What is your experience with Urethane bushings? good or bad ? What about regular rubber bushings ?

I am a firm believer in poly bushing for my style of driving. I like the feel that they impart and their durability. All sorts of tips and tricks for installation can be found on this and other sites, but if I had to offer a couple of my favorites, I'm an advocate of doing one side at a time (at least on the rear suspension, and make sure everything is clean and well-lubed up with appropriate water-proof grease before reassembly and torquing to spec with the vehicle weight on the suspension.

Hi,I have to ask "Well lubed up with water proof greased".What are you greasing on rear bushings.I am about to replace tork rod bushings with urethane bushings and didn't know that you did this. please let me know. Charlie

Urethane bushing kits normally come with a packet of white lithium grease. The lithium based grease can be purchased at autopart stores and or home improvement stores. Slather liberally on all contact surfaces of the bushing to prevent annoying squeaks down the road.

jorrell
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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

Let me suggest, IMHO, that in recommending "waterproof grease", the best choice is the wheel bearing grease that you get for BOAT trailer hubs -- you can get it in little tubes to be used in minigrease guns (I carry one with my boat trailer, with Bearing Buddy caps, so I can give them a shot during a long trip).
This grease is made for exposure to water, and doesn't "wash away" as readily as ordinary car/truck hub grease. In fact, I've compared the little packets/tubs that IPD encloses with their Poly kits to the grease I use on my boat trailer hubs, and it seems identical in every way, so much that I suspect that this is exactly what IPD uses.

I put some poly on my 740 earlier this year. It has been great very tight. The only thing is when it is cold there are a little more clunking. It is not there when it is warm out.
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'89 745GL 216, 130 miles; '00 V70SE 155,000 miles and counting!

I do not like green eggs with ham. Go with original rubber bushings no aftermarket and I wouldn't waste my money on the expense of polyurethane only to discover that they squeak over time, are too harsh and don't last forever like people claim. Rubber is the choice of Volvo and every other OEM, for a good reason, because they are the best material for the application and will provide the best ride characteristics. Be aware that poly is a big money maker for after-market parts houses and they market the hound out of them. Do not be suckered by the hype. Read all you can on the web about their pros and cons before buying poly.
Charles

Poly SuperPro TABs from FCPG are absolutely the way to go IMHO. This is a topic that comes up regularly on the board. Lots of posts including tons of how-to info. I think the newest and best idea to come along is the hole saw to remove your old rubber bushings. Get an extra deep one, not just the garden variety from Home Depot. (holepro.com)

Use a 2" wire brush on a heavy duty drill to clean out the inside of the shell after you drill out the bushing.

DS

These sound like great Idea's ! I really need to change my front trailing arm bushing's of which have already seperated from the inner metal sleeves.If I put the rear wheels on ramps, I can undo the bolts & lower the trailing arm,holding it with a block of wood. I will not have to remove the trailing arm & putting on the hydraulic press.
I already know how to make a portable press with a long bolt & washers to install the Urethane bushing & sleeve.I did this before installing urethane bushings on my power steering unit.
This can also eliminate the need for that special tool to remove the large rear trailing arm bushings.Mine can still wait a few years.

Did the hole saw this year replacing the TAB on my 86 245. No more thumping from the back on take off or the roaming feeling at faster speeds. No home-brew TAB tool, not that there is anything wrong with that.

One lesson learned the hard way, drop the tailpipe before you start drilling the passengers side TAB. Check all the other bushings and have a replacement before you start the job. I replaced all the bushings with all poly on my job. There as a Pan Handle bushing that was in bad shape and two other bushings that were showing signs of cracking. My bushings were in really bad shape and I knocked out the center piece on both sides and was able to pull out a lot of the old TAB before using the drill. So it went pretty quickly.

Good Luck,

Paul

Aftermarket rubber bushings are junk, so if you go rubber, be sure you know what you're getting.

So far, my experience with poly bushings has been good. They'll be cheaper if bought from FCP Groton, I believe. IPD sells them with some shells that you really don't need.

-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 324k, Dog-mobile, E-codes
1990 245 DL 137k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars, GT Braces, Dracos
1991 745 GL 304k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars
Buckeye Volvo Club

actually the bushing shell would come in handy if your own bushing shell was rusted through as mine did.

I tend to be conservative in most things Volvo and go OE. Did rubber on the fronts OE Volvo from the dealer. When it came to the rear bushings including the TAB I used IPD poly. Couldn't be happier, the ride is just as good and quiet with poly. At the time I was able to rent IPD's tool as I posted above so the tool plus an overnight soak with PB Blaster made for a no-glitch job. But you are working on your back in a confined space so be prepared...

If you want to see what poly can do and feels like, there is a relatively easy way. Even though I had put new rubber sway bar bushings on the front, I purchased poly and replaced the year old rubber sway bar bushings with poly. Firmer but not harsh. The front sway bar bushings are about the easiest to install - no casings to remove, everything bolts in place and is easy to reach.

I would definetely use the poly for both control arm bushings and the torque rod bushings in the rear. All the others are debatable.

I want to use the IPD Urethane bushings

If you are replacing your trailing arms with Urethane you do not need to make a TAB tool. You leave the old bushing shell in. you remove the old inner bushing and rubber and stuff the new urethane in.
Bushings made by Superpro are very good. There are others MFGS that are also good but some that are not so good.
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73 ES, 91 240, 98 S90

What is your method of removing the old vulcanised rubber ?

Here's my method: As noted, drop the rear muffler to give yourself some room. Get the car on jackstands under the rear jacking points. Put a floor jack under the diff and support the suspension. Unbolt the rear shocks and remove the anti-sway bar. Lower the diff until the springs are no longer under tension. Remove the bolts through the TABs and raise the diff to get the axle's ears out of the trailing arms. If your bushings are completely destroyed, you may be able to pull the center tubes out. If not, drape wet rags around the emergency brake cables/housings. Put a propane torch's head right into the tube and heat it up until you can pull the tube and the metal inserts out of the bushing. Put some newspaper on the ground, it's a messy process. Take care to watch where the flame is and if it is exiting the other end of the tube. Watch your rags! Now it's time for the hole saw. If you have a deep enough saw, you don't even have to remove the center tubes. Regardless, use a 2" hole say and a heavy duty drill. Go from the inside (of course) and pay close attention to keeping the drill straight. You must avoid damaging the bushing shell. Once you have cut out most of the old rubber, I recommend a 2" wire disc brush on a drill or die grinder to remove the rest of the junk. The shell must be completely clean. Lube up your new bushings inside and out with the grease they come with and git 'er done! You MUST have the full weight of the car on the suspension before you torque the TAB bolts. Reconnect the shocks. Oh, don't forget to rehang the muffler. TA-DA! Excuse the somewhat abbreviated reassembly process.
DS

You MUST have the full weight of the car on the suspension before you torque the TAB bolts.

I have to question that "weight on suspension" thing Dave.

It is valid with the OE vulcanized rubber bushing, where the flexing of the rubber is part of the bushing's torsional snubbing effect on the TA's bounce travel.

But I doubt if those greased up urethane "inserts" are contributing any torsional effect to consider when tightening.

IMO, they are not true bushings in this application, being basically just "spacers" that avoid the tough OE bushing replacement job while feeding the current "poly" craze. They probably don't hurt the normal handling a lot, but IMO they aren't doing the same work as the rubber OE bushing.

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Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Bruce, you are absolutely right about only clamping the bolts down on the center tube, so no need to have the car on the ground for that. There is another consideration though. One is supposed to put the same 90 lbs of torque on the poly bushing tube. I'm a little bit nervous about doing that sort of thing on jack stands!! Especially true on my hated, sloped driveway.

On the issue of OEM bushings' snubbing effect, certainly they have some "leverage", pun intended, being offset from the axle center line and being rubber. I think the lion's share of the rotational forces in a four link setup like this are handled by the torque rods though.

DS

I agree with Kenner. Save yourself some money by purchasing the poly SuperPro rear TABs from FCPGroton.com and clean out your original shells. IPD includes new shells with their kit which raises the price and requires the special tool for installation. I cleaned the old rubber bushings out of my shells fairly easily with a hole saw and some abrasive discs. Once they're clean, the 2pc poly replacements slip right in with the included lubricant.

That sounds a lot more appealing than wrestling with the TAB tool.
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GSP in Chilliwack, BC, Canada