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super beetle sway bar bushings ...RUBBER ?? URETHANE ??
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splitpartsunlimited
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:45 am    Post subject: super beetle sway bar bushings ...RUBBER ?? URETHANE ?? Reply with quote

since i have ordered lots of sway bar bushings to have them in stock for my local customers (rubber and urethane) ,and i have to take my cabrio fat chic to the mechanic for a sway bar bushing replacement tomorrow , i would like to know what kind of bushings would suit best ....what`s the advantage of an urethane bushing against a rubber one ?? if i install urethane pieces , will the car be noisier while running on unvenen surfaces ?? will the suspension be harder ?? will the car behave as a bouncing rock ??

i have no culture on this matter , so i need as much advice as possible .

the urethane bushings are from top line , the rubber bushings are from wolfsburg west/bbt

best regards and merry christmas !!

Ricardo
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jhoefer
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Urethane flexes less than rubber so it gives more control to the suspension parts. Since the swaybar controls the front/rear location of the wheel, that is good. But it will transmit more noise/vibration/harshness than rubber. It doesn't really make the suspension "harder", it'll just sound that way. Urethane can also develop squeaks if you don't lube them initially and regularly afterward. I would probably not use urethane for the swaybar bushings in the control arm. That joint needs to flex a lot and that will prematurely wear urethane.
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GüteAndTite
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:45 am    Post subject: Re: super beetle sway bar bushings ...RUBBER ?? URETHANE ?? Reply with quote

splitpartsunlimited wrote:
since i have ordered lots of sway bar bushings to have them in stock for my local customers (rubber and urethane) ,and i have to take my cabrio fat chic to the mechanic for a sway bar bushing replacement tomorrow , i would like to know what kind of bushings would suit best ....what`s the advantage of an urethane bushing against a rubber one ?? if i install urethane pieces , will the car be noisier while running on unvenen surfaces ?? will the suspension be harder ?? will the car behave as a bouncing rock ??

i have no culture on this matter , so i need as much advice as possible .

the urethane bushings are from top line , the rubber bushings are from wolfsburg west/bbt

best regards and merry christmas !!

Ricardo


wow- split guy posting in the late model forums- way to win them over with "my cabrio fat chic", insult to injury.

use rubber, unless your intending rice rocket your car, then by all means go urethane.
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splitpartsunlimited
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

it is wrong to call a 1302 a "fat chic" i thought it was a nice nickname .....

the problem is that i can choose between rubber or urethane on the front bushings , but not on the rear ones....i could only get urethane bushings for that ....

will the suspension be "harder" ?? "noisier" ??

thank you

Ricardo
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Gerrelt
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My urethane bushings squeaked at first (the two front ones). But I painted my front swaybar, and the paint had let loose from the bar where the bushing is pressed against the bar.

When I removed the paint, and put some lithium grease between the bushing and the bar, it was totally solved. And still is. I thought it would start squeaking again, but it didn't.

I also used urethane bushings for where the swaybar is attached to the suspension arm. No problems so far, but I only did those bushings half a year ago.
The urethane version is a lot easier to install then the rubber ones, because they are in two parts.

I don't experience extra noisy-ness from them.

Owh, while you are at it, I would strongly recommend to replace the front swaybar with a thicker one. It makes the car a lot more stable!
Of course, then you would need non-standard front bushings too.
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vw_hank
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The urethane bushings dont deflect as much as the rubber, which means things stay in place Wink take the sway-bar and lift up on one side, it should fight you! but the rubber bushings "Squish" and let it move A little bit. no big dill on A driver, but if you like hitting the corners hard Cool you want every thing staying put!! the only time I have ever noticed A harsher or noisier ride is when hitting pot holes, rail road tracks, Ext..
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splitpartsunlimited
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well , after dismantling the front axle today , i have found that the control arm (metal and rubber bushings)had the rubber completely detached from the metal part , the front sway bar bushings were completely destroyed ....i have replaced the metal/rubber bushings with the same kind , the first ones were bought at wcm , now i am trying the w west ones , they seems to be the very same ....sway bar end bushings were replaced by urethane units , from top line , i couldn`t get rubber ones.

front ones , (i have also bought them from west coast metric initially ) were replaced by w west bushings , my surprise was when i found that both companies carried BBT bushings .......

no explanation how after 8000 miles the bushings were that bad ....

maybe the front axle bolts were fastened with the car on the elevator at that time , i don`t know ....just in case , i have kept a spare set of front sway bar bushings in urethane in the case rubber bushings fail again .......

i just need a smooth ride , i am not going to take corners at hi speed so i hope bbt improved their rubber formula ......
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