Replaced failed strutrod poly-bushing today - Took video of working suspension

ir3333 said
original rubber bushings do not move and are designed to provide some torsional resistance.Aren't some of the poly bushings lubricated so they move freely? That would allow the moving ones to last longer.
I have seen the little anti sway bar bushings cracked after a couple years though.

Well since the strut rod bushings don't carry any torsional loads I'm assuming you're talking about the LCA bushings now?

In which case, I really don't understand why you think any of that is an advantage. Torsional resistance at the LCA bushing means the suspension isn't moving freely. But that's a marginal claim anyway, since you know that you can ruin the stock bushings just by tightening the LCA pins with the suspension extended and then sitting the car down to ride height. Think about that. The only "torsional resistance" the stock bushings offer is the shear strength of the rubber, which is slightly more than nothing. It just happens to be less than the surface friction that holds the rubber in the inner and outer bushing shells so the bushings tear before the shells spin in the bushing. It's not an advantage. Yes, most of the poly LCA bushings don't have an inner shell, so the bushing rides on the pin and you lubricate the pin and bushing so the LCA can move freely. That's a better set up for the suspension, you just have to more tightly control the length of the strut rod so the LCA doesn't move fore/aft on the pin. But that doesn't mean the rubber bushings didn't allow that, they just had a bunch of rubber at the LCA bushing and at the strut rod so that the length of the strut rod was less important, the suspension just moved around and the rubber squished about and allowed it. The poly bushings resist compression more, so the tolerances have to be more accurate to put everything in the right place.

If your sway bar bushings are cracking after a few years, buy better bushings. Or maybe lubricate them better and don't over tighten the mounts and compress them so much. I haven't had that issue with any of the poly bushings I've been running. The poly LCA bushings I just pulled out of my Duster after close to 12k miles look brand new, I just swapped them for Delrin.