Strut Rod Bushings Oem Or Polyurethane

[billydpowell]

Hi guys and gals, well I replaced my OEM bushings with polys a couple of weeks ago, and got a surprise. "pure drifter" said they were noisy, but I didnt understand why, now I know. NOW I am going to take the polys out and go back to OEM.

The polys are not flexible, make the ride hard & firm, like having no shock absorber. I want my cabin as quite as possible.... so I am taking these things out.

[dasha1]

Thanks Billy. That's good to know. You may need to order the entire strut rod, though. I've replaced virtually the entire front suspension in my 99 with OEM, including strut rods, lower ball joints and control arms, shocks, sway bar links and bushings, power steering grommets, tie rod ends, rebuilt OEM rack, and perhaps a few other parts I can't think of. It really improved the ride and handling a lot. It feels much more "luxurious" than before the parts were replaced, and I've got no suspension noises. However, I "cheaped out" on the upper control arms because they would have been over $800 for OEM for the pair even from parts.com. I put in Arnotts that cost $199 for the pair and I am not sure that was a good move. I am now getting a bit of drifting/wandering at high speeds (+70 mph) in cross winds. Caster angle is within spec and tires are virtually new, so I am thinking the problem might be the Arnott UCA's.

[fsuguy]

dasha1,

I am considering revamping the UC arms in my '92 and, like you, face the prospect of expensive parts. Have you found out anything about just replacing the bushings alone? Or is your ball joint shot? I think LexLS or Lextreme have a tutorial on replacing the bushings, but I have not heard from anyone who has done this(?)

Fsuguy

[dasha1]

dasha1,

I am considering revamping the UC arms in my '92 and, like you, face the prospect of expensive parts. Have you found out anything about just replacing the bushings alone? Or is your ball joint shot? I think LexLS or Lextreme have a tutorial on replacing the bushings, but I have not heard from anyone who has done this(?)

Fsuguy

I think you can replace just the bushings, but it is a lot of work and the bushings won't be OEM. I figured that the ball joint had just as good a chance as being shot as the bushings and I didn't check it before I had the work done. Once the old OEM arms were pulled out I tested them by hand and the ball joints were as loose as the joy stick on an old Pac Man game. The ball joints and bushings were both shot on the lower arms, although, unlike the UCA, you can buy the lower arms and ball joints separately, at least on a 99. I first replaced the ball joints, which helped, and later replaced the arms, which tightened up the steering noticeably more. I don't think it would be worth the effort to replace only the bushings in a UCA in a 92.

[billydpowell]

Hi, I bought the OEM Bushings from Park Place.

part # 48674-40051 x 2 was 83.00 and I just press the old ones out and the new ones in.

[dasha1]

Hi, I bought the OEM Bushings from Park Place.

part # 48674-40051 x 2 was 83.00 and I just press the old ones out and the new ones in.

Billy, you might have saved a little change if you'd bought those strut rod bushings at lexuspartsonline.com. By the way, parts.com is always cheapest for OEM parts, in my experience, but the part no. for those OEM bushings you bought doesn't register anything on parts.com. I hate it when that happens. Fsuguy was looking for the bushings for the UCA's. Don't know if there is an OEM part # for those.

[billydpowell]

Hi, I bought the OEM Bushings from Park Place.

part # 48674-40051 x 2 was 83.00 and I just press the old ones out and the new ones in.

Billy, you might have saved a little change if you'd bought those strut rod bushings at lexuspartsonline.com. By the way, parts.com is always cheapest for OEM parts, in my experience, but the part no. for those OEM bushings you bought doesn't register anything on parts.com. I hate it when that happens. Fsuguy was looking for the bushings for the UCA's. Don't know if there is an OEM part # for those.

NEITHER place has any references to a strut rod bushing,

like they never heard of one.... ??

[fsuguy]

Hi, I bought the OEM Bushings from Park Place.

part # 48674-40051 x 2 was 83.00 and I just press the old ones out and the new ones in.

Billy, you might have saved a little change if you'd bought those strut rod bushings at lexuspartsonline.com. By the way, parts.com is always cheapest for OEM parts, in my experience, but the part no. for those OEM bushings you bought doesn't register anything on parts.com. I hate it when that happens. Fsuguy was looking for the bushings for the UCA's. Don't know if there is an OEM part # for those.

NEITHER place has any references to a strut rod bushing,

like they never heard of one.... ??

Hi guys,

thank you for the information on parts and your experiences. FYI, the toyodiy.com website has somehow managed to get their parts diagrams and parts numbers back online. I had registered with them and got an e-mail from them letting me know about the availability. I checked it out and sure enough the diagrams were back!!!

fsuguy

[billydpowell]

Hi guys,

thank you for the information on parts and your experiences. FYI, the toyodiy.com website has somehow managed to get their parts diagrams and parts numbers back online. I had registered with them and got an e-mail from them letting me know about the availability. I checked it out and sure enough the diagrams were back!!!

fsuguy

BUT: they have no listings for "strut rod bushings"

[Micah.Berry]

Whoa... Thanks for writing up your experience with the poly bushings, Billy! I now know to avoid them and go with OEM. I'll need to look up your post regarding the replacement bushings you bought from Park Place. Off hand, were the bushings you purchased from Park Place the OEM rubber ones or poly ones? (I suppose they'd be OEM rubber).

Thanks so much,

Micah

[billydpowell]

Whoa... Thanks for writing up your experience with the poly bushings, Billy! I now know to avoid them and go with OEM. I'll need to look up your post regarding the replacement bushings you bought from Park Place. Off hand, were the bushings you purchased from Park Place the OEM rubber ones or poly ones? (I suppose they'd be OEM rubber).

Thanks so much,

Micah

Correct, OEM rubber

[RDM]

Has anyone ever looked into converting the 1990-94 style tension rod (strut rod) to the later style? I've been waiting to find a salvage 1995+ to pull the parts from and see if they could be adapted to work, it's a far superior design and the replacement bushings, if needed, are considerably less expensive. Just wondering if anyone else has had the idea.

[billydpowell]

BEWARE

my EMAILS with mybushings.....

I bought a set of Lexus LS 400 (94-00) Front Strut Rod Bushing ADUS #531, and asked them: HAVE YOU HAD COMPLAINTS? I am 76 and dont need to do this twice. mine is a 99LS. thanks.. bp

Thanks for your inquiry. These exact bushings have been supplied to hundreds of customers with no negative feedbacks. It is possible that some vehicles may behave differently from others, but we have never had any comebacks about the bushings you replaced.

Thanks and regards,

The Sales & Admin Team

www.mybushings.com

Well... now you have one.... I had the bushings removed yesterday and installed OEM bushings.

The poly bushings were so hard riding, they had no flex or give at all, they took away the soft quite ride of my LS400. As soon as we put the OEM bushings in I had my ride back.

I would like to return these for a refund.

sincerely, bp

Billy,

I am sorry to hear that the Polyurethane bushings were not to your liking.

As I mentioned in the previous email, every customer we have had to date has

been perfectly satisfied with them including many LS400 owners. Naturally we

cannot refund you for used bushings unless they were specifically defective

which certainly isn't the case here. We hope you understand that we cannot

refund

you simply because you didn't like the feel of the bushings, as we cannot

get a refund

from the manufacturer for used bushings.

Again, I am sorry that they were not what you had hoped for and assure you

that we have many happy customers using these bushings in their LS400s with

no complaints or issues at all.

Sincerely,

Eric

Sales & Admin

www.mybushings.com

BEWARE

[billydpowell]

I took them out and listed them in our for sale section, $40.00 mailed to your USA address

they just sold, thanks omar

[AzHotLS]

From their "Guarantee" page:

IMPORTANT: As third party distributors for these products' date=' we cannot guarantee their suitability for the use to which they will be put, .... The installation and use of these products is entirely at the risk of the purchaser,...[/quote']

I guess that says it all. I'm sorry you had to go through this but thanks for the warning.

[drivernuts]

Hello...is replacing the strut rod bushings a DIY job? Do I have to take them somewhere to have them pressed in or can I do this with a vise? Any alignment needed afterwards?

Thanks for any info.

[billydpowell]

yes you can do it,

you have to "press" the old bushing out, before you can press the new one in.

VISE?? if you have one that will open wide enough..... (I doubt it)

read the SRB tutorials about your alignment BEFORE you start.

dont just ask questions, search and read first, then ask.....

good luck..

[drivernuts]

Well, at the risk of getting flamed again what and where are SRB tutorials?

[billydpowell]

Well, at the risk of getting flamed again what and where are SRB tutorials?

"strut rod bushings" returned 78 results

replacing "strut rod bushings" returned 126 results

do a search and read.

[drivernuts]

_{Thanks much for the kind and very informative responses.}

[cantbeatit]

To: billydpowell

What do you mean BEWARE? The part supplier is correct. It is completely unreasonable to expect a part company

to refund your money just because you didn't like them. Poly bushings are MUCH harder than OEM that's why

RACE cars use them, you should have expected a poor ride. You take your chances when you go with any non-OEM part.

It's not the sellers responsibility to insulate you from inappropriate choices.

[cantbeatit]

To: billydpowell

What do you mean BEWARE? The part supplier is correct. It is completely unreasonable to expect a part company

to refund your money just because you didn't like them. Poly bushings are MUCH harder than OEM that's why

RACE cars use them, you should have expected a poor ride. You take your chances when you go with any non-OEM part.

It's not the sellers responsibility to insulate you from inappropriate choices.

[fsuguy]

"BEWARE" is exactly what he should be saying to us on this forum, and I for one am very grateful to billydpowell and anyone else, for that matter,who understands why we are in this forum in the first place and cares enough to pass on any experience he/she considers valuable to those of us.

While I am sympathetic to manufacturers and producers, and all those captains of industry for bringing their products to market, their bottom line is of interest to only them, their stock holders and board members. I think billydpowell was fair to them by even posting their communication together with his cautionary bit to us so we could reach our own conclusions. Therefore, I don't see how your comment can be of any value to us.