Upgrading bushings to Polyurethane worth it?

[Mr240dude]

Hey peoples, so as some of you know I've been focusing on my suspension. I had a simple inquiry about those polyurethane bushings from Energy Suspension and Prothane. Are they worth it? I've read some feedback, and it seems they make a noticeable difference over rubber bushings. I actually ordered a set of front sway bar bushings from Prothane. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00386 ... UTF8&psc=1

I hope this is the right size too. (1993 240sx SE hatch with abs) Any personal experience from any of you? Perhaps there are other bushings I should be replacing as well.

Any feedback appreciated.

[simmode1]

Yes. IMO, the Master set should be the very first mod you make to any S-chassis. Hell, I consider it part of maintenance. Makes the car feel considerably less rickety and more firm.

And don't forget the subframe collars. Your car will thank you.

[GTR PrYdE]

I actually have a complete set that I've yet to put up for sale. Its a S13 Energy suspension master bushing set, red. It retails about 130-140 online, email me if you're interested [email protected]

I decided to put it up for sale and just go with oem style bushings, to keep the car quiet and comfortable.

[Hijacker]

My personal opinion on poly bushings is that they're junk. They tend to bind up, they squeak, and in general don't do the things our cars need them to do. For the swaybar bracket bushings, they're fine, but if you're trying to do all the rear bushings, I would suggest getting some hard rubber bushings from Nismo or Megan Racing. Our moderator, Float, did a comparison set of videos on suspension motion with his old poly bushings and his MR hard rubbers.

s14-megan-racing-rubber-bushings-t565567.html

[Razi]

For the front stuff, it shouldn't be too bad.
For the rear however, I wouldn't use poly since they tend to bind up, like Hijacker said.

So unless your bushings are falling apart, I'd leave it alone.
One thing that really improved how my car felt was a tension rod brace from Jonnie Fraz (Stealth Fab). It's $90 + shipping.
I also recommend getting adjustable tension rods. The elimination of flex in the rubber improves how the car feels under braking.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

My personal opinion on poly bushings is that they're junk. They tend to bind up, they squeak, and in general don't do the things our cars need them to do. For the swaybar bracket bushings, they're fine, but if you're trying to do all the rear bushings, I would suggest getting some hard rubber bushings from Nismo or Megan Racing. Our moderator, Float, did a comparison set of videos on suspension motion with his old poly bushings and his MR hard rubbers.

s14-megan-racing-rubber-bushings-t565567.html

Rubber is the way to go if you're doing any daily driving. Poly bushings get hard and squeak.

[Hijacker]

My personal opinion on poly bushings is that they're junk. They tend to bind up, they squeak, and in general don't do the things our cars need them to do. For the swaybar bracket bushings, they're fine, but if you're trying to do all the rear bushings, I would suggest getting some hard rubber bushings from Nismo or Megan Racing. Our moderator, Float, did a comparison set of videos on suspension motion with his old poly bushings and his MR hard rubbers.

s14-megan-racing-rubber-bushings-t565567.html

Rubber is the way to go if you're doing any daily driving. Poly bushings get hard and squeak.

Even if you're tracking the car, the rear bushings binding up will be detrimental to the performance of the car. I went with Nismo hard rubber so I could get performance, safety, and quite operation. If I were building the car for full track duty, I'd have gone sphericals. Which reminds me, I need to bug concept Z about the status of my bushings. LOL

[asoomal]

For the rear, go rubber or spherical.

[simmode1]

Looks like more options have appeared since I did the polys in my car. My bushings were ratty & I definitely felt an improvement in the driving feel of the car. But now that there are alternatives, you should probably look into those, OP.

[LoserCard]

On my last car I installed black ES bushings and I never had any problems with binding. Tightened up my sloppy 235k mile worn suspension quite a bit. I wasn't slammed though, maybe thay was the cause for other people's binding. Or maybe it was because it was the black graphite impregnated bushings instead of the red. Who knows... I am planning on swapping the bushings out on my current car though. BTW, a press makes things 20x easier.

[Mr240dude]

Alright thanks guys. I installed some prothane front sway bushings. Is it worth installing steering rack bushings? I was looking into that.

[asoomal]

On my last car I installed black ES bushings and I never had any problems with binding. Tightened up my sloppy 235k mile worn suspension quite a bit. I wasn't slammed though, maybe thay was the cause for other people's binding. Or maybe it was because it was the black graphite impregnated bushings instead of the red. Who knows... I am planning on swapping the bushings out on my current car though. BTW, a press makes things 20x easier.

If you did the rears, then yes they were binding. The multi link arms are supposed to move around a bit.

[Razi]

Alright thanks guys. I installed some prothane front sway bushings. Is it worth installing steering rack bushings? I was looking into that.

Yeah they're worth it.
I'm not sure if the polyurethane ones are any much better than the stock ones though.
The stock ones are pretty solid and they have a grippy texture on em. The polyurethane ones are a tad bit cheaper though I think.

[krash]

Poly's are ok as long as you can grease them. A friend of mine actually installed grease fittings in all the places he put his poly bushings. He'd grease them every couple of months and he said it felt like he just installed them every time he greased them.

Even then, like its been said they dont really let the rears move in every direction. Spherical is awesome.

[OM3GA]

I have had full ES kits on 4 different cars that i have assisted with building. As long as you use the grease they come with, they are fine. We have had them in a few of the cars for over 4 years without any issues or noise but i really think it depends on the weather conditions in your area. They definitely make a big difference in the cars overall feel and response, more so when using a good set of tires and have the proper alignment settings. If you are looking for the most comfort however with some performance gain, hard rubber is not a bad choice.

Don't forget to change out your ball joints either, MOOG is a great choice.

[jbracy7]

I have only used oem replacements, no complants,no binding, just a lil soft,but I like it

[Hijacker]

I have had full ES kits on 4 different cars that i have assisted with building. As long as you use the grease they come with, they are fine. We have had them in a few of the cars for over 4 years without any issues or noise but i really think it depends on the weather conditions in your area. They definitely make a big difference in the cars overall feel and response, more so when using a good set of tires and have the proper alignment settings. If you are looking for the most comfort however with some performance gain, hard rubber is not a bad choice.

Don't forget to change out your ball joints either, MOOG is a great choice.

Moog is a great choice. I swapped my tie rod ends out a few years ago when I replaced my rack, and have had no complaints. The steering has stayed sharp and responsive. OP, if you decide to swap out the ball joints, you'll need MOOG part K9509 for the front. For the rear, you'll need to order the same as an early 90s Sentra front ball joint, part K9449.

[Razi]

I bought some Duralast balljoints from Autozone, and they turned out to be Moog.
I think they were fairly cheap as well.

[Klot]

I know this is a few weeks old, but giving my two cents.

The way the rear suspension is set up on the 240sx it does NOT respond well to urethane bushings. The rear suspension mounts aren't even with each other, which causes binding when the rear squats under hard cornering (when using urethane bushings). This will make the car feel like its trying to kill you, it won't respond how it should, making it hard to deal with - even when drifting.

Like others above me said, if you're on a budget stick with rubber bushing for the rear. If you're cool with going a non-factory route, there are other tricks you can weld heim joints into the stock UCAs that are cheaper than spherical bearings. But if you have enough money, use spherical bearings!

[flashstar]

Ok, so this thread is very old now! I thought I'd add my 2 cents though.

I added polyurethane bushings to all of the control arms in the rear of my Z32. After around a year, the suspension started squeaking and grinding horribly. Stiction was severe as well and the ride became noticeably harsher. The correct lube was used on all of the bushings when they were installed.

A month ago, I had my car up for my MT swap. While waiting on some new cat pipes, I decided to install as many zerk fittings as possible in the bushings. I tapped 8/10 control arm bushings and blasted in some bushing grease. Not only do my rear wheels "respond" more quickly to dips and changes in the road surface, squeaking is also greatly reduced. In fact, I can only hear 2 squeaks (probably coming from the 2 bushings I could not reach). Try jacking up your wheels with a jack and see how quickly the wheels drop again.

Like most suspension mods, poly bushings offer a huge advantage if you maintain them well! Make sure to trim down any parts of the bushing surface that rub against your control arm mounts. You want the center metal pins to sit against the mounts. You also want to maintain good lubrication of the bushings. I plan to lubricate my bushings every 6-12 months.

After a while, these maintenance items add up on a DD. Here's my (non-oem) schedule:

-Every 6-12 months: lubricate bushings and heim joints. Clean strut body threads and apply oil.
-Every alignment: reset tension rod heim joints
-Every 2-3 years: rebuild coilover struts

This is in addition to wheel balancing, scheduled alignments, etc.

[Razi]

Thanks for the info!