and phaffing about, but I doubt the price difference is that big. I am very happy with the genuine bushes but I haven't done those sort of kms yet.

[POD]

Assuming you're talking about rear radius arm to chassis; I've tried a few aftermarket types, they'll be flogged out after one steep hill. Drive up to the high country for the weekend with new bushes, drive home with the back end wandering all over the road. The genuine bushes are the way to go if you have standard suspension height. If your suspension is raised a bit, as mine is, even the genuine bushes don't last as long as you would like. Les Richmond have a bush with an angle moulded into them and good quality material, they will outlast even the genuine bushes on a raised vehicle. Highly recommended.

[dero]

Sorry , I have misled you a little , it is the panhard rod bushes I need .
But all the other bushes wear the same , just not as fast as these ones .
I was hoping some one has tried the genuine bushes and if they had noticed a longer service life than aftermarket ones .
Thanks
Derek

[dero]

At $30 each as opposed to 2 - 10 $ each I am happy to spend the extra as long as they are better & not just overpriced .
The defender is fairly std , but the roads are really bad , so I expect maintenance , but some of these bushes are only lasting weeks as opposed to decades .
I am hoping genuine is the answer .

[JDNSW]

i am about to replace the Panhard rod bushes on mine - for only the second time in 680,000km, genuine. Note that the bolts must be replaced if worn at all, and ensure that the inner tube is actually clamped endways.

Also, tighten only after the normal weight is on the wheels.

Of course, the life of any bushes is very dependent on the operating conditions, particularly how rough the road is, and how aggressively it is driven.

[POD]

In 30 years of Range Rover, Disco and Defender ownership I have found that the only bushes worth a cracker (with the exception of the angled bushes I mentioned above) are the genuine ones. Also, as JD says, make sure the bolts are a snug fit in the tubes- I have found it necessary with some panhard bushes to wrap a piece of shim stock inside the tube to get the slop out. Tightening the bolt to clamp the tube in place is important, but if there's excessive room between the bolt and the tube, clamping down hard won't hold them for long.

[AK83]

I found genuine to be fairly useless in my RRC, and polys lasted much longer(I had Nolathane back then).
But each to their own.
Before I changed to poly bushes tho, I also had good use out of Les Richmonds front trailing arm bushes too.
Genuines would become useless in about 50K klms or so(usually less), LR's lasted more like in the hundred thou klms range(maybe 200K klms?) ... but the nolathanes outlasted the vehicle eventually.

If your panhard bushes are not lasting so long, do you have oil leaks that spill out onto them.

rubber don't like oil much, and you'd be lucky to get a few thousand klms from them.
Worst for this are the panhard and steering damper, but also lower shock bushes too.

On my D1, I've already changed out all those(panhard, steering damper and shock bushes) for nolathanes again.
Panhard was urgent, but I also change the bolt with them too. For a couple extra bucks, whether the old bolt is worn or not is a moot point .. just easier especially that the nut is nyloc.

I had a front main seal leak for a few thou klms a while back too .. didn't have the time to sort it and timing belt was due on the tdi too, so had to put up with it till all parts came.
In short order the oil leak killed the steering damper bushes as expected. No choice but to just replace them with nolathanes too, even tho the front main wasn't yet fixed, but they still ended up perfectly fine.

If you're wearing out poly bushes, something has gone wrong I reckon ... fitted correctly? They should oulast the vehicle by a long margin(going off my experience) .. but each to their own.