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Poly bushes

RedlineDave

RedlineDave

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2021
Location
East of GTA On Canada
I want to replace my bushes with poly.

I will be doing this over time as I can afford.

What brand to buy and in what order. Nothing feels worn so
I can start anywhere.

Do I start at front and work my way back or vice versa?

My goal is better road feel and handling.

Bushes first then I'll do shock/ springs.

Or am I going in wrong order?
 
All poly is a good vibe, but in hindsight I wish I didn’t go poly on the rear trailing arm bushings where the trailing arms meet the rear end. Poly bushings can’t articulate the way a rubber one can in that position. As a result the trailing arms can’t function as independently as they should, and the ride quality is a bit bone-jarring. BNE makes a spherical bushing for this position that gets high praise.

Other than that, have at it and enjoy the flatness. I’m not aware of an ideal order for replacement, and have always started with whichever bushings are most tired. If you need a TAB tool, try Gregerivn on this board. He makes a great one at a reasonable price.
 
Again, there's a lot of internet lore and lack of factual information already forming in this thread, without having needed details first. Brand A poly at an 80 durometer vs brand B at a 60 will give you a much different experience, with rubber being around a 45-50 typically. Not all poly is the same.

Superpro is one of the better brands out there, only reason I back it and sell it. They run around a 60-65 with stiffer options for certain bushings.

Depending on planned use for the car, what platform you're running, if you are super nit-picky vs. really relaxed on expectations, etc, all of that can play into what route you go. If you do go poly, please, for the love of god don't go cheap like URO or MTC, as you will regret it and it will taint your impression of the material.

Having full poly in my 140 and 740, have for the last decade, I don't regret it one bit, but I also planned for a very sport minded ride. The difference between stock and poly in terms of noise, vibration and harshness is minimal.

As for order of replacement, really doesn't make a difference, but I'd be smart about it. If you have blown out bushings, do those first, then do the rest. Fronts have fewer bushings to replace than the rear. Adjustable torque rods can be bought with poly already installed, making it easier. Level of skill, work area, and tools will play into what you install as well, as some will require a press, most will require a decent bit of work, usually less work to install poly than to install rubber though.
 
gsellstr said:
Again, there's a lot of internet lore and lack of factual information already forming in this thread, without having needed details first. Brand A poly at an 80 durometer vs brand B at a 60 will give you a much different experience, with rubber being around a 45-50 typically. Not all poly is the same.

Superpro is one of the better brands out there, only reason I back it and sell it. They run around a 60-65 with stiffer options for certain bushings.

Depending on planned use for the car, what platform you're running, if you are super nit-picky vs. really relaxed on expectations, etc, all of that can play into what route you go. If you do go poly, please, for the love of god don't go cheap like URO or MTC, as you will regret it and it will taint your impression of the material.

Having full poly in my 140 and 740, have for the last decade, I don't regret it one bit, but I also planned for a very sport minded ride. The difference between stock and poly in terms of noise, vibration and harshness is minimal.

As for order of replacement, really doesn't make a difference, but I'd be smart about it. If you have blown out bushings, do those first, then do the rest. Fronts have fewer bushings to replace than the rear. Adjustable torque rods can be bought with poly already installed, making it easier. Level of skill, work area, and tools will play into what you install as well, as some will require a press, most will require a decent bit of work, usually less work to install poly than to install rubber though.
Click to expand...

Good information. I have another thread regarding the rear position bushings on the control arms for my 240. I am having a very difficult time finding a left side bushing in a decent brand. What is the closest to OE durometer poly bushings for the front? Would that be Superpro? I don't want a harsh ride, I just want OE or maybe a bit better performance would be fine.

I already have good quality rubber bushings for the rear. Would it make the ride strange if I only use poly on the front control arms?
 
The ride really won't change much going with the poly up front, other than a little better handling. So far the folks I've installed the Superpro stuff in haven't found much sacrifice with poly up front, and for those that daily their cars, poly in the rear hasn't been an issue. Those that flog their stuff on the track frequently have been the ones that ended up going spherical. With the rear already covered, go poly up front and be done with it. :)

Superpro has an excellent rep for their quality and fitment, and the 60 they use seems to be a very good replacement for the rubber.

That said, they don't use a different bushing between left and right, kinda doubt any of the few companies that do poly for these cars make a different bushing for the left. I honestly hadn't heard about that until your thread.
 
OldCarNewTricks said:
I already have good quality rubber bushings for the rear. Would it make the ride strange if I only use poly on the front control arms?
Click to expand...
Nope, it just improves it but I would also use poly on panhard. That's a basic thing that I do on a 240, poly on front control arms and panhard.
 
I've tried a few different combinations for the rear and keeping rubber in the trailing arms / axle and rubber on the chassis side of the torque rods kept NVH to a minimum. I didn't notice a handling difference with poly vs. rubber in the rear, just NVH difference (my car is just a sporty DD, no autox etc).

Looks like BNE is currently sold out of the hybrid torque rods, but they are a good solution if you need to adjust pinion angle and keep the rubber bushing on the chassis side.
https://www.bneshop.com/collections...-adjustable-torque-rod?variant=32012158173262

EodRsgch.png
 
Here's what I'm doinbg on mine. I want a stiffer road car. Something on the lines of a stock M3 or a Miata or FRS type setup. Everyday drivable, but fun and stiff.

Front control arms: Super Pro poly.
Rear trailng arms (The big ones): Stock VOLVO rubber in the front and BNE spherical in the rear.
Rear Torque Arms (The smaller upper ones): Cut the axle end off and tap it to 7/8-14. Screw in and appropriate Johnny Joint. On the chassis side use stock VOLVO rubber.
Panhard rod I'm going to probably do the same thing. Johnny Joint on the axle side, stock rubber on the chassis side.

This recipe will give you about the stiffest set up but with the least amount of NVH possible inside the car.

After that you can do Bilstein HD's and lower/stiffer springs which will also tighten up the ride quite a bit. At you this point you really want to start doing any chassis stiffening braces to further maximize handling. The Chassis stiffness is excellent from the factory, but when you tighten up every other part of the suspension you'll start noticing the actual chassis starting to flex.

Also good tires make more of a difference than all of that stuff above!
 
Sounds like poly front control arms and then I'll do it on my panhard later on, as well. Thanks so much for the help, guys!

OP sorry if I made your thread go a different direction :wiggle:
 
HiSPL said:
Here's what I'm doinbg on mine. I want a stiffer road car. Something on the lines of a stock M3 or a Miata or FRS type setup. Everyday drivable, but fun and stiff.

Front control arms: Super Pro poly.
Rear trailng arms (The big ones): Stock VOLVO rubber in the front and BNE spherical in the rear.
Rear Torque Arms (The smaller upper ones): Cut the axle end off and tap it to 7/8-14. Screw in and appropriate Johnny Joint. On the chassis side use stock VOLVO rubber.
Panhard rod I'm going to probably do the same thing. Johnny Joint on the axle side, stock rubber on the chassis side.

This recipe will give you about the stiffest set up but with the least amount of NVH possible inside the car.

After that you can do Bilstein HD's and lower/stiffer springs which will also tighten up the ride quite a bit. At you this point you really want to start doing any chassis stiffening braces to further maximize handling. The Chassis stiffness is excellent from the factory, but when you tighten up every other part of the suspension you'll start noticing the actual chassis starting to flex.

Also good tires make more of a difference than all of that stuff above!
Click to expand...

That sounds like a recipe for fun! I have some GT springs on the way from Sweden, and I bought a GT set of sway bars, as well. I think the front poly with the GT goodies will be great for the less than perfect roads I drive on :lol:
 
We have been running full poly in our 240's for over 25 years. For us the first things we always replaced with poly has been the rear axle bushes and the rear top arms as the rubber just did not last with the hard use we put them to. Our 240's are working cars and tend to be loaded a lot and do a lot of heavy towing. For a daily driver poly is a great way to make the suspension last and give good handling and ride. Our 240's are still very capable of going quick down twisty country roads.

For maximum speed on the track the axle bushes will cause wheel lift before rubber or even better still a bearing will.

Choose the right kind of joint for your use not someone else's use
 
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