General consensus please. Poly bushes or R32

jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
So after returning to the forum my 2nd ever pd150 Leon fr 1m I'm looking to get it up to scratch and make improvements etc. I have long term plans for the car.

Now I have been sworn away from poly bushing my MK4 Jetta, in Canada, from a guy I buy parts from.

So what is the general consensus on poly bushes now for both my pd150 and my 2.slow Jetta.

I have tt arms on the way for the pd150 and a pair of normal arms for the Jetta waiting bushes.

I was looking at PSB for the Jetta but didn't know what to for to the tt arms for the Leon.

How have fellow members faired with poly bushes over the years.

Cheers
 

MoToJoJo

Active Member
Mar 25, 2014
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Northants
Currently have TT/Cupra R arms fitted to my PD150 with SuperPro offset rear bushes and Cookbots with SuperPro front bushes. Had no issues with them, not sure how much they affect handling on their own as there’s other things I fitted at the same time
 

jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
Currently have TT/Cupra R arms fitted to my PD150 with SuperPro offset rear bushes and Cookbots with SuperPro front bushes. Had no issues with them, not sure how much they affect handling on their own as there’s other things I fitted at the same time
Ok thanks for the response. Just trying to gauge how poly bushes are holding up generally.

A guy on YouTube in the states added powerflex bushes to his R32 and they split after about a year. So I'm dubious about fitting them to my Jetta and leaving the country for months at a time knowing my daughter is in the car.
 

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
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Ok thanks for the response. Just trying to gauge how poly bushes are holding up generally.

A guy on YouTube in the states added powerflex bushes to his R32 and they split after about a year. So I'm dubious about fitting them to my Jetta and leaving the country for months at a time knowing my daughter is in the car.

Humble Mechanic?


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jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
If it's Humble Mechanic then he got the split bush replaced for free as warranty thing from Powerflex
So maybe just a dodgy batch then? So nothing to really worry about from powerflex bushes that won't be pushed hard on a stock 2.0 Jetta with 16 inch winter tyres on?

Its just the bushes are shot and I want to replace and also hope poly copes better with Canadian winters for the Jetta at least.

The Leon is a different story.
 

MoToJoJo

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Mar 25, 2014
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Yeah, they're normally pretty sturdy, not sure about Canadian winters tho as that's some proper cold stuff. Could always chat with Powerflex, they're relatively friendly
 
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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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I really rate Humble Mechanic. I think with his control arm bushing it was something that came fitted to the car when he bought it, so it could have been put on badly or maybe it just was faulty. PowerFlex and SuperPro are really good with their warranties though - it just depends whether you want to take the faulty bush out and fit a replacement!

I think [mention]Connor H [/mention] had an issue with one of his and it got replaced no questions asked.

I've not had any problems with any of my bushes. I checked the rear beam ones (FloFlex from eBay - £35 I think) after a year and they're still solid, and the same goes for the control arm ones, which are SuperPro. The only original ones I have are the subframe and steering rack, and my top mounts I replaced with Febi ones because people have said polybushed top mounts are really harsh.

No squeaks or knocks. Well, not from the bushes anyway...


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jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
So I went with the PSB 21mm kit from eBay for my Jetta. Fitted in low temps and the car drives much better now, alongside poly droplinks and new tie rods.

No squeeks at all and if anything the winter tyre drone on the concrete roads, namely the 401 north of Toronto is louder but not by much. Could be the car is quieter from next to no rattles and squeeks from the knackered bushes I replaced

Shall buy the same bushes for my TT arms for the Leon.
 

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iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
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So I went with the PSB 21mm kit from eBay for my Jetta. Fitted in low temps and the car drives much better now, alongside poly droplinks and new tie rods.

No squeeks at all and if anything the winter tyre drone on the concrete roads, namely the 401 north of Toronto is louder but not by much. Could be the car is quieter from next to no rattles and squeeks from the knackered bushes I replaced

Shall buy the same bushes for my TT arms for the Leon.

You're braver than I am - it's raining here and I'm not going anywhere near the car until that clears up.

At least the cold weather will make the bushes shrink slightly and be easier to fit...


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jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
You're braver than I am - it's raining here and I'm not going anywhere near the car until that clears up.

At least the cold weather will make the bushes shrink slightly and be easier to fit...


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I pressed the bushes back in December here in England. Only bushes I had to fit was the ARB ones and they was a pain. Cleaned the threads and used long nose pliers to pull the bracket to the subframe so the bolt would take.

Lesson learnt is do that bush with the inner tie rod removed if your doing that job also.
 

MoToJoJo

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Mar 25, 2014
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Oh yeah, ARB bushes. You watch a couple of YouTube videos and think it's a doddle, then you do it yourself and it's the hardest thing ever
 

jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
Oh yeah, ARB bushes. You watch a couple of YouTube videos and think it's a doddle, then you do it yourself and it's the hardest thing ever
I knew it wasn't easy. Think I stumbled upon a thread on a VW/mk4 forum where someone said to tighten the brackets and form the bush you could use the slider bolt from the rear brake caliper or something .

It took longer to do the bushes than it did to do the track rod arms though I managed to buy a cheap but handy tube from an auto parts store over there. Absolute godsend that was..
 

Connor H

Active Member
Dec 19, 2019
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Essex
I knew it wasn't easy. Think I stumbled upon a thread on a VW/mk4 forum where someone said to tighten the brackets and form the bush you could use the slider bolt from the rear brake caliper or something .

It took longer to do the bushes than it did to do the track rod arms though I managed to buy a cheap but handy tube from an auto parts store over there. Absolute godsend that was..
I just used longer bolts , made the job a doddle
 

jcth1

Active Member
Aug 25, 2007
119
10
Somerset/Toronto/Winnipeg
I just used longer bolts , made the job a doddle
Would gladly have used longer bolts but the local Canadian tire is crap for what fasteners they stock and the closest fastener shop isn't around the corner.

Think it's about 8km away and I wasn't in the mood to bus there and back.

Would have been the plan for my Leon but since I'm building everything onto a spare subframe there will be no drama hopefully.
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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I started the job thinking that if the bolts were long enough to begin with, they'd be long enough for the replacement bushes. I couple of hours later I ended up at Halfords. I don't have an excuse - Connor told me to do that beforehand.

There are few feelings worse than feeling like you've got a really awkward bolt threaded, only for it to let go. Multiply that about fifteen or twenty times and you're ready to seek professional help - the psychiatric type.

Definitely much easier to do with the drop links disconnected too. I rotated the ARB backwards and then rolled it into position, which kind of clamped the bracket in place. It was still an utter pain though.


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