Poly vs rubber suspension bushings

[AshReynolds]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on the forum and I am a proud owner of a 98’ Jeep TJ Sahara. I bought my childhood dream car almost a year ago. For its age it’s been kept in great condition by the previous two owners but I need some help/advice.

After I broke down due to my spark plug blowing and had to have it towed to a local garage, I asked them to have an overall look and they came back saying my suspension bushings are very worn.

Now I’ve tried to research the best bushings to fit onto my Jeep and two biggest things I need to consider is 1. What do I use my Jeep for and 2. Picking between Poly and Rubber bushings.

Now I use my Jeep as a daily driver and would like to in the future use it for some light off roading.

Should I choose Poly or Rubber bushing kit?

 

[Chris]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on the forum and I am a proud owner of a 98’ Jeep TJ Sahara. I bought my childhood dream car almost a year ago. For its age it’s been kept in great condition by the previous two owners but I need some help/advice.

After I broke down due to my spark plug blowing and had to have it towed to a local garage, I asked them to have an overall look and they came back saying my suspension bushings are very worn.

Now I’ve tried to research the best bushings to fit onto my Jeep and two biggest things I need to consider is 1. What do I use my Jeep for and 2. Picking between Poly and Rubber bushings.

Now I use my Jeep as a daily driver and would like to in the future use it for some light off roading.

Should I choose Poly or Rubber bushing kit?

Welcome to the forum.

You should always choose rubber over poly, unless it's going to be a dedicated off-road vehicle, in which case then I would say poly would be fine. But for on-road driving, you definitely want rubber.

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

Welcome to the forum.

You should always choose rubber over poly, unless it's going to be a dedicated off-road vehicle, in which case then I would say poly would be fine. But for on-road driving, you definitely want rubber.

Chris, can you clarify if that's just for specific parts like control arms? I know he said suspension but I've seen posts on here stating it's less important for certain things (i.e. sway bar link bushings/sway bar bushing - either is fine) while for control arms it is much better, as you said, to use rubber.

 

[Chris]

Chris, can you clarify if that's just for specific parts like control arms? I know he said suspension but I've seen posts on here stating it's less important for certain things (i.e. sway bar link bushings/sway bar bushing - either is fine) while for control arms it is much better, as you said, to use rubber.

Let's put it this way: If you can find a rubber bushing, it's the better choice than poly. That goes for everything really.

However, I realize in many cases this just isn't possible. For instance, coil spring spacers are almost always poly, and I've never even seen one in rubber. That being said, you don't have a choice. But when you do have a choice, rubber is the better option.

Again, this assumes that the vehicle is going to be mostly drive on-road, with occasional off-road use. If it was a trailer queen meant for off-road only, then it wouldn't matter. Poly is much worse for transmitting NVH though, so for on-road use it's always best to avoid if you can. But again, in many cases there is no other alternative.

 

[jjvw]

Is the Jeep stock or close to stock?

If you need to replace the rubber in the stock control arms, it is often best to just replaced the entire arm with a stock replacement.

 

[dbbd1]

If you need to replace the rubber in the stock control arms, it is often best to just replaced the entire arm with a stock replacement.

And easiest. Trying to just replace the bushings is no fun.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

X2 to the recommendation to stick with rubber bushings. Not to mention polyurethane bushings tend to start squeaking loudly which requires a special grease to help combat it.

 

[Not_Invented_Here_]

Appreciate the clarification, I'm installing new links/SB bushings this weekend (from Moog) and couldn't find any readily available options with rubber bushings. I plan to eventually swap the control arms out and those definitely will be rubber but for SB I'm just gonna have to stick with what I've got ready to go...

To Jerry's response, I think the video I watched used silicone spray to combat squeaking?

 

[Benjeepn]

From my experience, poly bushing should NOT be used in suspension components. IMO, they are only sold for ease of installation. Every poly bushing I've installed fit well but quickly allowed too much play to be useful.