Urethane longevity

[kroberts]

I brought my rear subframe to a local indie shop to have them pull the old bushings out. The fella there was trying hard to sell me new stock bushings. He said that urethanes dont last very long. They break down very quickly, tend to get brittle and break into little pieces. This begs the obvious question; How long have yours lasted?

kr

[backtrail69]

I have never seen a post with someone complaining about failure.

[kowalski]

3 years and no complaints

[NC325iC]

i think hes got urethanes confused with stock ones

[Madhatter]

not the case these days with poly's. They are resistant to pretty much everything, handle heat, oils and fuels, and they still have enough flex in them to offer a little movement under stress. Pretty much the only way to shorten their life span is to install them incorrectly.

Ive had a set (entire car) installed for over a year, thing gets hammered, roads are pretty unforgiving and its all good. Old mate just hasnt caught up with the new polymers used.

[kroberts]

This is all good news. I think the guy was trying too hard to make a sale.

Thanks,

kr

[CarsSuck]

A good post anyways. Anyone else care to share? I have all new rubber up front. This may change. The rear is still untouched, I think it may get all urethane. What is the hardness scale/grades?

[AndrewBird]

I was always under the impression that urethane lasted longer as it was a synthetic substance that held up to chemicals and abrasion better then normal rubber.

[nefarious7907]

Its as much ozone as it is chemicals, the ozone cause rubber to dry rot after a few years. Poly compounds will just about forever, take a look at land fills.