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Poly Bushing Feedback

Would you buy them?

  • Noisy

    Votes: 10 11.4%

  • Quiet

    Votes: 32 36.4%

  • Improved handling

    Votes: 67 76.1%

  • No difference in handling

    Votes: 3 3.4%

  • Worth the money

    Votes: 55 62.5%

  • Not worth the money

    Votes: 9 10.2%
  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .
gsellstr

gsellstr

Vintage anti-ricer
300+ Club
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Location
BFE Desert east of Cali
Mod's - please move if you see fit.

Okay, so there seems to be a lot of yay or nay on poly bushings. A lot have run them with good luck, yet some have had bad luck as well. So....let's see who has had what.

Please use the following format so we can keep this simple and easy for people to read.

Vehicle Model (i.e. 240, 740, etc)
Bushing location (i.e. full rear, front, torque rods only, etc.)
Pros (handling, etc.)
Cons (noises, vibrations, articulation, etc)
Vehicle usage (autox, DD, track, etc.)
Side notes
 
Will be a bit before I can get mine in.:-(. Will vote when I do though.
 
Guess I should start this out as well...

1974 144E
Full poly front and rear
Pros: Improved handling, less slop between accel and decel, ride is more stable compared to new OEM rubber.
Cons: Very minute difference in ride harshness, not nearly as severe as springs and shocks made.
Vehicle useage: play toy.

1990 745T
Full poly front and rear
Pros: Improved handling, less slop between accel and decel, ride is more stable compared to new OEM rubber, shifts feel much crisper due to improved design of torque rod bushings.
Cons: 1 squeak from a previously installed poly bushing that hasn't been greased.
Vehicle useage: DD, play toy, 1/4-mile, load hauling.
 
Did rear trailing arms (both front and rear) torque rods, panhard rod. Notice signifigant improvement in handling. Best way to describe it - no delay in handling response, car tracks alot better too. 245 BTW. Noise? A little bit more but nothing bad at all. Note no squeaking bushing noises either.. But I did grease them up good before installation.

Costs, yes that's the only factor here for the gains.. For best $$ to ratio fresh rubber bushings go a long way say 80% of what the poly do. I don't regret going to poly though, it should be the last set of bushings my 245 will ever need..
 
740
cone bushings
huge improvement over the worn out slop they replaced
I did not notice any change in noise whatsoever, but braking shudder was eliminated.
 
245
motor, and full front and full rear i believe
didn't get a before and after of the car but I had no complaints with it in at all
not that I know of, heard some people crack their motor mount polies though..
DD
 
240.

Almost mandatory for the rear bushing on the front control arm, and the rear torque rods. Those two bushings take the most abuse. Front control arm SuperPro have lasted 7+yr. and 100k miles Unknown brand red poly torque rod bushings lasted 4-5yr before two split. The other two are still in use with over 100k miles.

Pros: precision, stability under braking, improved traction from the rear tires on a launch, requires no maintenance, heavy duty long lasting solution.

Cons: initial cost. Never noticed a change in ride quality or noise with the other mods I already had (tires, springs, shocks, bars, etc all contributing to a change in ride from stock).

Street, autoX, track, drag, drift, snow, and once or twice on dirt.
 
245
Poly all around.
Pros: better handling, more solid ride quality, and they hold up a lot better than the replacement rubber bushings

Cons: Cost and labor intensive install.

I went with new rubber bushings in my beater 242 and that was a false economy. The handling has never been as good as my 245 and the rubber bushings are already showing signs of death.
 
1979 245
Poly bushes in late type torque rods
Stock suspension apart from torque rods and -30mm King Springs
Definite improvement in rear end stability, no increased noise.
Worth the money? HELL YEAH!

Had poly engine mounts but they died. OEM rubber ones are quiet and durable so far, but motor moves around a lot more.
 
Vehicle Model - '83 242Ti
Bushing location - full poly front & rear, plus engine, trans & accessory mounts
Pros - handling, ride quality, durability of the bushing itself
Cons - occasional squeak
Vehicle usage - street, drag, spirited mountain driving. play toy.

Vehicle Model - '71 142E
Bushing location - front LCA and steering intermediate shaft currently, soon to be full poly front & rear
Pros - handling, ride quality, durability of the bushing itself
Cons - none yet
Vehicle usage - street. DD.
 
Vehicle Model - 91 745
Bushing location - all front poly except inner control arm (the expensive one)
Pros - handling, ride quality
Cons - cost
Vehicle usage - street

i plan on replacing all of the rubber suspension bushings at some point. i think it's worth the extra $$$ for the poly upgrade.
 
85 744GLE/93 945T (both cars, same set of bushings)

All front poly (not endlink mount eye bushings, though).
Pros - they're made for a 7/9 series volvo...good enough reason to put them in. More durable/better performing than stock ****e. Allows me to get a much more consistent alignment. Durability is better than stock.

Cons - Hard to get the front bushing to conform to "Castermod" geometry. nature of the beast...poly resists flex more than rubber. Moderately expensive, but I have more than 50K miles on my set. Very happy with durability.

Trackdays, Autox, Rough road daily-D use.

Have Bne torque rods and subframe, so won't exactly need them for my rear torque rod bushings. But again, they're being made for us, so support the people that make them!
 
73 142
full poly front suspension
steering shaft bushings
DD ,auto x, soon hillclimb car as soon as rollbar is done.
all my bushings were wasted when replaced with poly so no comparasion to stock, but no noise and the steering shaft bushings were 1/3 the price of the parts from volvo to fix. cant wait to up date the rear suspension to full poly and will be buying from gstellar again
 
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'91 240

full poly rear
OEM bushings on control arms
poly stabillizer links
Ipd 25/22 mm sways

This is my summer DD. I live in a city plagued with rough, seasonally potholed streets. I installed Bilstein HD's and lowering springs on both ends at the same time as I did the bushings, so I can't blame the stiff ride all on the poly. I love the way the car handles when pushed, .....but we don't drive Grandma around in this car anymore.
 
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240 DD and autox and track use.

I have a full poly setup and have been happy with it. The sway bars are noisy in the cold but otherwise its all quiet.

The question of how it compares to rubber is almost impossible to answer as even though I have driven a 240 with only 50k on it the rubber is still old.

Are the ploys 3-4x times better ie like the cost and-or will they hold up longer to the abuse?

I would have to think they would be firmer and last longer under most situations and therefore be worth the cost IF you are going to the track but it you are just a hard street driver better springs/struts would be better bang for the buck.
 
I have an '80 GT with full poly.
I don't find it too noisy in terms of rumble or general road-noise; I'm probably running smaller tyres than a lot of people with modded 240's are (ie. 40-series 215mm-section on 17's). However, everything binds up & it does go 'clunk' a lot more than it should.
This car has so many long-term repairs & fiddles needed, but ditching half the rear poly & replacing it with rubber is on my list (not all of it ... just some).

It does feel good on the road in terms of general cruising, but it's never been finished enough for me to punt it through any twisties so I've got no notion of handling in it.
 
'86 245 with JUST poly on the panhard rod. I didn't grease the body to bushing areas, and it squeaks like a mother going over speedbumps. It was fine for a little while but kept getting louder and louder day by day.
 
get waterproof synthetic marine grease. we like to use green grease brand. works great and sticks around for a long time. the poly gets attacked by petroleum-based greases.
 
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