[bianchi2]

bushings in your car/s?? ( this is for the spider,pre 75 gtv's) i keep seeing this debate..but centerline, international auto parts..and many others that sell them.. lot's have been sold...if they are that bad for your car..how many have returned them to the seller? and for those that have them in your car..do you see any damage in your trac arms?(rear), another question....is not ,lets say 80 in a duro-meter mesurment in polly ,is this not the same in rubber?( going on a idea that a pound here weighs the same as in new york..)... thats all for now

 

[velocedoc]

You need to come up and drive my wifes spider which is all poly in the rear axle with red koni's to make an informed decision.

 

[Zunige]

I won't use anything but poly, and will not consider going back... There are a lot of misconceptions about polyurethane, much of it based on outdated information...

Best regards,

 

[bianchi2]

..i have po;;y on my car..for about a 1/2 now..no problems..

 

[msiert]

I have the Centerline rear poly kit on my Spider for 4 yearss now and no problems.

After I first installed them there was a noticable difference of the rear end feeling tighter................but my mechanic said the trailing arm bushings (up at the body) were trash so new rubber bushings would of done the same thing I bet. With the poly I won't ever have to change them again with rubber I would.

An interesting thing is I only had 20,000 miles on the car at the time but more often then not it's the years not the millage with rubber bushings.

It's hard through not to listen to the racers, engineer's and old timers that say to stay with rubber. I've heard that poly is OK but not at the body connection on the trailing arms????

 

[rafael]

My 2 cents:

at the rear key is the T bar. If there is some play in the t-bar (due to non ply bushings), then the rear axle will move sideways in turns, resulting in less precise steering. Therefore poly on t-bar is key. For the others I am not so convinced. Some vertical movement due to non poly bushings is less important, since the tires are also non poly. Some play in torsion bars will result in slightly more sideways movement of the body, which according to me will be difficult to notice.

At the front I expect that only play resulting in less precise steering will be key. Therefore perhaps the attachment points of the lower triangle to the body. I am not so sure about the upper triangle, since the bushing between the reaction arm and the main arm has already some reinforcements. I do not think that poli is needed for the torsion bar attachments.

Let me know if you agree/disagree with this

 

[karmat]

There are of course many many different hardnesses of polyurethane. Bushings from one vendor are not equivalent to those of another. From what I have read there is no reason you can't have a set of polyurethane bushings that are as pliable as rubber, it's just that people choose not to for performance reasons. So I think the real question is: do stiffer bushings really help, and is the harsher ride worth the result?

Karl

 

[PSk]

So I think the real question is: do stiffer bushings really help?
Karl

And the answer is NO. If you want stiffer suspension change your springs and shocks!

Pete

 

[karmat]

And the answer is NO. If you want stiffer suspension change your springs and shocks!

Pete

Yep, I think that's the consensus.

 

[Zunige]

There are of course many many different hardnesses of polyurethane. Bushings from one vendor are not equivalent to those of another. From what I have read there is no reason you can't have a set of polyurethane bushings that are as pliable as rubber, it's just that people choose not to for performance reasons. So I think the real question is: do stiffer bushings really help, and is the harsher ride worth the result?

Karl

I have poly everything (including motor mounts) in my '84 Spider, and all my other cars are being converted as it becomes time to replace the worn bushings... I don't necessarily do it for performance reasons, but rather to not bother with the wear and retain the nice "as good as new" feel pretty much forever. I just got tired of replacing rubber products and I have no complaints about the poly resulting in a harsher ride. In fact, a friend of mine, who is also an original owner of a 1984 Spider met me to compare the ride of his car, with his fully re-done bushings and motor mounts, against mine with all poly. He was amazed at how nice my car felt, especially over bumps and how it seemed like my car had all new bushings, even though they've been there for a few years. After going back and forth between driving the two cars he was pretty POed that his mechanic told him that poly would be too stiff. His mechanic is a good guy, and I mentioned that it shouldn't be a big deal, as his car felt great with his new bushings and he could just go with poly when these bushings wore. He answered that whole point was that he was tired of replacing bushings and motor mounts every few years...

Best regards,

 

[Alfissimo Int.]

And the answer is NO. If you want stiffer suspension change your springs and shocks!

Pete

I have to agree. I don;t want to get into this argument again but I went from stock to poly back to stock, the only difference I have seen is that my teeth are still in tact with the rubber. I have to say that I also tried 2 different types of poly, powerflex and superpro. I did not like either. The other problem is they are high maintenance! I have eaten up more poly bushings than rubber due to wear. Yeah I know your saying BS. Well it is 100% true. I think it is more of a hassle to grease them up all the time than replace them every 5-10 years. I have gone 10 years or more on stock bushings and still retained good handling, actually only oil leaks caused my failures.
Although poly is different today than the past, it is very similar to a spring. Rubber is like a progressive rate spring, soft and when compressed it starts working and gets tighter, poly is like a linear spring, kind of always hard and gets even hard when compressed.
This last summer I pulled all my poly off the car and replaced with new OE rubber, I noticed no difference in performance as I do have sway bars, springs, larger wheel/tire combo and koni's. The handling is just as good but it is 10 times more comfortable. I also believe that there needs to be some flex in the suspension, hence the name.

I will not go further with this as it is a touchy subject. You can never convince a person with poly that they are not great or uncomfortable or whatever. Thats like telling them alfa's are not the greatest cars.

Some people like them and believe they are the best and save money, some people are on the other side of the fence. I happen to be on that side.

Just my opinion and experience with them. I found no real gain with them and specifically on the spider, it just made things even worse. Stock is hard enough for me.

just my 2 cents! Flame suit on.

 

[sh0rtlife]

i got one for you guys running poly.....do you find them makeing much noise?

i only ask cause every "classic" car ive put poly in aside of my ramcharger have made enuf noise to drive ya nuts

 

[Zunige]

i got one for you guys running poly.....do you find them makeing much noise?

i only ask cause every "classic" car ive put poly in aside of my ramcharger have made enuf noise to drive ya nuts

Not on my Spider, which is the one that has all poly... Now, it also has Ward & Deane springs and a chassis stiffener, but I don't really know if that has any effect... The car is just always very nice and tight, but not harsh.

Best regards,

 

[msiert]

i got one for you guys running poly.....do you find them makeing much noise?

Nope mine don't either.