Front Shocks, Poly or Rubber Bushes?

jamesdean2112

jamesdean2112

Active Member
Hi everyone, I'm currently rebuilding the front of my car. I am just wondering about what to put back in the Shocks upon rebuild.
Has anybody used poly bushes on shocks before? If so are they an improvement? One of the rubber ones i took off was a bit chewed up. I'm guessing poly will last longer i just don't want to ruin the ride.

Any help would be appreciated
J
 
My newly built green 3500 has poly bushes and I strongly suspect that the blue car has them as well. Very highly recommended.
 
Polybushes on the shocks gets my vote too. Both my P6s have them and they're far more durable than rubber. Just watch which ones you go for though. I fitted these blue type to my V8's front shocks



which are a lot softer than these black type I fitted to my 2000



You can see the old rubber bushes here too. The black bushes were pretty solid and very tricky to fit. The force required to compress the lower bush to get the split pin into the correct hole resulted in the tool I was using ripping through the outer holes like this



Later lower shock mounts are solid so this shouldn't happen, but just be aware of the amount of force required to compress these.

Dave
 
Poly VS Rubber is totally horses for courses...improvements are mitigated by the (IMO) greater than usual loss of ride quality and an introduction of harshness.
I have used blue (the softest) poly selectively, and wouldn't again.
If I compare the use of poly in my old Alfa, it made a huge difference in handling for not that much of a penalty elsewhere. Whilst it did improve the Rover, it wasn't by a real lot and yet the downside was considerable.
Improvements came from better shocks and thicker front bar...and others have noted that better wheels/tyres made the most improvement of all.
I'm not knocking poly...just know what qualities you want the car to have/retain.
 
billoddie said:
Poly VS Rubber is totally horses for courses
Click to expand...

...and this course is specifically front shocks. All else being equal, I don't see how just replacing the front shocks' bushes with poly over rubber can have that much of an effect on handling :? So for me this is more a question of the resilience of the material than its effect on performance. The OP is looking for something that will last and not adversely affect performance.

Replace all rubber with poly bushes and yes there will be a difference, but the shocks' bushes are 4 in the 14 (or so if I counted correctly) bushes that are fitted to the front suspension.

Dave
 
It is important to remember when forming an opinion on this subject, that invariably people are replacing bushes because they are worn or otherwise defective. Replacing a defective bush with a new bush of either type will make a big positive difference in most cases. I haven't seen a comparison between new rubber and new poly as yet. Best advice is try and drive a car with each type and form you own opinion.
 
pat180269 said:
It is important to remember when forming an opinion on this subject, that invariably people are replacing bushes because they are worn or otherwise defective. Replacing a defective bush with a new bush of either type will make a big positive difference in most cases.
Click to expand...


That's a very good point Pat.

Dave
 
Thanks a lot for all the feedback guys.
I knew some of you would have had some experience on the subject. Now i know the black ones (that i'm watching) are stiffer ill probably not bother. The rubber ones do need replacing, i guess as you say if the rest of the car is rubber there probably isn't a lot of difference. I'm new to poly so just wanted to see what you thought of them before a went and spent £40 on the set. i think i'll play safe and go for rubber ones. I'm just replacing anything that needs replacing.

Thanks again guys, you are always a big help.
 
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