I am a believer in keeping things original, to a point. Sometimes I have an opportunity to take advantage of an improved technology, and I use it. One such example is the substitution of polyurethane bushings in place of rubber bushings in suspension systems.
I replaced the sway bar bushings several times in my Chrysler minivan. Sway bar bushing failure was a known problem. I was reading about this problem on line, and I read a suggestion of replacing the bushings with urethane bushings in place of the OEM rubber bushings. I reluctantly did the substitution, and was very surprised to see that not only did the urethane perform much better, but they also held up better. I have not had to replace them since. By the way, even Chrysler acknowledged this problem, and have since substituted urethane bushings as replacement parts in this application.
I am not talking about the cobalt blue or bright orange bushings people use to dress up a chassis, I am talking about black urethane bushings, that look just like OEM rubber bushings.
I have recently replaced all the suspension bushings in three English cars. Two of these cars are cars that I rebuilt the suspension on years ago. In all three cases, the rubber had deteriorated and failed. I ended up replacing the bushings in the lower A arms of the front suspension, sway bar and the bushings on all the leaf springs and spring shackles with the new, and much improved urethane bushings.
After dis-assembly and cleaning, I put a thin film of grease on the new bushings before I assembled them, to prevent squeaks. In all three cases, the cars drove better, the suspension was tighter, quieter, and suspension travel was smoother. I was astonished at the improvement in performance over the rubber bushings.
These bushings not only perform better, they will also look “new” indefinitely. Check your favorite parts supplier or look on line.
Please email all inquiries to: Dave
or snail mail
32 Turkey Hill Road
Richmond VT 05477
Leave a Reply