Uprated springs or polybushes??

[Bob]

OK.  Having decided to go the jack-mates route for front recovery (thanks for all the replies) I now have another question.

As yet another birthday follows shortly after the LRO show at P'boro I have liberated sufficient funds to treat myself to either uprated springs (std ride height for towing) or orange polybushes.

Which would be the better way to go as I can't afford to do both just now.

Ta.

[Bush Tucker Man]

I'll be keeping an eye on this one as well Bob, as I'll very shortly be in the market for new springs, shocks & probably bushes as well.
Again standard ride height, but possibly heavy-duty, and for same reasons as you - towing a 'Big White Shed On Wheels'

Does anyone know if the HD Discovery springs that John Craddocks advertise come in pairs, or as a set of 4? (like the Range Rover ones)

[George the Disco]

I'm running Deflex bushes which are rated between the orange and the red. Since they only cost iro £58 from Paddocks you should have some spending money left for springs  :D  8)

Chris

[Bob]

Chris.

How long have you had the Deflex bushes fitted and how do you rate them.

I like the idea of having some cash now for springs as well  :D

Ta.

[George the Disco]

Fitted them in June. Seem to be very good although they are quite hard. Not that I can really judge what the feel like compaired to a standard 200tdi with new springs and shocks and 182.5k miles under its belt!

One thing I would say though and thats don't skimp when buying your shocks. I bought the cheapest (had to at the time) I could @ £15ea and they really aren't up to much.

Chris

[johnknights]

I'm on 230,000 miles and I'm still on some original bushes, I have considered changing, but many of the people I have spoken to say they wish they hadn't, saying to harsh, etc. some have even tried various colours and said they were going back to original rubber next time.
I am on my third set of springs though, original set died after about 70K, replacement +2 inch HD set from a well known mail order company lasted better but after 100K looked like standard ones again, after a recomendation I have changed to the OME ones, got to say they are brill, still look like new after 50K, the guy who recommended them had done 100K on his, have now gone mad and bought the front shocks to replace the knackered 3 y/o decarbons, only snag is I like them that much I want the rear shocks changing too :-(
So my vote is buy decent springs, and leave the bushes til they are really knackered.
John

[George the Disco]

After 230K miles, I bet that they are noackered. mine were completely shot after 180K despite feeling ok when driving.

Chris

[johnknights]

they get checked regularly at service, and if any need replacing then I get the whole of that "corner" done, so technically half have been replaced, but when I was asking around about rubber or poly bushes, a couple of the people I asked said they were going back to rubber ones.

[George the Disco]

I'm sure that I didn't type that word like that?  :?  :roll:

[johnknights]

Don't worry I knew what you meant.
I have read somewhere that there is a rating sytem for bushes, bigger the number, the harder they are, I seem to remember that standard rubber ranks about 65 on the scale as do blue deflex, their were super flexi off road rated at about 50 and ultra hard fast road ones about 80 but I can't remeber the colour scheme dooh!

[davidlandy]

I got blue ones from Bearmach - my view is that they are bushes, therefore they should give a little otherwise I might just as well weld up all the joints!!!

he he

Dave

[Bush Tucker Man]

http://stripe.colorado.edu/~genovaj/Durometerscale.html


Hope this helps you John :D

[wifey]

Interesting diagram Ricahrd - wish I understood it
I think when I get mine done - probably in the spring or when I get the winch for the hole in the front bumbper - I'll do the lot. Which of course means waiting until I can afford it...
But surely, doing things in this area bit by bit isn't wise? Won't the bits then just wear out at different rates and b****r up the replacement schedule?

[Bush Tucker Man]

I don't believe that for a minute Tina, a very intelligent Lady like yourself ought to see the link contents for what they are.
It's simply a sliding scale of relative hardness/softness & the consequent items longetivity.

For example;
Shore A; the elastic band is a 30, it doesn't have to have a life/service expectancy.
The tyre is a 60, it has to be able to grip the road surface (not too hard a compound) and provide an economical service life.
That's unless it's needed for a special application, ie; Formula 1 ('the drive round in a circle gang') the slicks have acomparable rating to the pencil eraser(40)

Hope that's reasonably clear :)

[johnknights]

Great little drawing, unfortunately it still doesn't help me remember the colour coding