Powerflex over standard bushes

[Let off some steam Bennett]

When replacing suspension bushes, what have you all gone for. My tuscan is having the chassis done at the moment and i have decided to go with powerflex bushes.
Does this make the ride much harsher, thanks Simon

[BritishTvr450]

I wouldn’t think so.
They do fall apart a lot sooner than metalastic ones though.
The sort of thing you’d use in a race setting where replacing them regularly is good practice.

[spartridge]

In my experience it does

[Let off some steam Bennett]

spartridge said:

In my experience it does

Do you run your Tuscan on them

[Granturadriver]

I would not recommend them and I woould not use them again. The poly bushes are by no means better, they lack the preload of the suspension rubbers that the pressed-in rubber bushes have. Overall, this puts more stress on the individual components of the chassis.

And now - after a few years - we have noticed that moisture has formed on the driver's side between the bushing and the cross member, which has led to rust. The rust was rubbed off the bushing again and so on, so that the eye in the wishbone has widened. Now we have to replace the wishbone because of the play.

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Granturadriver said:

I would not recommend them and I woould not use them again. The poly bushes are by no means better, they lack the preload of the suspension rubbers that the pressed-in rubber bushes have. Overall, this puts more stress on the individual components of the chassis.

And now - after a few years - we have noticed that moisture has formed on the driver's side between the bushing and the cross member, which has led to rust. The rust was rubbed off the bushing again and so on, so that the eye in the wishbone has widened. Now we have to replace the wishbone because of the play.

That does not sound good, i'm in a bit of a pickle as thats what they are fitting now

[Basil Brush]

Granturadriver said:

The poly bushes are by no means better, they lack the preload of the suspension rubbers that the pressed-in rubber bushes have. Overall, this puts more stress on the individual components of the chassis.

Can you explain what you mean with this?

[Basil Brush]

Let off some steam Bennett said:

When replacing suspension bushes, what have you all gone for. My tuscan is having the chassis done at the moment and i have decided to go with powerflex bushes.
Does this make the ride much harsher, thanks Simon

Did Sportmotive recommend them as I think they run them on their own cars?

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Basil Brush said:

Did Sportmotive recommend them as I think they run them on their own cars?

They did

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Just spoken to sportmotive and my mind is at ease

[BritishTvr450]

Granturadriver said:

I would not recommend them and I woould not use them again. The poly bushes are by no means better, they lack the preload of the suspension rubbers that the pressed-in rubber bushes have. Overall, this puts more stress on the individual components of the chassis.

And now - after a few years - we have noticed that moisture has formed on the driver's side between the bushing and the cross member, which has led to rust. The rust was rubbed off the bushing again and so on, so that the eye in the wishbone has widened. Now we have to replace the wishbone because of the play.

For an occasional track car they are probably the better option but I too would never fit them to a road car unless I'm happy to replace them on a regular basis which I wouldn’t be.
On most Tvr doing very small mileage they might last quite some time but even then they’d need to be checked on a regular basis.
Metalastic are fit and forget for decades usually and overall a better option.

[porterpainter]

Let off some steam Bennett said:

Just spoken to sportmotive and my mind is at ease

So what was the feedback Sportmotive gave and your final decision? Thanks

[Granturadriver]

Basil Brush said:

Granturadriver said:

The poly bushes are by no means better, they lack the preload of the suspension rubbers that the pressed-in rubber bushes have. Overall, this puts more stress on the individual components of the chassis.

Can you explain what you mean with this?

That's how I was told:

The standard bushing sits firmly in the control arm, as it also has to be pressed in. The screw connections are only tightened when the car is on its wheels. This means that the car stands on the bushes with a preload. When the chassis moves, the rubbers are screwed in and then move back.

The poly bushes, on the other hand, are movable and do not need to be pressed in. This preload is therefore missing.

[Sagi Badger]

Prefer polybush TBH but then I am off the wall with most things.

The preload thing isn't making sense to me, there are sleeves in the bushes, rubber or poly so they see no clamping load. the sockets in my wishbones were phosphate and powder coated, if they ever rust I reckon I will just be a photo on the wall somewhere

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Sagi Badger said:

Prefer polybush TBH but then I am off the wall with most things.

The preload thing isn't making sense to me, there are sleeves in the bushes, rubber or poly so they see no clamping load. the sockets in my wishbones were phosphate and powder coated, if they ever rust I reckon I will just be a photo on the wall somewhere

I have gone for poly bush

[Basil Brush]

Sagi Badger said:

Prefer polybush TBH but then I am off the wall with most things.

The preload thing isn't making sense to me, there are sleeves in the bushes, rubber or poly so they see no clamping load. the sockets in my wishbones were phosphate and powder coated, if they ever rust I reckon I will just be a photo on the wall somewhere

Me neither which is why I asked the question.

I've poly bushed mine as part of my rebuild. Given how sensitive Tuscans are to small changes in static toe/camber/KPI I wanted less chance of the geometry moving around (apart from the chassis twisting!)

Regarding harshness, there's next to no rubber in the standard wishbone bushes anyway so they can't be doing much for comfort.

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Basil Brush said:

Me neither which is why I asked the question.

I've poly bushed mine as part of my rebuild. Given how sensitive Tuscans are to small changes in static toe/camber/KPI I wanted less chance of the geometry moving around (apart from the chassis twisting!)

Regarding harshness, there's next to no rubber in the standard wishbone bushes anyway so they can't be doing much for comfort.

Are you doing a chassis refurb

[Basil Brush]

Let off some steam Bennett said:

Basil Brush said:

Me neither which is why I asked the question.

I've poly bushed mine as part of my rebuild. Given how sensitive Tuscans are to small changes in static toe/camber/KPI I wanted less chance of the geometry moving around (apart from the chassis twisting!)

Regarding harshness, there's next to no rubber in the standard wishbone bushes anyway so they can't be doing much for comfort.

Are you doing a chassis refurb

Yes, I'm putting it back together at the moment.

The chassis needed a fair bit of repair work.




But looking better now.

Edited by Basil Brush on Wednesday 24th July 15:19

[Let off some steam Bennett]

Basil Brush said:

Yes, I'm putting it back together at the moment.

The chassis needed a fair bit of repair work.




But looking better now.

Edited by Basil Brush on Wednesday 24th July 15:19

Very nice, mine needed more new metal than expected

[Sagi Badger]

A couple of things to watch.
The front lower ball joint taper comes up small on some pattern XJ offerings. The hard steel washer/spacer may need packing so the taper bites. You will see what I mean if you get a small taper item, it just doesn't bite tight.
The upper wishbones where powder coated on the oval holes should be ground to expose steel. The original factory items were masked off, powder coating will yield and is quite slippery, so camber could go out of adjustment. I ground mine clean after powder coating.
The, thinking as memory not great, rear upper polybush kit needed an additional penny washer to hold the bush in place, I didn't like the fact it wasn't restrained.
Getting the itch again...