This whole bushing thing has been done to death, but I have yet another question(s). First, some perspective - a couple of lifetimes ago I had a Datsun 240Z with polyurethane bushings and Koni shocks all the way around, along with ridiculously large anti-roll bars, also mounted in polyurethane. I lubed the bushings with Permatex anti-seize compound and I was very lucky not to have any noise issues. As this car was my daily driver, I am obviously well familiar with the NVH levels transmitted into a vehicle by polyurethane ... which honestly was far less than I had expected.

I am inclined to update my '03 Z06 in a similar manor, but as I shop around, I see that we now also have poly-graphite, Delrin and 100AF options available these days. I'm not considering spherical bushings, as this is not a dedicated track car. I am familiar with the Delrin material, itself, and I recognize that it is dramatically less compliant than polyurethane, but I've never driven a car so equipped. I've read several accounts of folks happily running Delrin on the street and I expect that I'd be OK with it too, since I live in the South where our relatively well maintained roads have few potholes and frost heaves.

A brief moment of full disclosure: I love to do upgrades and repairs, but I'll be honest, maintenance is not my bag of donuts. I gotta psych myself up to deal with fluids, brake pads and etc. So, here are my questions:
From a maintenance standpoint, are the poly-graphite bushings worth getting, or will I still need to lube them annually (or sooner)? For instance, are they dramatically better than polyurethane in this respect, or only marginally better?
If the poly-graphite bushings are effective and stay quiet, I'm not so sure that I see the value of running Delrin on the street, especially at their price premium. But, I have the same question regarding the 100AF bushings. What is the maintenance requirement like on them? Will I need to do annual cleaning and lubing, or are they more of an install and forget situation?

Put another way, I think I'd be perfectly happy with poly-graphite if they do what it says on the tin and I would only give serious consideration to 100AF if they offer a maintenance-free, or at least a maintenance-seldom ownership experience. What has been your experience and opinion on these various options from a maintenance perspective?

I also had some questions about lubrication. It seems to me that polyurethane suspension bushings drilled for Zerk fittings used to be a thing. Is there a reason I don't see these around? Are folks manually drilling their bushings, or is this no longer a common practice? Is this now no longer necessary due to improved bushing materials?
Also, I mentioned that I had good results back in the day using anti-seize as a lubricant, but I expect that better options are available. If the bushings I purchase do not come with a lubricant (like my 240Z poly bushings), what do you think about using something like HHS2000 (or whatever Wurth calls it nowadays, since they switched to a fully synthetic formula)? Do you have a better recommendation that has worked well for you?

Thanks in advance!

 

I was into polyurethane bushings a LONG time ago, too, but as the roads got worse where I live, and the aspect ratios of performance tires got lower, I gave up on them, as they allowed too much harshness that would "beat up" both me, as well as the car itself. I still do use poly bushings on my sway bars, though. For lubrication, I use either Energy Suspension's lube, or a commercially available lubricant marketed under the name 'Super Lube'.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I had considered installing poly bushings on the stock Z06 anti-roll bars, before deciding if I need something more aggressive. Very few suppliers appear to support these bars, but it looks like Prothane has the appropriate size bushings. As near as I can determine from various websites, I don't see anyone offering either Delrin, or 100AF bushings for the OE Z06 bars.

I am familiar with Super Lube and I use it in other applications, but for some reason it never occurred to me to use it with suspension bushings. I have no idea why this should be the case. I suppose I just assumed that its weather/water resistance wouldn't be adequate, so I appreciate you mentioning it. Thanks!!!