tires and wheels Poly urethane sway bar bushings?

[Guest Anonymous]

Much of my 02's suspension is upgraded. It has CR steering (thanks Al H!), Bilsteins, Boxed front and rear control arms, larger springs, sway bars and wheels and tires. The one thing that I never upgraded was the forgiving rubber suspension pieces. The rubber has been changed over the years, its just that I have not gone the polyurethane route. I have done this with heavy machinery, but no one expects a smooth ride on semi off road vehicles!

I recently noticed the rubber sway bar bushings and endlinks are distorted and am considering moving to the big batch of ubiquitous yellow urethane that has been sitting in a bin for years. My reluctance to use these is that they seem rock hard. They will compress and twist with enough force applied, but they are no where near as compliant as their rubber counter parts and seem to stiff for what is basically a street machine.

My question is, anyone else using these very hard bushings? Forgetting about the squeaking issues, can anyone explain the ride difference and handling changes? My rubberized version is as responsive as I could possibly ask. Can it get better?

[Mike87]

My experience with urethane sway bar bushings is that you really don't notice them until you are in a corner, then you can feel the crispness of the sway bars working better.

You can feel control arm and diff mount bushings with a slightly harsher ride, but overall not as much of a compromise as stiffer springs/shocks/etc.

[Guest Anonymous]

I ran poly bushings for years on some very stout after market sway bars. I decided to try to soften up the rear sway bar assembly to tone down the percieved oversteer. I replaced the doughnuts with rubber and it seems to soften the roughness and reduce the sence of oversteer. I will replace the front when I find a source of rubber doughnuts. I drive freeway 60 miles a day in southern California and the freeway surface is very harsh. Hey it takes 20 minutes to change them out give it a try with poly see what you think.

Have fun

[Mike Self]

they don't affect the car's ride as they only come into play when cornering "in a spirited manner."

I have 19mm bars front and rear, so to improve the bias I have urethane bushings in front and rubber in the rear. Lessens the oversteer until I can find a 21 or 22mm bar that'll clear my A/C compressor pulley. Then I'll put urethane bushings in the rear too.

I'd use urethane sway bar bushings if I were you...they last longer and really do help cornering without degrading the ride.

mike