As part of my recent replacement of the front diff housing, I installed my adjustable UCA, but I noticed the LCA which have been in for over 5yrs and maybe 30-40k miles the inner metal sleeve has separated form the poly on all 4 ends.

The arms are these style


(dunno why the pic is so big)

For the time being, I just packed them with ultra black gasket maker I had on hand to make a new diff gasket, as a temp measure, as I wanted to get back on the road

This got me thinking what has gone wrong here

My first thought is crap quality

However maybe my understanding or fitment was wrong.

I havent given it much thought before, but I understood most bushes were clamped tight on the inner sleeve by tightening the bolt, and forces in all directions were absorbed by the bonded bush material to the outer sleeve...am I correct ? The 2 part halved poly bushes obviously are not bonded so must work in a different manner

That brings me to the question of how to replace the bushes ?

I dont really want to fit the OEM style arms

Are bushes available for this style of arm ?

I do know one can machine down a solid poly tube and make your own

 

Are your arms greaseable ? the ones I have have grease fitting and it help them live a lot longer .

 

No, not greasable

where does the grease inject?...into the outer sleeve/bush junction ?

That would suggest the poly is not bonded to the outer ring

The upper LCA had similar bushes at the rear, but I fitted a single poly bush on the diff..

With bush, I lubed it, and hammered it home with a rubber mallet, it fits inside the old steel shell, so not bonded, but pretty tight in sleeve

I have time to derive a solution hopefully

 

You sure they're supposed to be bonded?
Appears to be a bushing pushed in from both sides with a sleeve pushed through the center.

 

What kind of driving is this XJ for?

Usually, rubber and polyurethane come in a few different durometers (hardness of material). The quality of rubber and polyurethane vary wildly. Maybe you got bad quality. I have had bad luck with anything that contains rubber or polyurethane from Rough Country. Some of their other products are good though, like seat covers.

Also, the installation of your suspension. Are you torquing your control arms when they are preloaded? Binding and premature wear can occur if you do not.

Most of the polyurethane bushings I've seen have been two-part with a metal inner sleeve for easy installation. Lots of companies recommend greasing poly when installing it. Just your basic lithium grease or lithium with moly grease is fine.

 

From a guy that's had numerous vehicles with urethane bushings in a wide range of applications I can tell you those style bushings give instant gradification with improved handling and response.. But they'll never have the longevity of a factory style rubber bushing greased or not..The stiffness gets them hammered every day and something needs to give...Be glad you got 30-40 thousand miles out of a urethane bushing in a 4WD environment...I'm sure the manufacturer sells a replacement bushing.. If not you've bought the wrong control arm...

 

I tend to agree with this, as I have had poly bushes wear out on other vehicles, and I retain rubber engine and trans mounts

factory OEM rubber lasts a long time, a lot of aftermarket rubber is utter crap

I know quality and stiffness vary with poly bushes, and some are bonded, while others are not, and greasable

MY XJ now steers like an arrow, and handles better

I am needing to find or adapt preferably a split bush kit.

I see none advertised, these are cheap, and know as "core" arms I believe

nevertheless, if I can buy, adapt, or make replacement bushes, that will keep me going

The vehicle has a 2" lift and see all sorts of use, it must be a multi tasker

If I can ascertain the ID of the arm eye, I will be well on my way

If anyone knows where replacement bushes can be obtained, or the bush OD, please shout out

yes, I torqued them while on ground

 

Many places have bushings. Barnes 4wd, eBay ajd tons other sours.

Get your bar id bolt size and width. Ive even cut the inner sleeve and poly to fit different width brackets

https://barnes4wd.com/collections/po...d-bushing-kits

 

Could be, not sure

In which case the poly is worn due to poor quality, or as a later poster said, its not abnormal

either way, I have to replace them sooner rather than later, my temp fix is surely only good for a relatively short time

The rubber ones are definitely bonded

 

If you install a split poly bushing I would ad in a grease fitting .poly bushing last alot longer if they are lubed .

 

& there was me thinking (hoping?) poly bushes lasted longer (glad I couldn't find any for my front sway bar drop links now - although having to replace them at least once a year is getting a bit tedious)

 

They generally do!!
Been using them for years. I think the OP got some **** quality bushings.

 

I too am getting long service life out of poly bushings on my jeep and cummins pickup.

They make bolts with a grease zerk in them.

Id suspect most jeeps with poly bushings have a very long service life. Only a handfull realy stress theyre jeeps passed gravel rd situations to speed the wear on the consumable poly bushing.

Im running poly on my axle side lower control arm heim at frame side. My upper arm is heim both ends.

My leaf springs are poly through out, shackle and spring eyes . I probly dont put 5000 mikes a year on my jeep so the poly lasts lots of years.

Ohh also have poly motor mounts and transmission mount aswell as polly swaybar mounts i turned i to exhaust hangers.

Guess im running some poly

 

I think this is the case, cheap Chinese junk, but we are in Australia mate, so cheap but ok USA stuff is expensive here, especially if its heavy due to shipping

Our market is flooded with Chinese products , our major trading partner

If I cannot find one that fit closely, I will simply buy a rod of quality poly and have a few split sets machined to fit, can retain the inner metal sleeve, make them split bushes

What is a good strong poly to last Delrin etc, I know they vary in hardness and durability ?

In most of Australia, anything other than a main highway is a **** road with huge potholes made worse by the torrential rain we have had over the last couple of years, I think hitting one is what probably bent my D30 axle housing

We also have a lot of "corrugated" dirt roads

My mate used to drive over them a lot, and his mechanic was astounded, as he had to have suspension bushes replaced on his Toyota Hilux literally 10 times more frequently than normal

 

CRAP= Chinese Replacement Auto Parts.