Polyurethane vs stock rubber bushings

[2KLX]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2000 LX470 and I'm looking to replace the bushings on my tie rod ends, steering rack and sway bars (front and back) to polyurethane as apparently they are superior to rubber in terms of durability. I have some concerns about the ride comfort of poly though, since this is the family car and I don't want my wife and kids feeling every bump in the road. I wanted to get your thoughts and experiences on which bushings improve the steering and suspension while maintaining ride comfort?

 

[knewstance]

From my experience, these items you've listed have little effect on ride comfort. When I replaced mine, I noticed in terms of sway and how responsive the steering is, but the suspension ride comfort is more attributed to shocks and springs (and torsion bars).

Tie rod ends do not use a bushing. They are a ball joint with a rubber boot/dust cover to hold the grease onto the ball joint.

 

[C6H12O6]

Hard to find a real comparison, as most people who go with new poly bushings are comparing them to the worn-out rubber bushings. Both poly and new rubber bushings on all the spots that have bushings will make a big difference. I went poly on my 80 when I replaced the rear control arm bushings. It was a night-and-day difference. I didn't feel like I lost a noticeable amount of articulation, but I didn't measure anything before or after. It just felt great afterward. Would new rubber have felt great? Probably. Would I have seen a few more points on an RTI ramp? Maybe, but I didn't really wheel the 80 enough to notice.

When I did them on the 80, I did a few and drove it for a bit to see which made the biggest difference in ride. The answer? All of them. Drastic, noticeable difference after rear control arms, sway bar bushings, and front control arms. Really remarkable how you don't notice the slow decline in ride quality until it is really bad. New bushings and it was a different truck to drive.

If you can get a good deal on poly, get the newer-style (Whiteline, Slee, etc.) that behaves more like rubber. It still flexes, but supposedly lasts longer than rubber. I'll probably never know, because I drive so few miles, I'll likely never put 100K more miles on my 100. Or, get the OEM rubber if you can. Problem for the 100 is that some of the bushings aren't available as OEM bushings. You need to buy the whole arm they are part of. Search it up. I think the transmission mount or front diff mount is like that, and maybe one of the rear control arm sets. Don't remember which.

 

[saucebox]

Check with Cruiser Outfitters if you're looking for OEM/rubber. I don't know for sure, but I think he solved for the bushings on the rear LCAs. Everything in the front is available in OEM (that I do know for sure, as I had to buy it all from them some months back).

 

[abuck99]

Not all Poly Bushings are made equal as well as Rubber Bushings. So choose carefully for each application.

Swaybar bushes and sway bar link bushes OEM is best: they won't last as long but they fit perfectly and are more forgiving. The poly's dont fit too well with the OEM cup washers.

Steering Rack Bushes: For simplicity the Poly Bushes are my choice: SUPERPRO over Whiteline. There are some rubber options in the secondary market (no OEM) but they are PITA to remove & install if the rack is in the vehicle. Lots of threads on this subject here on the forum.

 

[2KLX]

Forgo

From my experience, these items you've listed have little effect on ride comfort. When I replaced mine, I noticed in terms of sway and how responsive the steering is, but the suspension ride comfort is more attributed to shocks and springs (and torsion bars).

Tie rod ends do not use a bushing. They are a ball joint with a rubber boot/dust cover to hold the grease onto the ball joint.

Thank you for the response. I should do the upgrade because I do want tighter steering but good to know the ride isn't affected. Good call on the tie rod, I meant to say dust boot

 

[2KLX]

Not all Poly Bushings are made equal as well as Rubber Bushings. So choose carefully for each application.

Swaybar bushes and sway bar link bushes OEM is best: they won't last as long but they fit perfectly and are more forgiving. The poly's dont fit too well with the OEM cup washers.

Steering Rack Bushes: For simplicity the Poly Bushes are my choice: SUPERPRO over Whiteline. There are some rubber options in the secondary market (no OEM) but they are PITA to remove & install if the rack is in the vehicle. Lots of threads on this subject here on the forum.

Makes sense. Thank you!

 

[2KLX]

Not all Poly Bushings are made equal as well as Rubber Bushings. So choose carefully for each application.

Swaybar bushes and sway bar link bushes OEM is best: they won't last as long but they fit perfectly and are more forgiving. The poly's dont fit too well with the OEM cup washers.

Steering Rack Bushes: For simplicity the Poly Bushes are my choice: SUPERPRO over Whiteline. There are some rubber options in the secondary market (no OEM) but they are PITA to remove & install if the rack is in the vehicle. Lots of threads on this subject here on the forum.

Thanks - The way poly's would fit was another concern of mine.

 

[TXLX100]

No noticeable durability difference I've seen between OEM bushings and poly. In fact, if poly gets fluids on it, will degrade at an exponential rate compared to OEM material. If there was a good reason, I'd use poly but I haven't found a reason to use poly again.

 

[MongooseGA]

Bumping this thread as I'm likely going to tackle this myself soon. I'd seen a post by @PADDO about the Superpro kit part # for the 03+ models but cannot seem to find it now. Anyone have this part number handy?

*Edit, nevermind, I found it. In case anyone else is looking: SuperPro 2987K

Having a time trying to find a set in the US for less than $90shipped. Anyone that's bought them, where did you find them?

 

[hickuptruck]

I have poly shock bushings and poly steering rack bushings. Great tight feel on the steering, however comes at the expense of more NVH, vibrations, and also bushing squeaks when dry out.

Shock bushings, much higher NVH, sometimes almost feeling a clunk but not quite but I know it's from the shocks. But also the spherical bearing shock mount adds to that not great feeling as well.

Little bumps and road imperfections will translate into the cab much more. All my little interior rattles all came out too, especially when I sound deadened the entire interior.

 

[nukegoat]

They should make polyurethane tires for durability

 

[MongooseGA]

I have poly shock bushings and poly steering rack bushings. Great tight feel on the steering, however comes at the expense of more NVH, vibrations, and also bushing squeaks when dry out.

Shock bushings, much higher NVH, sometimes almost feeling a clunk but not quite but I know it's from the shocks. But also the spherical bearing shock mount adds to that not great feeling as well.

Little bumps and road imperfections will translate into the cab much more. All my little interior rattles all came out too, especially when I sound deadened the entire interior.

Thanks for the input. That was kind of my worry, I'm a stickler for NVH and it seems like OEM is the way I need to go.

They should make polyurethane tires for durability

Yeah but burnout contests would take forever.

 

[hickuptruck]

Thanks for the input. That was kind of my worry, I'm a stickler for NVH and it seems like OEM is the way I need to go.

Ya, poly bushings at least for the shocks make me enjoy me LX a tad bit less.

 

[Eric Winkworth]

Sorry to resurrect the dead but my poly OME bushings for my 3 inch lift inside of leaf springs literally disintegrated to nothing, I now see that my custom made poly body mounts are full of cracks. I should have stuck with Toyota rubber on the body mounts at least. The OME aren’t too terrible to swap out, I bet they sell a lot of them because they suck. Just my opinion, mine didn’t have a lot of kms on them.

Most of the rubber stuff I took off looked better than these poly bushings after several years.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Sorry to resurrect the dead but my poly OME bushings for my 3 inch lift inside of leaf springs literally disintegrated to nothing, I now see that my custom made poly body mounts are full of cracks. I should have stuck with Toyota rubber on the body mounts at least. The OME aren’t too terrible to swap out, I bet they sell a lot of them because they suck. Just my opinion, mine didn’t have a lot of kms on them.

Most of the rubber stuff I took off looked better than these poly bushings after several years.

I'll say it every chance I get - poly bushings are a poor choice for anything short of a dedicated race car (or maybe some crazy trail rig).

There's a very good reason no OEM uses poly bushings - even on supercars.

Poly is super cheap to make in small quantities and you can do it at home. That's why there's an "industry" around poly bushings. Zero barrier to entry.

 

[SteveH]

Sorry to resurrect the dead but my poly OME bushings for my 3 inch lift inside of leaf springs literally disintegrated to nothing

OME bushings seem to fall apart much sooner than others. I have seen (as in your case) their bushings crumble, which is not something I have seen in Energy Suspension bushings. I have a 30+ year old set of Energy Suspension bushings on my FJ40 leaf springs, and all they have done is fade from the sun.