Still trying to decide between poly or stock rubber bushings for my front control arms on my 70. I'm not into racing but we've got all back country roads around here so maybe poly is the way to go. My rubber bushings are the originals and they are totally shot! Does polygraphite really make a dramatic improvement to those who have used it or would I be just as satisfied with rubber?

Can the rubber bushings still be bought at the GM dealer? I saw our sponser (Ground UP) has them. Anyone else use another supplier? Wonder if Autozone or Napa has them?

I know this topic has been beaten to death but I guess I just want someone to make my mind up for me! :confused:

I went poly. I changed from original rubber and tiny sway bar to tubular arms, polygraphite bushings, stiffer springs, and 1-1/4" sway bar. I have no idea how much of a differance the bushings made. It would probably take a back to back experiance for me to tell the differance between a completely new front end with poly vs. rubber bushings.

I don't notice any more road vibrations either.

I guess I can't help you at all. smile.gif If I was going to do it again, I'd use poly again. I don't notice the rougher ride they say you get with them. Unless you're an old man who likes a soft ride or have really rough roads (and New England has rough roads but not rough enough to bother me), I'd suggest poly.

Tim.

Personally, I'm using rubber bushings on my upper A-arms, and Poly everywhere else. Works mint. No rough ride issues. I used Poly for years with no rough ride issues there either. I think the rough ride comes from shocks and/or springs more than bushings.

FYI, I only went with rubber on the uppers because I made 'em myself and wanted to "take it easy" on 'em. I have about 25,000 hard miles on 'em now with no problems.

There's very little bushing material in the uppers. Everywhere else is quite a bit, so poly is probably a better choice.

My 70 has Polyurethane bushings in it, my 69 has rubber. The 70 rides rough and you can feel every little bump in the road with it, but that is the way I built it. The 69 has a much smoother ride. If you just want something to cruise around in, go with the rubber.

I believe you can get the rubber ones from Pep Boys or Auto Zone. I paid ten bucks each for my rear bushings. They are reproduced and made by Perfect Circle. I had the same problem as you and I decided to put rubber ones back in. If they last another thirty years I will be to old to notice if they are shot.

ask me again in the spring i am about to
replace mine with poly the hardware is sent away to be sandblasted :D did change the rear ones
last year that was a huge difference so if the
front ones makes a similar inprovment i`ll be happy
mike in the snow

Thanks for the input guys. I decided on the rubber and just placed an order for most of the components necessary to rebuild my front suspension. All Moog parts for $315 shipped to my door!!
Here's what I got:
Center Link
Idler Arm
2 upper ball joints
2 lower ball joints
2 inner tie rod ends
2 outer tie rod ends
2 tie rod adjusting sleeves
4 rubber upper control arm bushings
4 rubber lower control arm bushings
sway bar end link kit
2 sway bar bushings

I can't wait to get at it! Will need to rent a coil spring compressor and pay to have bushings pressed out/in but I think I did alright. Should probably be checking into coil springs and shocks yet as well since everything else will be new.

You'll probably hear from me again when I run against a problem doing the rebuild. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Can I ask where you got that deal, im intersted also.
Thanks,

Rick,

I ordered my parts from www.autopartsgiant.com (http://www.autopartsgiant.com) and they are from California so no sales tax. They also have free shipping on orders over $50! My only added expense was a $2.95 handling fee. You can call them at 1-877-654-4268.

Good Luck graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'll try and post the link but I'm not real good at it.

Here's my attempt!


http://www.autopartsgiant.com/CAT_FRAME.CFM

Thanks, Scott. I will check it out. The pricing looks to be good. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

re autopartsgiant--hope you don't need to return anything that's wrong...

My experience :(

edit: I should have checked BBB first...

I'm shopping right now, with the discount at Ground Up, it looks like the deal. You should check them out. I believe the same kit at g/u is 295.00 - 10% = 265.00. I think that's where I'm going. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

71metbu,

Ground Up has a very compareable offer if you're a member here and I totally forgot about the discount we get! Duh graemlins/clonk.gif

The deluxe front suspension kit is $259.00 and includes everything but the center link and sway bar bushings which are $59.95 and $8.95 respectively which totals $327.90. With my 10% discount that comes to $295.11 plus shipping so it would have been pretty close to the same deal but the way it sounds customer service might be better.

I wanted to make sure I was getting all Moog components and wrongfully assumed Ground Up kits were a mix of other brands. Turns out they are all either Moog or GM components.