Thermoplastic vs polyurethane bushings

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I want to replace the stabilizer bushings and links on my 06 Escalade AWD. Can somebody tell me..

- The diameter of the front and rear stabilizer bars?

- Which bushing has better performance, thermoplastic (Moog) or polyurethane (Energy Suspension)?
 
Based on my research and reading, Polyurethane(Energy Susp) squeak a bit, but good for the life of the car.
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
Based on my research and reading, Polyurethane(Energy Susp) squeak a bit, but good for the life of the car.

I have the upper control arms in the jeep with polyurethane bushings installed, and before the long arms they squeaked like a nightmare. A dab of grease lasted several years, with water and mud play, never washed out.
 
I added a larger Addco aftermarket sway bar about 8 years ago to the rear of my Honda CRV. The bar came with polyurethane bushings and grease but after a few weeks of driving the bushings squeaked. I regreased the bushings only to have them squeak a few weeks later. I finally bought some Moog blue thermoplastic universal bushings and the squeak totally stopped. I have over 100,000 miles on the Moog bushings and they are as quiet as can be.
 
Poly bushings are really for high performance vehicles; ones where handling and cornering are the priority. They ride harsher and generate more noise. The factory rubber (probably synthetic rubber) and OEM replacement bushings are adequate for a stock vehicle, are engineered for maximum Noise, Vibration and Handling qualities (NVH) and work well for quite a while, but are a replacement item in a high mileage vehicle. It's more of a time thing than a mileage thing; say every 10 years or so.

I use both, but only the Miata (see the sig) gets Polyurethane, and in that case it's a full kit (every bushing on the car). Although I bought a full Energy Suspension kit, in certain critical areas I use other brands as the durometer rating for Poly is fully configurable. In layman's terms that means they can as stiff as you want, ranging from hard street to hard race, with ride quality suffering as you go harder while responsiveness improves in step. The truck and the PT Cruiser get OEM rubber.

You can get zerk fitting sleeves to go with a poly bushing install; it's an aftermarket performance part so you need to know a bit about your car to order the right sizes (no vehicle-specific kits). I'd have to dig deep in my parts list to find the vendor. If anyone is interested, PM me, no promises, but I'll try.

A tub of Energy Suspension lubricant rather than the small tubes that come with the bushings themselves is cheap (I think I paid $9) and will last you seven lifetimes.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Poly bushings are really for high performance vehicles; ones where handling and cornering are the priority. They ride harsher and generate more noise. The factory rubber (probably synthetic rubber) and OEM replacement bushings are adequate for a stock vehicle, are engineered for maximum Noise, Vibration and Handling qualities (NVH) and work well for quite a while, but are a replacement item in a high mileage vehicle. It's more of a time thing than a mileage thing; say every 10 years or so.

I use both, but only the Miata (see the sig) gets Polyurethane, and in that case it's a full kit (every bushing on the car). Although I bought a full Energy Suspension kit, in certain critical areas I use other brands as the durometer rating for Poly is fully configurable. In layman's terms that means they can as stiff as you want, ranging from hard street to hard race, with ride quality suffering as you go harder while responsiveness improves in step. The truck and the PT Cruiser get OEM rubber.

You can get zerk fitting sleeves to go with a poly bushing install; it's an aftermarket performance part so you need to know a bit about your car to order the right sizes (no vehicle-specific kits). I'd have to dig deep in my parts list to find the vendor. If anyone is interested, PM me, no promises, but I'll try.

A tub of Energy Suspension lubricant rather than the small tubes that come with the bushings themselves is cheap (I think I paid $9) and will last you seven lifetimes.


Sounds like the poly is what I want. The truck is split between back roads and highway, but the back roads are very winding, slope the wrong way, etc. making the truck roll over and eat up the outsides of tires. I'm pretty sure its 32mm front, 28mm rear. This is the front poly set I'm going to buy. I can't see the fitting, but it looks like a zerk that would connect to my grease gun. Does that mean I use the regular grease I use for ball joints, etc or do I need to change the gun to a different grease?

http://www.prothanesuspensionparts.com/3.5214
 
For an SUV go poly energy suspension for the sway bar. My explorer used to be undriveable in the wind and now I don't even notice it. Body roll is greatly reduced (along with stiffer shocks, helpers in the back). I think the Ford recalled and improved the front ones with a poly type rubber.

I had moog that I replaced a few years ago and when I removed them they were a bit deformed.

Use a lot of the special grease on the poly bushings. They are very quiet. The first week had a tiny squeak now nothing for many months.
 
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I have the white end link bushings made by Moog on my Buick. They're the problem solver series. They're sure a lot different than black rubber bushings. Very hard material in comparison to standard rubber. They've been very good. I have no complaints.
 
Leakyw, I went w the ES poly kit in red, I use Valvoline multi grease and never heard any squeaks, and it cost like $25. The fell is better than oem. I did this on my prior trucks that I've owned and they all worked perfectly. I can take some pics if you want.
 
I'm not familiar with "thermoplastic" bushings but polyurethane bushings will squeak in certain applications, those where there is a lot of twisting such as in control arms.
 
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