Poly and Rubber Together?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 281
From: Dyersburg TN
Poly and Rubber Together?
I have had my trailing arms rebuilt with rubber but I have to do strut rods. I was thinking of using Poly on them because of price (1/2 of rubber cost) and ease of installation. All other bushings on my 81 are rubber. Can you mix them like that?
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: Chino CA
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
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Yes, you can, but poly on a strut rod is a bad idea. The bushing needs to flex in three axis, standard poly can only move in one plane. Some say that there's new generation poly bushings that can flex properly, but then why use them?
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
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From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
FWIW: I had trouble getting the remnants of the old rubber bushings out of my '68. Burned them away with a propane torch (off the car). Stinks and smokes, but worked. Cleaned up the rod ends with a brake hone. New rubber bushings went in without special tools.
Race Director
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From: Chino CA
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 281
From: Dyersburg TN
I was speaking with the people at Bair's and they said the adjustable won't work on 80-80 because they are straight and the factory ones have angled heads. He said you have to mod the bracket to get them to work.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 281
From: Dyersburg TN
I drilled around the rubber, pried the loose parts out with a screwdriver and then used sockets and a vice to press the old ones out.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 281
From: Dyersburg TN
Why
The biggest why is that most places sell the rubber ones for $65 a set plus shipping and the local Autozone has poly for $32 and no shipping.
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Race Director
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From: Chino CA
Race Director
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From: Plano TX
Think about what the strut rod has to do. As the TA swings in its arc, the end of the strut rod has to twist. With rubber bushings this is OK. Rubber is soft and compressible. Poly can't do it. It will bind and you soon see heavy wear creating slop. Poly bushings have their uses. Strut rods ain't one of them.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: New Carlisle IN
I've been running poly bushings on my VB&P adjustable strut rods on my 73 since 1994 when my dad got the car put back together. It has been beat and banged on as an autocross car by my dad and me since then. We have seen no detrimental effects by using them.