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Full poly front, worth the price tag?

S

sclay

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Location
Bellingham, WA
So never have I seen a vehicle where the polyurethane bushing prices have been so high. I recall doing full poly on my older MR2 years ago, and it was around 90$ for the set, granted, I am sure prices have gone up, but seriously, a pair of bushing for the front of a 940 is over 20$ more than that, and it is only for two bushings. After the whole front end is done, I would be looking at somewhere around 250$, and I haven't even touched the rear.

Now I know poly is worth it, on the MR2 it was a night and day difference, and I am sure it would be on the 940 as well, but, is it really, truly worth the inflated price tag for what I will be using the vehicle for? I do not plan on tracking the car(at least not yet), and the rest of the suspension will be consisting of IPD springs/sways, and some not yet decided dampers, but something obviously more performance oriented. More than likely will not see an auto-x either, but maybe in the future.

I am all about doing it right the first time, but I just can't believe the prices on these bushings, and if I can still put together a tight suspension that will last for 1/4 of the price, well, obviously I'd like to do that. I know factory bushings will not be able to hold a candle to poly units as far as stiffness and directness, but I am just attempting to determine how much of a difference I will notice on a 940, with the above mentioned mild suspension bits.

Steve
 
If you want expensive, I got all Superflex poly bushings through a Mitsu group buy for the S40 and it was still over $700. After that I thought full poly on the 940 was pretty reasonable. :lol:
 
buzz said:
If you want expensive, I got all Superflex poly bushings through a Mitsu group buy for the S40 and it was still over $700. After that I thought full poly on the 940 was pretty reasonable. :lol:
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Whoa damn, nevermind then! Sheesh yah, that is expensive as hell!

Steve
 
sclay said:
Whoa damn, nevermind then! Sheesh yah, that is expensive as hell!

Steve
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Yeah, there's a pair of (normally priced) $200 bushings up front plus a pair of $75 bushings in the rear. The rest are the 'generic' $40 each type.
 
The poly bushings are probably worth it, you will notice the difference...

Also, be aware that you will still kill the cone bushings regularly if you push the car hard (even just on the street). So you don't really get more durability for the increased price tag.
 
I think I talked to him awhile back about them, but I do not recall pricing. I do believe it was in the neighborhood of what I am looking at elsewhere though.

Steve
 
Gary's a good guy, send your business his direction.

You will like the poly if you want the car to handle well, you won't if you want it to continue to drive like a Lincoln Town Car.
 
I think I did send ya a quote a while back. Honestly, I've had full poly in the car and rubber. Up front the BIG difference is the cone bushings. The PO installed a set of poly from IPD at 100k and I pulled em at 225k, with the last 50k being with me abusing it heavily. They were still in decent shape and ended up on another car as I had a set of Superpro's to put on. The control arm and strut rod bushings don't tend to wear as much as the torque rod bushings on these cars, but I did notice a difference between the poly and rubber on mine when I swapped the whole front end out.

Depends on your budget. There's the cheaper poly that'll work for a while, there's rubber that'll work for a while, or there's nice poly that'll work for a while. All depends how you drive the car, and what you expect from it in return.

By all means, if you have specifics in mind, I can certainly get you a current quote if you'd like.

Please don't feel I'm pressuring you. I simply like the product that I sell. :)
 
I have all poly up front in my 744 and I love the way the car rides and reacts.

If I had the $ I would be putting poly in first time on all 7/9 series I ever picked up
 
Okay great, glad to see positive statements here. I really didn't want to stuff all that poly into the car and not notice a difference, I don't particularly mind spending some coin if I am going to see a decent difference. Gary, I'll shoot you a PM later on today to get some updated prices from ya.

Steve
 
I have full poly as well as the camber and caster mod, and the car has lots of grip. way more than the standard springs and shocks can handle.

It is worth it if you need to replace the bushings. I don't see the economy of putting in rubber bushings.
 
I got Superpro poly all around for my 94 940 from Gary. It is a different car. It feels tighter and more responsive. Gary is a great guy to deal with. Replies to all the email promptly unlike some. ( You know who you are)
 
What bushings are people replacing with poly? Keep in mind guys, parts of the car that see significant shock load in one axis probably shouldn't use poly. When poly's hit hard enough, it doesn't bounce back. Rubber does.
 
kendogg said:
What bushings are people replacing with poly? Keep in mind guys, parts of the car that see significant shock load in one axis probably shouldn't use poly. When poly's hit hard enough, it doesn't bounce back. Rubber does.
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At first I was going to answer your post with a snarky board troll answer, Like "your argument is invalid" and put a picture of an unhappy animal. However, I'm trying to have my internet persona be closer to my real life personality. I wouldn't just insult you and brush you off to your face, so this is what I feel is a genuine answer.
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I just don't think that is the case for our cars. I and many others have replaced every single one with poly with outstanding results.

All of the bushings can be replaced with poly or solid hiem joints. I've never seen a superpro poly bushing fail in the front end (or rear) of a 7/9xx.

The rubber is needed because it needs to be flexy just doesn't happen with the suspension geometry of our cars.

I know where you're coming from, but we're not bending strut rods, or tie rods because of the stiffer bushings. Mounting points aren't breaking because of the bushings transmitting more force into them. The poly is lasting a long time. I don't see why rubber is needed.
 
Magnum TE said:
At first I was going to answer your post with a snarky board troll answer, Like "your argument is invalid" and put a picture of an unhappy animal. However, I'm trying to have my internet persona be closer to my real life personality. I wouldn't just insult you and brush you off to your face, so this is what I feel is a genuine answer.
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I just don't think that is the case for our cars. I and many others have replaced every single one with poly with outstanding results.

All of the bushings can be replaced with poly or solid hiem joints. I've never seen a superpro poly bushing fail in the front end (or rear) of a 7/9xx.

The rubber is needed because it needs to be flexy just doesn't happen with the suspension geometry of our cars.

I know where you're coming from, but we're not bending strut rods, or tie rods because of the stiffer bushings. Mounting points aren't breaking because of the bushings transmitting more force into them. The poly is lasting a long time. I don't see why rubber is needed.
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And thanks for the honest answer :) I haven't looked too much into the Volvo suspension stuff yet. Working on trying to get custom dampers/springrates settled on my 960 first (after the LS 5.3 swap in a few months).

In the BMW world at least, those suspensions were designed with the principle that they WILL move around. That, and the amount of force BMW designs their suspensions to transmit to the bushing material, explains why they require a bit more frequent replacement than alot of other cars) Rear trailing arm bushings (RTAB's) pivot on 2 axis - poly is a poor replacement for this location. The current 'hot ticket' upgrade is the OEM E46 M3 solid rubber RTAB's, and if you really feel the need, poly or metal movement limiters. Front Lower Control Arm Bushings (LCAB's) take a significant amount of stress. Do companies make poly * bearing-type joints for either of these locations - yes. Is it ideal - no. Do many of them tear parts out of the car - a few, but not all that many in the grand scheme.

Sorry for the off-topic discussion guys. Poly has it's uses, but from an engineering POV, most suspension engineers that actually know anything will tell you poly isn't a good material for long-term use in a majority of suspension joints. It wears faster, and can prevent movement in crucial directions in some chassis configurations. How many real racecars do you see using poly? Not many. Now, does that mean that nobody should use it? Absolutely not, However, I do believe it should be noted, that as with most performance parts - more frequent maintenance, and replacement, should be expected vs OEM parts.
 
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