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Whos got poly leaf bushings? Who likes'em? Anybody modified them?

9T3XJ

9T3XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
FoCo, Colorado
So after searching around for replacement rubber bushings for tomken leaf springs and not being able to find them i'm thinking i'm gonna have to go with poly bushings.

I have heard bad things about them so i was wondering if anybody that has them actually likes them.

Also has anybody ever modified them to flex better?

I was thinking about drilling out a ring of holes (parallel to the bolt hole) maybe about .75" deep on both sides to soften them up and allow better movement? What do you guys think?
 
I dont think the flex is a big problem with poly leaf spring bushings. The springs do most all of the flexing anyway.
I dont like poly bushings because they're noisy. Ive got to shoot mine with silicone lube every so often to keep them from sqeaking too bad.
I would be affraid to drill holes through the poly. Poly doesnt stretch like rubber does. The holes may just make them tear.
 
How did you get bushings for $6-$9 a piece, when i checked stock cherokee bushings were about $25 for the small end and about $40 for the big end?

The thing is though that tomken used different sized eyes then the stock springs so the only way i found to get bushings was to go through the book at the parts store and check specs for everything they carried till i found the right size. Thats what discouraged me in the first place
 
So looks like i'm back to looking for rubber bushings.

Just out of curiosity, anybody know a vehicle with 2.5" wide springs and a 2" diameter?
 
I used poly with new springs, I like them so far. Just keep em' lubed. Takes an hour while I'm doing other maint. I just ordered poly bushings for the control arms, I'll see how those go, I just use a thin layer of grease all over.
 
For you guys that didn't like the poly bushing, what brand poly bushing did you guys have that you don't like?
 
I ask because Energy Suspension has the graphite impregnated (black) ones, which are supposed to be a little better than the regular red poly bushings.
 
The problem isn't so much that i can't get bushings, i can't seem to find any in the size i need.

I've checked all the vehicles i can think of with 2.5" wide springs but i can't find any that have a 2" outer diameter.

And i've seen the graphite bushings but that has more to do with reducing the squeak that everybody gets from poly bushings rather than changing the fact that they are still really hard
 
Ive got poly on the passenger side on the front eyelet and it gets squeaky here and there when dust and mud get in there. I didnt notice much of a difference but again I didnt go poly at both ends on both sides.
 
Poly dosn't flex well so it transfers a lot more twisting force to the unibody. I modified a set for CJ spring bushings and they worked a lot better. Basically I held them between my fingers and turned them down on the bench grinder. I made the ends smaller diameter. It basically allow the spring to pivot or rotate on the bushing. They lasted years but I would recomend factory rubber ones on a XJ because the unibody transfers a lot more vibration then a full framed rig. I got mine from Advanced but they arn't really cheap when you have to buy 4.
 
Thats the problem, the leaves are tomken 6" springs i picked up used, one end uses a 1.5" bushing the other uses a 2" bushing. Stock springs use 1.5" and 2.75" bushings.

Tomken just sells replacement poly bushings for their springs and when i called them to see if they could recommend a place to get rubber bushings they told me to call daystar
 
Sounds like a fantastic reason to never use Tomken springs. First time i've ever heard of someone making an aftermarket XJ leaf that DOESNT use stock sized bushings. Terrible idea on Tomken's part.
 
The price was right, i got the springs for next to nothing so i couldn't pass it up.

The funny thing is, is that they have rubber bushings in them now so i know somewhere i can get them, i'm just tired to searching
 
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