I put poly bushings on my sway bar. not the link bushings but the bar bushings. All was great until this recent rain in San Fran. Now they make the most ANNOYING squeak. It is not subtle at all. I submerged them in the enclosed grease. I could not have done anything else more than I have to prevent them from sqeaking.

No way am I going to pull things apart and regrease them several times a year. turning the stereo up does not help things.

Im going back to the old rubber bushings. Im actually putting the old cracked ones back on since I expect to get another couple years out of them and I dont want to wait til new rubber ones come in. The noise is that annoying to me. Cant go another 100 yards dealing with it. Maybe it has something to do with me being a musician...

The current poly bushings are going in the trash.

Its not worth it. Trust me on this.

 

Mmmmmmm, strange one that.

Mine are 12 years old now, and are the "red poly" , and no issues.

I did, however, have a hell of a job getting all the old crusty gunk off the sway bar area prior to fitting them.

 

I had the same problem with polys on my old XJ6. Yet others, like Grant, report no problems. <shrug>

Maybe Grant has a point about contamination...but I have a vague recollection of my bar being shiny metal in the area where the bushings are. <shrug>

I've noticed that some suppliers offer a u-bracket with a greasing zerk installed, suggesting the problem isn't entirely unheard of. I used one of the needle-point attachments on my grease gun to squirt a bit of grease in there every few months

Cheers
DD

 

I tried to grease it with a needle to no avail. It is a real PITA to get in there with it. Its not a straight forward job. On mine you have to remove the lower radiator hose to get to them. Its a very tight fit. My hands are all scraped up from putting the old ones back in there. So even having to go under there with a grease gun every so often, IMO, is not worth it.

Mine had grooves on the inside where the grease could sit. When I pulled them out they were still well greased in all but a very small section along the outer part. It doesnt take much for these things to squeak. now that the old ones are back in, I find the difference in handling to be subtle. I think a lot of it is placebo.

nice to know I dont have to worry about it again...

From this point on, the only place I would use poly bushing are on parts that do not have any movement.

A lot has to do with weather. I think if you lived in La or a hotter climate, you would not have an issue. Seems as soon as it gets to 50 or below these things start to squeal. This at least seems to be my experience.

 

I made the stupid mistake of using poly bushings on an old Corvette, like many other owners did thinking they were somehow 'better'. Bad idea from the squeaking point of view and also for defeating the basic reason that a captured (versus free-floating) bushing is used by the OEMs in the first place.

Never again.

 

Polly bushes can squeak thats why they come with grease. Before installing PU bushes you really need to decide what the car is to be used for. If it is a daily driver and you value comfort PU bushes are probably not what you want. If you want a car for ultimate handling then they will be on your shopping list.

I have had PU bushes in Upper wishbone, rack and front bar and am very happy with the transformation in front end response. The sway bar bushes do squeak sometimes. I am thinking that installing a shim between the bar and bush might fix this, my theory is that it will hold the bar much tighter and prevent the bar twisting in the bush.

cheers
Warren

 

Warren,

I'm at the point where I can start replacing the bushings on my front end (and eventually the rest of the car too).

Is there anywhere you would not use them on a car to be driven regularly on the track? V12s offers this kit. Any thoughts? (other than, SH**, that's a lot of money for bushings).

JAGUAR XJS XJR-S V12 Complete Polyurethane Suspension Bushings Set XJS XJ12 XJ6 | eBay

 

Teflon tape on the bar before the bushes go on stops squeeking. Don't know how well it lasts though.

 

I don't think that is overly expensive, I paid $350 for 2x sets stock rubber radius arm bushes.

I used SuperPro bushes in the front end as these are what the XJS racers use in the UK, I have PU in the rack and upper wishbone, lower wishbone is rubber. My car is going to be mostly a road use with some track days

Find SuperPro Parts for My Vehicle

Doing it again and with advice from a guy who builds race cars I would do the following. He said the PU bushes in the WB chew out very quickly.

GAZ height adjustable front and rear. I have used Bilsein without height adjustment I do not want to flare the outer guards and I am a bit concerned that the rears tyres will rub if it is lowered 17x10 rears with 275/40-17

Front end
PU bushes in the rack. A MUST HAVE for me any way.
Rubber in the upper and lower WB Although for a track only car PU probably ok.
Solid mount the subframe ie weld plates on the rubber mounts.

Rear end
Solid mount the subframe, weld pipe across the mounts.
Weld triangular gussets in the LCA's to reduce flex.
Rotate large radius arm bush 90° so the holes are to the sides. Or better still remove radius arms.
Lower diff cage brace - mine is going to go forward from the inner fulcrum shafts to the floor pan under the back seat.

 

Thanks Warren. Good suggestions.

BTW, Kutuka in UK offers aluminum bushes for the steering rack.

Larry

 

Has anyone actually done this? I'd like to hear the results. If you think about it, the engine is isolated by rubber mounts, and all of the suspension that attaches to the subframe is on rubber mounts... So why do you need rubber mounts to attach the subframe to the chassis? Think about it - everything attached to the subframe (engine, control arms, sway bar) all have their own rubber mounts?

Anybody have real world experience here? How does the ride feel?

 

I'd be interested in knowing this as well. My car is FINALLY about to be out of the shop. After getting paint and the interior re-installed I'm going to drive it for a while. After that, though, the suspension will be my first upgrade project.

Seth

 

I believe that different vibration frequencies are tuned out by the tyres, the subframe bushes, the engine mounts and even the seat cushions. If you remove some of these 'layers' some frequencies will not be removed. So you will get a harsher road car;

My question is, why would you remove the front subframe rubber mountings? What would it be intended to achieve?

 

If you look at most cars today, they do not have redundant bushings. Subframes are mounted directly to the chassis, and the suspension parts, engine, etc are all bushed by rubber mounts and bushings. If you keep adding rubber, you will probably reduce noise and vibrations, but at the expense of crisp handling.

The intended result is a sharper riding and driving car. My Jag's handling and ride is sluggish compared to my newer car. Steering response is squishy and turn-in is sloppy. I already installed poly rack bushings, replaced the outer tie rods, and installed a thicker front sway bar - but I still have a lot to do. Springs, shocks, and poly front control arm bushings are next. I was thinking that eliminating the redundant front crossmember bushings might help.

Come on - there have to be some racers out there that have tried this!

 

roflmao. I switched the control arms on my 05 Nissan truck I wheel to adjustable Heim joints. No urethane or rubber. theyre fine on the street too. I havent had issue with squeeking. Course I didnt with the poly bushed old a arms either. just greased occassionally

 

Read what these guys do to prep a race car, anything you do to tighten up the car will have an effect on NVH. It comes down to what is acceptable for YOU.

Jaguar XJS Racing Hire Car build Stage 2.3