Quote:
Originally Posted by jktom
PS. I have got other issues - some serious issues that no one can find. I am not 100% sure that my OE bushes are flogged, you can see where the rubber is coming away from the outer sleeve and the crush tube. Does this mean they are stuffed - Apparently but I am not convinced. I have tried 3 different Panhards in the last two weeks so probably not.
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Yep unfortunately sounds like you EO bushes are gone
I agree with your post, but as a side note I think some believe that bushes are a one off issue and there is a silver bullet that will fix them forever. They are a consumable and need to be replaced periodically. How often will depend on your vehicle, the equipment on it and what you do with it.
Im only running two inch lift and alot of hwy driving so I want mine to be solid on road and I know the JK is pretty capable relatively stock. So for me with limited flex I cant go past the stock bush. The correct size means it is clamped securely in the mount so there is no movement on the bolt. The solid ones could not be clamped in the mount they were too small so flopped in the mount from new!
The size of the inner sleeve on the OE bush also assists in clamping force and spreading the load over a larger surface area in the mount, secure means the holes dont flog out.
The large inner sleeve means there is less lateral flex in the bush, this holds the axle in place and reduces the chance of death wobbles.
The down side of the low volume of rubber (always a trade off) is that there is less rotational flex in the bush, so Im limited for flex before the bush tears the inner or outer sleeve from the rubber.
Im not running huge lift or large flex so the OE bush is perfect.
If I chose to go large Im sure I would exceed the flex of the bush and rip it out. Hence why many manufacturers of large lift products put poly in their rods.
Poly bushes trade off the lateral stability (huge amounts of 'slop' compared to rubber)and accept that they will wear every time they flex to allow for the large rotational movement. Rubber has no moving/sliding sections so there is no wearing parts unlike poly which rely on the sleeve rotating in the poly..wear is unavoidable, then throw mud, rust, etc in there and they fail quickly.
So for me, a small lift, no discos and requiring higher speed stability, its a no brainer...rubber without doubt. Now for good quality...large sleeve, low rubber volume(due to small flex) and correct dimentions, otherwise the inner sleeve is not secured in the mount at all. If I went larger lift and needed more flex I would go for a rubber bush with a smaller inner sleeve and larger rubber content but I would trade off a small amount of lateral stability.
I would never go poly unless I was building a rock crawler or was happy to replace bushes every few months.
Tom, I would love to have a look at your rig, it dissapoints me that you are getting people to help you sort it out and they are not succeeding. If your expectations are reasonable and the limitations explained I dont get why they cant help you.
RapidChris, you can get poly bushes from any suspension place but you will just hide the problem for a short time. If you have DW then you probably also now have the mount holes elongated so any new poly bush wil flop around in the mount. OEM bushes will allow you to clamp on the mount correctly with good/tight front end but if you are running larger lift etc then I would be looking at nissan/toyota rubber bushes and accepting you will replace them every couple of years.
Goodluck,
Matt.
