Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys got an issue with the anti roll bar bushes as I need to replace them as my mechanic said it would help with the ride steering etc .
Anyways I have a 1982 2.0 Aircooled was wondering whether to get the polyurethane ones I have heard they last longer and are better or just bog standard ones ?
Question is how many do I need and what are they actually ? 3 for each side or ?...

Get the powerflex ones. I'm not a fan of replacing every single bush with powerflex as I find the ride way too hard when its used everywhere, but on the antirollbar (you need a pair), I wouldn't hesitate. Their longevity is well suited and it does improve cornering.

Up to you on droplinks. I went for stock rubber.

Bog standard ones from GSF are cheap and to be honest you should get a good few years out of them. One per side.

http://www.justaircooled.co.uk/anti-rol ... -1990.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Replace the rubbers on the drop-links at the same time, they're only a few quid each as well (2 per side)

i prefer the company polybush i have these on mine and there very good. The downfall with powerflex i was told is that they supply grease to coat them before fitting which then makes it a bearing not a bush (peoples thoughts)???? and polybush says the only thing that should be used is a small amout of soap prefably tyre soap..

Thank you all very much
Off to GSF tomorrow for me then

silicon grease on powerflex? Thats merely to ease fitting and on the antirollbar you don't need any at all, not should you use any.

leelisa26 wrote:i prefer the company polybush i have these on mine and there very good. The downfall with powerflex i was told is that they supply grease to coat them before fitting which then makes it a bearing not a bush (peoples thoughts)???? and polybush says the only thing that should be used is a small amout of soap prefably tyre soap..

A bush is just a plain bearing without any rolling elements, so I wouldn't have thought a bit of grease would make any difference - the ARB bushes just hold the centre horizontal section of the ARB bar in place while allowing it to rotate relative to the chassis.

We've just gone through the process of getting all our bushes replaced with Powerflex, and the ride is very nice thanks very much.

clift_d wrote:

leelisa26 wrote:i prefer the company polybush i have these on mine and there very good. The downfall with powerflex i was told is that they supply grease to coat them before fitting which then makes it a bearing not a bush (peoples thoughts)???? and polybush says the only thing that should be used is a small amout of soap prefably tyre soap..

A bush is just a plain bearing without any rolling elements, so I wouldn't have thought a bit of grease would make any difference - the ARB bushes just hold the centre horizontal section of the ARB bar in place while allowing it to rotate relative to the chassis.

We've just gone through the process of getting all our bushes replaced with Powerflex, and the ride is very nice thanks very much.

i wasnt saying the ride would be any different betwwen the two or that there was any quality issues i was asking for opinions and not a arguement. I have actually had polybush training from polybush and they state that the grease powerflex supplies enables the bush to actually turn on its self because it is acting as a lubricant. It also depends on the polyurethane used and how it as been cured.

clift_d wrote:

leelisa26 wrote:i prefer the company polybush i have these on mine and there very good. The downfall with powerflex i was told is that they supply grease to coat them before fitting which then makes it a bearing not a bush (peoples thoughts)???? and polybush says the only thing that should be used is a small amout of soap prefably tyre soap..

A bush is just a plain bearing without any rolling elements, so I wouldn't have thought a bit of grease would make any difference - the ARB bushes just hold the centre horizontal section of the ARB bar in place while allowing it to rotate relative to the chassis.

We've just gone through the process of getting all our bushes replaced with Powerflex, and the ride is very nice thanks very much.

What colour poly? Have you had any issues off-road with the drop links popping off?

I don't know that the ARB bushes would turn as they're specifically to prevent this happening.

ninja.turtle007 wrote:What colour poly? Have you had any issues off-road with the drop links popping off?

To be honest we've not done any off-roading in it yet - it's only been back on the road a few weeks. Drop link bushes top and bottom, and radius arm bushes, were all the softer yellow compound.

clift_d wrote:

ninja.turtle007 wrote:What colour poly? Have you had any issues off-road with the drop links popping off?

To be honest we've not done any off-roading in it yet - it's only been back on the road a few weeks. Drop link bushes top and bottom, and radius arm bushes, were all the softer yellow compound.

I think there have been some issues with purple reducing the articulation. Yellow is supposed to be okay. I have a mix of yellow powerflex, polybush and rubber being fitted to mine. I'm hoping this works well.

Said this a few times, but no matter which type you adopt, blindly changing the lot is madness. Its always better to change items a pair at a time, test, decide if you can live with it, before changing others. Otherwise if you do the lot then aren't happy with it, you won't know which ones ruined it or improved it. Certainly there can be quite a difference between the properties of rubber and modern materials and it does not follow that you'll actually get a better ride by replacing every rubber mount/bush for poly ones. Some areas work better with a stiffer composite, some with a softer one and to a large degree its a matter of taste. The guys who race cars on tracks will know what I'm talking about here.

Mind you. when you've spent a few hundred pound on bushes, you're hardly likely to tell anyone its worse - particularly the wife.

CovKid wrote:Mind you. when you've spent a few hundred pound on bushes, you're hardly likely to tell anyone its worse - particularly the wife.

Actually it's more a case of 'if you're completely stripping and rebuilding the undercarriage of your van why wouldn't you replace all the bushes at the same time.' Also, all the feedback we saw pointed to the fact that the poly bushes had a much better life span than the OEM rubber, so being as we didn't want to be replacing this lot again in a hurry the Poweflex stuff didn't look so expensive in comparison.

Besides, how could it be worse than the 25 year old stuff that was in there before.

You would think so, but I've driven a few vehicles that were horrible to drive after poly bushes were fitted extensively (on and off track), and a few that seemed better. The next man might think differently, and thats why I say its as much to do with taste as anything else but key to getting things right is changing them in phases. Longevity sure, but I'd rather have a mix and get a ride thats right for me rather than what someone else deems the ideal.

Comes up too much this subject. No one ever agrees. In the end you fit what you like to be honest.