Suspension bushing kit prothane or similar

[nokia]

I'm starting to rubuild arm suspension.. if need replace rubber bushing , i beleive to install bushing kit as Prothane or similar , but i don't know the difference from rubber to plastic material . Is there anyone that has install ?
Thanks

 

[Wade]

The polyurethane bushings (Prothane or Energy Suspension) are a harder material than the rubber. There is slightly less deflection than rubber, they will ride a little harder than rubber, but on A arm bushings that won't be very noticeable.

A rubber bushing is vulcanized into the metal sleeve, so it must be torqued while the vehicle is set at ride height. It also has a slight spring rate, as the bushing rotates, the rubber is stretched slightly.

On a poly bushing the outer sleeve, poly isolator, and inner sleeve are just pressed into each other so the bushing has no spring rate and can be torqued when not at ride height. The plastic must be lubricated with the nasty white grease that comes with the kit or it will squeak like crazy.

 

[454cid]

The plastic must be lubricated with the nasty white grease that comes with the kit or it will squeak like crazy.

The stuff I've had was clear. I figured it was some sort of silicone grease.

 

[nokia]

Good to know , but the difference on the road ? Comfort ? Performance ? Suspension tiffness ?

 

[454cid]

Good to know , but the difference on the road ? Comfort ? Performance ? Suspension tiffness ?

Urethane is supposed to make the suspension more precise, but I don't have enough experience with it to know. I have the original rubber on my control arms.

 

[RichLo]

I usually always replace anything rubber with polyurethane (sometimes UHMW if I really want to be stiff).

Just burn out the old rubber, lube up the poly really well, and tap into old bushing. Really easy.

I also cannot comment on ride quaility or performance because whenever I do them I also replace a bunch of other parts at the same time so its always tighter/stiffer/faster.

 

[sewlow]

Buy a complete kit.
Some say that the red ones have a tendency to squeek more than the black ones. Less graphite content.
I have the red in my '98. Full body & suspension kit. They don't squeek.
I have a kit partially installed under my '97. Black ones. Sway bars, spring eyes & body mounts. They squeek! Go figure!
The control arm bushings do not just tap in.
The Energy Suspension bushings in my '98 required the use of a mondo-huge press. The 20 ton wouldn't do it. Had to move on over to the 50 ton.
...and use LOTS of the supplied lube. Lots & lots! Think you have enough slathered on 'em? Put on some more. Then a bit more for good measure. I ordered 2 extra tubes when I bought the kit.
I picked up a second set of arms from the wreckers. Cleaned, painted & installed the bushings & new ball joints the week before dropping the truck. Buddy lets me tinker in his shop when he's slow, but I have to pay for hoist time. Having everything ready to go beforehand not only kept that cost down, but it also made the whole process all that much faster & easier.
Other than that, yea, the rest are a pretty easy job to install.

 

[Awest623]

Replaced my front suspension and body mounts with black ones. Surprisingly the original 20 year old bushings all looked fine except one body mount. Didn't notice much difference in ride quality.

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