3500 Rear Shock Rubbers

The Rovering Member

The Rovering Member

Well-Known Member
Who has bought some lately & where from? Most importantly though, were they the correct ones with the large hole to accept the inner sleeve or were they the incorrect versions with the small hole & the collar which will not accept the sleeve?
 
I used the super flex ones for a few years now ,their great.
Same size as original rubbers but you now longer need the plastic sleeve
 
I also use poly for this, although I have coil over units I use the small hole poly and they have been fine. The only thing I have found is that you have to be very careful that the stepped part of the bush is centred, and does actually seat in holes in the top mount and lower arm on fitting.
 
Yes I should have mentioned that Mark and make sure the lower mount plate isn't to corroded on the area of the Bush.
 
Ok, thanks. I'm guessing your suspension has been firmed up a fair bit, Mark, other than the poly's where mine is standard so l do want a smooth ride maintained & there'll be new bushes all round. How is your ride (as the prelate said to the primate)?

We're of the opinion that the correct rubbers used with the sleeves would be preferable but are going to be pretty hard to get. You can get the sleeves but it seems the rubbers supplied with them are the ones with the register & small hole that can't be used with the sleeves. However you can apparently buy them together from the same supplier without comment. :oops:
 
Hello dear boy.
My ride is as comfortable as it has ever been considering the age of the old girl.....

Now back to the Rover. I don't think that you would honestly notice the difference between new rubber and poly in terms of firmness, the damping rate of the unit determines the firmness, the bush is the insulator, but you may find a difference in road noise being transmitted into the cabin, and if that is of primary importance then maybe stick with the rubber.
I see stepped small hole rubber bushes are available, I don't know how long they would last before the stepped part deteriorated and allowed the shock spindle to drift across and contact metal.
My rear shocks have been off and on so many times due to spring changes, the bushes have been nipped once or twice but are holding up quite well.
You could I suppose buy the new rubber bushes and new plastic sleeves and take a die grinder with a carbide bit and cut the centre hole big enough to take the sleeve, or source another rubber bush from another application - the OD is not critical, nor the thickness really as long as it is not too thin.
The red poly bushes I have supplied by AVO are not rock hard, they do have some give, bear in mind that in my application that little bush is holding up the weight of the car !

Edit
Lots of possibilities here - I don't have the original dims to hand.
shock absorber bush rubber | eBay
 
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Thanks both.
I think l'd like to call in David here.....oops!, forgot this isn't Dickinson's Real Deal.....erm, Harvey for some advice.

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The likeness is uncanny though, except David hasn't got enough money in his hand.
 
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Disappointed in the polybushes. Holes too big for the anchor shafts & register inserts too big for the mounting holes in both the bottom plates & top towers. You could drill out the mounting holes but they're still loose on the shaft & you can't use the sleeves with them as the holes in the bushes aren't big enough to accept them. And two registers against eachother are too thick for the mounting holes anyway. The normal rubbers aren't really fit for purpose as the registers aren't strong enough to last very long. It's a ridiculous situation as you can't get rubbers in the original design as pictured. How hard can it be to replicate the original design & who decided that it needed modifying in the first place? And why can you buy the original type sleeves along with the redesigned rubbers when they can't be used together? Without the old design being reinstated the sleeves are pointless.
It needs to be addressed.

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Looks a a lathe job with some Delrin perhaps. Or if someone made the correct profile in aluminium or steel a mould could be taken and poly poured easily...
I’m thinking of converting mine to a T bar style mount inside the car as I’ll be using coilovers similar to Mark’s setup.

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Jim
 
The Rovering Member said:
Disappointed in the polybushes. Holes too big for the anchor shafts & register inserts too big for the mounting holes in both the bottom plates & top towers. You could drill out the mounting holes but they're still loose on the shaft & you can't use the sleeves with them as the holes in the bushes aren't big enough to accept them. And two registers against eachother are too thick for the mounting holes anyway. The normal rubbers aren't really fit for purpose as the registers aren't strong enough to last very long. It's a ridiculous situation as you can't get rubbers in the original design as pictured. How hard can it be to replicate the original design & who decided that it needed modifying in the first place? And why can you buy the original type sleeves along with the redesigned rubbers when they can't be used together? Without the old design being reinstated the sleeves are pointless.
It needs to be addressed.

View attachment 14221
Click to expand...
Strange, my poly bushes fit the original shocks nice and tight
 
TRM
If you decide to return the poly for a refund you could try speaking to AVO. They supplied me with coilovers for the rear of mine and the red poly bushes that came with them are a good fit on the shock stems. I seem to recall slightly enlarging the holes in the lower arm and body with a die grinder to allow the register to fit though. The bushes are red poly for a stem / stem shock.
 
clive P62 said:
Strange, my poly bushes fit the original shocks nice and tight
Click to expand...

Yes, we noticed that, Clive. Obviously something's gone awry with their manufacturing process.

The plates & towers could be drilled out for the registers, Mark but that still leaves us with the centre holes being too large with these particular bushes. I didn't buy them directly from Superflex however so a return may be problematic though Superflex should back up their products to my mind so l may contact them.
The most annoying thing though is not being able to buy bushes to the original design in the first place.
 
I managed several years back to buy the genuine rubbers but not the sleeves, not a lot of good without sleeves !.
Have you tried to fit the polys on a different set of shocks !
 
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