How long should Poly bushings last?

[fwilder]

I need to replace my C bushings with ones with more caster. Have a 3.5 lift and was going to get 6.25 bushings. Was wondering if I should just do all of them. It got new duff bushings (all) back in 99 or so. The truck sees mostly road driving in Oregon and So cal. Has probably seen 35000 miles in 10 years. How long should these things last. I'm not seeing any weird behavior. At least not from the truck.

 

[Broncobowsher]

I got about 8 years and 25k (including some hard wheeling) and the C's were starting to split
Track bar was about 1 year and the death wobble would come back
Never changed leaf spring bushings
Changed the radius arm at the same time as the C's but they were still good.

 

[ransil]

I have 2 year old radius arms bushings and they are cracking, I'm putting rubber in this time.
C's seem to be Ok at this point.

Track bar my street Bronco's are 5 years olds and I starting to get wobble, I have a set ready to go in.

 

[eaglenest66]

Aged ones will crumble like cake! At least that is what recently happened to a set of radius arm ones in my bronco that are at least 10 years old. I am going to use rubber ones as replacements. Will be replacing the c-bushing ones as well but have no choice but to use the poly ones because of the lift.

 

[fwilder]

Wow, I'm shocked that you guys have only got that much out of your bushings. I figured mine were good to go for another 5 years. I'm going to go look at them, but I have no wobble or any other sign of trashed bushings.

 

[ep67bro]

It all depends on the use, abuse, and weather that you opperate the truck in. I have had my polly bushings in my 67 for 5 years and they are still in good shape. But the ones I replaced were getting preety dry rotted. They had to be at least 10 to 15 years old. Replaced a set in another bronco and they were around 20 years old maybe more, that truck was used alot for plowing snow and had a lot of rust and salt damage.The bushings crumbled like old bread when I took them out!

 

[72Quarterhorse]

Don't know how old these are. I bought the bronco like this the radius bushings crumble like a cookie but the c bushings shocks and trac bar bushings are all steel good and I would think they were all put on at the same time. Hmmm Maybe the heat from the exhaust.

 

[blubuckaroo]

I throw the poly donuts away when the set comes in. They just don't last like rubber and aren't worth the trouble of putting them in.

 

[Steve83]

I put Energy poly in my '83 back in the late 90s, and it's all still like-new. So are the ones in Frank's '75 that were installed in '02, and although it sat for ~6 years, it's now his daily-driver.

I think the ones that are crumbling aren't as good quality as Energy. I've noticed that DayStar poly nearly crumbles when new.

 

[DirtDonk]

Wow. Yeah I was thinking the same thing as Steve. I've got a mixed set of Energy and Prothane that have been in since about '85 for some, about '95 for the rest. About '99 for the body mounts, but I don't expect them to deteriorate much anyway.
Several Rubicon trips and plenty of little minor wheeling trips, but mostly a DD (Daily Driver) and nowadays a dd (driveway derelict) but all bushings are in perfect shape except for a bit of "chalking" on the C-bushings that is probably more from coolant leaks than anything age-related.

The only ones I have replaced on anything resembling a regular basis were the trackbar bushings. But after I started lubing them up with anti-seize instead of regular grease or that sticky silicone lube the bushing makers sell, they lasted for about 35k miles and were still good the last time I drove it.

I don't actually expect them to last forever, but they look to be trying.
Maybe it's brand related, maybe it's just that back then they were made with different compounds than they are now? Dunno, but so far, so good.

Paul