Hardrace rubber bushings.? Any Opinions?

Dannycoldhill · Post by **Dannycoldhill** » Sun May 04, 2014 6:01 pm

Installed bushings from Hardrace on my bb2 -92

According to their site these bushings should be 150% stiffer, ( that should be almost twice as hard as the stock ones)
and that sounds just fantastic
But fantastic is it Not!

In my opinion i would say they are about half the stiffness of my old ones, and it feels like i've been ripped off

Anyone have opinions or experience of this?

Crappy vid but shows what i mean.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Sun May 04, 2014 6:49 pm

i think thats not the direction in which they will show you a higher stiffness as thats not the direction of force when on the car.

are they rubber? why didnt you get polyurethane?

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Sun May 04, 2014 7:29 pm

Yep, the bushes don't actually provide resistance to twisting like that when they're on the car I don't think?
You'll probably find that the old ones have gone hard (so they will have more resistance to twisting like that) but have sagged so they're softer in the direction that the bushes actually work in (lateral forces through the bush).

Someone else on here replaced oem engine mounts with hardrace and was happy with them, but for suspension bushes I don't think anyone has fitted hardrace? They all go for energy suspension polybush instead.

Dannycoldhill · Post by **Dannycoldhill** » Sun May 04, 2014 8:11 pm

Have to correct myself... 150% stiffer would be almost three times stiffer, right...?

And, yes it it rubber and should be stiff in any direction
When i found out from their website, if they would kept what they promised there should be no reason not to buy rubber
Read a lot about polaruthane bushings squeeking and needs lube etc
Hard to find real good facts on the web though...

Post by **Donald** » Sun May 04, 2014 8:35 pm

150% more is 1 turning into 2.5.

You have to be careful with wording with things like this because people get confused by percentages and use them willy nilly for marketing reasons.

150% stiffer than OEM is 1+1.5.
150% stiffness of OEM is 1*1.5.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Sun May 04, 2014 8:41 pm

hmm, cant see how they would make rubber harder without making it more prone to snapping. imho poly is the way forward. you only need to pressurewash them and douse them with silicone spray every 3 months of daily driving imho.

put it all on the car. i think you'll be fine when it comes to it.

Cutz · Post by **Cutz** » Sun May 04, 2014 9:35 pm

Dannycoldhill wrote:Have to correct myself... 150% stiffer would be almost three times stiffer, right...?
And, yes it it rubber and should be stiff in any direction
When i found out from their website, if they would kept what they promised there should be no reason not to buy rubber
Read a lot about polaruthane bushings squeeking and needs lube etc
Hard to find real good facts on the web though...

the poly bushes only squeak if they are left for ages to go dry.

i had a pair of squeaking ones on my rear anti-roll bar, a little poly grease and they were nice and quiet.

where possible, always go for graphite impregnated poly bushes (generally the black ones!).

i only use bushes from Energy Suspension.

Speak to Graham Slaughter @ http://www.energysuspensionparts.com

the site is excellent and he'll dispatch all bushes to the uk with no issues.

they do lots of universal bushes and even the liquid polyurathane for making your own custom bushes.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Mon May 05, 2014 12:42 pm

i second graham at E.S. great guy.