Poly urethane bushing problem

In less than 6000 miles ALL of the poly urethane bushings on my 4 link set up are trashed. I mean cracked and knarled ! The car sounds like a rattle trap that is going to fall to pieces when I make a turn.
Anyone using a bushing that will last a while????

I had a customer with a Ridetech setup that was the same way. He had about 700 miles on his setup. Chassis shop that installed the parts did a terrible job and the kit left a bit of room for improvements that we had to make so that the upper links stopped trying to tear themselves out of the chassis. Made all the fixes and car gets thrashed and driven quite regularly.

If they're cracked and 'knarled' they probably simply deteriorated like these type of bushings sometime do.

Most likely a type of urethane or silicon that's susceptible to weather influences or certain cleaning products, if used.


Here's a similar issue;
http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=57922

See if Energy Suspension or Prothane make a graphite-impregnated poly bushing for your application. Regardless of what bushings you end up using you will want to use a silicon-based or silicone-impregnated synthetic grease; Redline, Royal Purple, Mobile 1, and Neo make this type of grease. This grease is very durable and "clingy" so it doesn't wash out with water and your bushings will love it; you can also use it in ball joints and tie rods too.

If it is a RMS 4 link I'm sure you can get rubber or poly bushings from them, I would also guess you could find some replacement rubber ones local if you are in California.
I personally never use poly in any suspension parts in my cars, I will use it for transmission or body mounts but not for anything else.

I've used poly in various forms for over 30 years. It seems to have a finite lifespan, before it completely disintegrates. Reminds me of fire ant bites, somehow they all know to bite at same time, poly fails the same way. The strangest aspect, I often at the auto trade shows, like PRI, the exhibitors that have poly products, asked how and why the stuff fails, I get the tilted head blank stare dog look answer. I have stuff never been off the shelf, disintegrate, all colors, all conditions. Age seems to be the only common factor, and every item seems to have its own amount usable time. Yours ran out. I don't think it is a lubrication issue or type, that effects lifespan, contrary to popular thinking.

That would be Nipper, the RCA dog.

Thanks for the input guys.

Search for, or make your own, Delrin bushings instead of polyurethane... I've had Delrin bushings for over 30 years in my UCAs and still a-ok like new. Sway bar end link bushings made of polyurethane eventually crumble apart... I'd like to replace them with Delrin.

Firm Feel sells Delrin LCA bushings.

I'll take heims over poly.

I think delrin is an option, but maybe not this car only because of noise transfer especially from the rear axle. My last car was about 80% delrin bushings. If you have loud, noisy exhaust, it may not be so bad, but on the GTX it would be pretty noticeable.

Firm Feel is where I get my bushings. Give Dick a call. By the way, were they installed with pre-load?

According to the folks at Ride Tech in the late 07-early08 time frame ( when I bought the 4 link from RMS) they had a bad supplier . This supplier used what THEY called "powder metal" for the sleeve. They resolved that issue and have not had a problem since. They are sending me FREE replacements!!

So, we are talking the urethane bushings failed in a RMS rear 4 link set-up, just to be clear? How does ride tech fit in?

RMS does not build the 4 link system, he buys them from Ride Tech. Bill builds the AlterKtion.

That is the first time I have heard that. Has that always been the case and still is currently?

I had a quick look at mine and it looks to me that they are rubber with a steel sleeve, thinking back Bill may have offered options for the bushings at the time.
I would guess that if ride tech does make some of the parts it's the 4 arms that come in the kit as they come painted and all the brackets are made by RMS are bare steel. I

If one is using all solid normal hardness urethane bushings in a rear triangulated 4 link, and not driving only on the drag strip, the system by design has no real compliance to overcome its natural designed in bind issues. Urethane would likely fail in due time in those conditions. Rubber anywhere in the links would reduce that bind by allowing some compliance, IMO. The OP implied to me the whole bushing system had failed, and was urethane, if I understood the situation correctly.