How much longer do you think ployurethane bushings last than rubber bushings for our vehicles' suspe

Blackbirdsrt78

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I know poly lasts longer but there are problems inherent with using them...when they age they can become squeeky, and make for a stiffer ride. rubber has its advantages such as absorbing road vibes, lower cost and easier install and can last a good long time. poly last longer...how much longer is relative to how the car is driven like anything if it is driven hard it will wear out just as fast as anything else.

Energy suspention has poly kits for our cars that are $ 35 for a kit the control arm bushings and I think 30 for the sway bar bushing set.
PST has front end kits for 269
there may be others that are out there energy suspension seems to be the lowest cost

polybushings.com has torsion bar sets for like 120
 

jasperjacko

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I think it depends where it's used. I believe control arm bushings in urethane will where faster because they rotate and become a bearing material, but the rubber bushings are fixed and twist instead. My car had 68k miles and the original rubber cab's were still in good shape. I replaced them with stock moog rubber since I had everything apart. No doubt the stiffer urethane would tighten up the feel of everything and be more precise.
 

volaredon

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for the difference in ride I'll deal with an occasional squeak. I have done 2, XJ Cherokees (no, no lift) and an 83 dodge 3/4 ton D 250 in poly and never regretted it. I have poly isolator bushings and leaf spring bushings, as well as poly K frame bushings for my Volare.
At the time I was buying suspension parts for it, being a front end alignment guy, I have always preferred MOOG over anyone else for suspension parts.
And about the time that I bought my front end stuff MOOG came out with a 2nd, "premium" line. Up til this point they had 1 choice for bushings and such. and they still offered that part number. But then they started to offer an "enhanced design" line. They still had the same P/N ball joints and bushings, but now they also offered an alternate "heavy duty" ball joint and an "increased durometer rubber" (harder rubber) for our cars. I ordered the old standby for ball joints and the "enhanced" control arm bushings. They don't look any different from the "regular" bushings--certainly don't look poly-- but I have not gotten my car back together to be able to see what they feel like, and its been too long since I last drove it to remember what it drove like...but they were close in cost to the "regular" ones. supposed to be better, not much more money (the heavier duty BJ's were quite a bit more as I remember)

but for the post-er above that asked about the "cheapest" poly parts, the amount of work to replace a given part, is the same--- IF you only have to do it once... I have always hated re-do's.
I go for "bang for the buck" I don't want to brag about being a cheap a$$ but the most expensive available isn't always the best either. Hang around and see what brands are working for your fellow F M J buddies here and base your choice on that. and then compare prices if you must among those selling the same brand of parts.
 
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