Bushing Debate

[Nitroblood]

I going to be replacing the suspension bushings on my 70 C20 soon. And I haven't quite decided on what to go with, Rubber or Polyurethane.

Anyone have pro/con experience with either type. I plan on driving simi-daily mixed in with some hauling and pulling. No off-roading, mainly streets and freeways. I really want to know if the ride is harsher or similar with the polys compared to the rubber. Cost does play a role, but not a determining factor.

Thanks for any input.

[XXL]

Poly is generally tighter, but by design. I have seen "soft" poly busings before, which were said to give similar compression to rubber. The big long-term benefit to poly is that they don't break down much over time-- unlike rubber.

[dwcsr]

I don't use poly very much because while rubber breaks down over time that time is usually 20 years or 10 years of everyday driving. Poly will wear like any other bushing due to the fact that you have to grease it to keep it quite. My experiences are that ploy depending on who makes it vary in fit, some loose and some tight. Rubber is a smoother ride and poly is a firmer ride. Some poly won't let your suspension flex thru the complete travel unless you grease them, rubber may be too flexible for some applications. If you use after market arms you may be limited to poly.
I bought some DJM arms that were so loose that I couldn’t use them and went with stock arms and rubber.

I'd stay with rubber unless you are drag racing or road racing and have the time to properly fit the poly bushings. With rubber put them in and don't worry about it. You will have sold it long before the rubber wears out.

[smokekiki]

Unless You updated to 73+ style,neither will work.The stock ones are screwed onto the arm shaft.

[Joe67]

Originally Posted by Nitroblood

I going to be replacing the suspension bushings on my 70 C20 soon. And I haven't quite decided on what to go with, Rubber or Polyurethane.

Anyone have pro/con experience with either type. I plan on driving simi-daily mixed in with some hauling and pulling. No off-roading, mainly streets and freeways. I really want to know if the ride is harsher or similar with the polys compared to the rubber. Cost does play a role, but not a determining factor.

Thanks for any input.

I went with the rubber kit from http://www.p-s-t.com/ on my '72 Chassis. The only poly bushing I used was for the Trailing Arms.

Do they even make a poly bushing kit for the 67-72 front ends?

[smokekiki]

The only rubber on the 63-72 front ends is the gease seals.You can get rubber or poly swaybar bushings.Same with the trailing arms,rubber or poly.

[69 longhorn]

Originally Posted by smokekiki

The only rubber on the 63-72 front ends is the gease seals.You can get rubber or poly swaybar bushings.Same with the trailing arms,rubber or poly.

YUP! also, the 73-up 20 series trucks still had the steel bushings in the a arms. I have urathane bushings in the leafs on my longhorn, as well as urathane cab mounts. i like them both, will say the ride is a tad harsher after the cab mounts, but not too bad,& the doors shut nice......69L

[Shane]

I think XXL was referring to the poly & rubber body-cab mounts.

Just a guess.

[Nitroblood]

Thank you gents! Your opinions and experiences are truly appreciated.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by Shane

I think XXL was referring to the poly & rubber body-cab mounts.

Just a guess.

Worse... I was just rambling on about the general differences. I didn't actually register the "I going to be replacing the suspension bushings on my 70 C20 soon" part of the OP. Er... eh... yeah, that's the ticket. I was... uh... talking about the cab mounts.

Oops.

[72MARIO]

I have poly Swaw bar bushings they are awesome gives the road a great feal.

I also have poly motor and tranny mounts. Themotor does not twist under load like the stock styles avaible. They feel greaat alos. No wierd vibirations like I was slightly concerned about.

[N2TRUX]

Try to find polygraphite bushings if possible. They offer the best of both worlds. They have the firmness and durability of polyurethane bushings, but they use graphite impregnated urethane so they never squeek.....