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Rubber vs. Polyurethane


blackspawn
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I personally use poly replacements when I need to change something out. Personal preference plus Energy Suspension brand stuff is decent priced and you can get em off Steeevo @ Rugged Rocks :aok:

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I'm not sold on Poly stuff. Anything poly on my truck seems to wear out FAR faster than it's OEM, rubber counterparts. Yes, poly is stiffer, yes it's more readily available (aftermarket), but I don't think it's as durable as rubber.

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I'm not sold on Poly stuff. Anything poly on my truck seems to wear out FAR faster than it's OEM, rubber counterparts. Yes, poly is stiffer, yes it's more readily available (aftermarket), but I don't think it's as durable as rubber.

I searched high and low recently for poly bushings, and had no luck at all. Where are you guys finding this stuff. Energy suspension doesn't show it anywhere I could find.

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I searched high and low recently for poly bushings, and had no luck at all. Where are you guys finding this stuff. Energy suspension doesn't show it anywhere I could find.

 

Poly bushings are the easiest to find.

 

I would start at energy suspension website.

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/categories.asp?cat=Nissan+Pathfinder+4WD

 

Or http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com

 

or http://www.4x4parts.com/nissan

 

or even my local parts store like autozone, napa and all them sell all the energy suspension lines of products.

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Also on a side note Ruggedrocksoffroad.com seems to be the fastest place to order them from for me at least might depend on where you live though.

I never found any of that when I looked. All the parts stores I checked(NAPA, O'reilly, bumper to bumper) offered no poly for my year model. My local off road shop told me that they were no longer available from ES.

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I have picked up two used pairs of Rancho 9000s. They came with poly bushings of course. Unknown mileage on them but the shocks still worked great, and the bushings were cracked and crumbling. Whereas the rubber bushings on my stock shocks, even with 180,000 miles, still looked and felt new.

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my compression rod bushings are moog poly and my swaybar bushings are all energy poly. they swa bushings have been on for about 5 yrs. The compression rod bushings have been there for over a decade.

Many people fail to LUBRICATE Poly during assembly. It requires a thick synthetic grease on all contact points and all areas that will squish. Energy suspension sells "energy suspension Formula 5" for this very application.

It is the thickest grease I have ever used and it does not like to come off of anything. Little secret; wd40 allows it to be wiped off of most surfaces.

Edited by MY1PATH
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my compression rod bushings are moog poly and my swaybar bushings are all energy poly. they swa bushings have been on for about 5 yrs. The compression rod bushings have been there for over a decade.

Many people fail to LUBRICATE Poly during assembly. It requires a thick synthetic grease on all contact points and all areas that will squish. Energy suspension sells "energy suspension Formula 5" for this very application.

It is the thickest grease I have ever used and it does not like to come off of anything. Little secret; wd40 allows it to be wiped off of most surfaces.

Thanks, I'm sure you had to buy the Formula 5 seperate,right?

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I never found any of that when I looked. All the parts stores I checked(NAPA, O'reilly, bumper to bumper) offered no poly for my year model. My local off road shop told me that they were no longer available from ES.

 

I just went on every auto store website you mentioned all of them sale them including napa and o'reilly.

 

Here are the links to several sites that sale them for your pathfinder and your model year.

 

Model year 87 thru 95 are all the same.

 

If you have a autozone close by i also have a link down there for it also.

 

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/nissan-pathfinder-wd21-r50-bushings-c-38_488.html

 

 

https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/pathfinder-pathfinder-front-bushings-c-435_377_349_741.html

 

 

http://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/Energy-Suspension/Product-Line/Energy-Suspension-Rear-Control-Arm-Bushing-Sets/Make/NISSAN/Model/PATHFINDER/Year/1991/?Ns=Rank|Asc

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/products.asp?cat=Nissan+Pathfinder+4WD+1991

 

 

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Energy-Suspension-Control-Arm-Bushing-Front/1992-Nissan-Datsun-Pathfinder-4WD/_/N-j55exZ8oy1l?counter=3&itemIdentifier=357410_271550_4222_

Edited by wd21overland
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Do they make a poly bushing for the lower front control arms, I couldn't find any?

 

Yes they make them for the lower control arm also but it will only come with 2 since the other part of the lower control arm is the strut rod so look for strut rod bushings also.

 

But energy suspension sells a complete kit with upper, lower control arm in one package.

Edited by wd21overland
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Yes they make them for the lower control arm also but it will only come with 2 since the other part of the lower control arm is the strut rod so look for strut rod bushings also.

 

But energy suspension sells a complete kit with upper, lower control arm and strut rod bushings in one package.

Do you have a link for me? I appreciate!!!

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Do you have a link for me? I appreciate!!!

 

Here are the links from energy suspension and rugged rock so either or.

 

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=7.3102

 

or

 

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/energy-suspension-black-front-end-control-arm-bushing-set-1987-95-nissan-pathfinder-p-2379.html

 

Those links are for the complete upper and lower control arms for the front.

 

 

And these two links are for the strut rod bushings.

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=7.7106

 

or

 

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/energy-suspension-red-front-strut-rod-bushing-set-nissan-pathfinder-1987-95-p-2384.html

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Rubber gives more than poly so it won't feel as stiff and its wearing out should seem more progressive. Poly does need to be lubricated but should last longer in punishing applications. Perhaps it doesn't like salt?

I have new poly bushings for my upper control arms and compression rods so we'll see how long they last.

 

B

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Thank you, I really do appreciate it.

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Thanks, I'm sure you had to buy the Formula 5 seperate,right?

I did my sway bar bushings and end links, and it came with some lube in a little tube. Not sure if all Energy Suspension bushings come this way but mine did.

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Moog uses blue for their poly and black for their rubber.

No they do not say lubricate them to in the instructions but it is a good idea.

 

Hmm. They called it thermoplastic rubber (the blue stuff). I guess you are right, that could just be their code word for polyurethane. There do exist thermoplastic polyurethanes, and I guess "rubber" can refer to "synthetic rubber" which can be pretty much anything. Perhaps I will try to slop some grease on top, better than nothing at this point. At least I know how to do it properly for next time.

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