Old bushings rubber versus TP material of replacements

['41 Fat Bottom Girl]

Many replacement bushings are made of a much harder durometer thermoplastic material compared to the original rubbers used.

Remembering the TP material rear motor mounts I had bought, after finding out how hard they were, I scoured around and found some NOS mounts. Despite those being (probably) of a natural rubber compound, those rubber NOS parts weren't degraded over their storage time- and much better for vibration damping than the hard replacements. For mounts, a big difference.

Now I am going to replace the upper and lower control arm bushings soon.

Question: For that application, is finding NOS rubber bushings better than using the hard durometer TP replacements?

Or is TP better for the A frame bushings?

Thanx much,

Merry Christmas all!

[Eneto-55]

I have wondered this as well - the long-term durability of natural rubber compared to the synthetic stuff.  It seems that modern tires start cracking long before the old natural rubber ones, and so I'm not terribly surprised that the same seems to be true of other modern rubber parts. 

 

[Off-topic unimportant fact - the only time I got lost in the Amazon, it happened because I went down an old abandoned rubber tapping trail.  I came to a rubber tree, where the trail ended.  I went back the way I'd come, except somewhere in that stretch of over-grown trail I missed the spot where I'd come onto that trail, and just came to another dead end, at another rubber tree.  Went back & forth several times, and never found where I'd entered that "trail between two trees".  Finally struck off in the direction I thought I needed to go, and eventually came out in a slash and burn field, and found a recently used trail, which took me out of my mess.  That was my first time in the jungle.  I was more careful after that, and never got lost again.]

[James_Douglas]

Plymouth and Dodge used rubber control arm bushings? Chrysler and Desoto did not.

 

James

['41 Fat Bottom Girl]

I will look- Haven't torn it down yet, just had seen in the Andy B catalog that it called out bushings and seals and pins.

Poked some rubber at the bottom control arms, but maybe those are just sealing boots. Maybe the bushings are oilites or sleeves?

I have only done 50's Chevys in the past and my 'Vettes, haven't had the '41 front suspension apart and didn't on my earlier '39 Olds coupe either. 

Anyhoo, I will do a teardown and look. I need to find out if I need new pins also. Probably so.

Good info.

Thanx for the insight!

Merry Christmas

 

[Andydodge]

Mopar used steel on steel pins and bushes at least until 1954 in all the upper,lower, inner and outer bushes and pins........the only rubber was the tubular seals around these bushes, tho the lower outers used a formed rubber seal with an internal "hex" to accommodate the head of the fixed lower spindle bush on one side and a similar bush on the other with a round "female" indent to sit over the end of the lower bush............the lower inner and upper inner seals can be replaced with just a piece of rubber hose of the right diameter, the upper outer can also have a piece of hose or even a large "o" ring can be used if need be............these bushes  and pins have a specific machined "gap" in their thread, (who's name escapes me) but is there to allow grease to travel along and between the threads.................rubber is also used on the sway bar links and bushes and the rebound rubbers................andyd 

['41 Fat Bottom Girl]

Thanx- great info!

Merry Christmas to all.