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Nolathane or Urethane bushes?


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#1 TORLX8

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 09:42 AM

My alignment guy recommends urethane bushes, but most people seem to go for the nolathanes.
Whats the pros & cons of each type?

#2 TerrA LX

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 11:21 AM

i thought they were all urethane with nolathane being a brand name.

#3 _LH SL/R 5000_

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 12:35 PM

^^^^ Correct, Nolathane is just a brand name, the material is urethane.

#4 _UCV80_

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 01:34 PM

Nolethane are harder then the blue poly-urethane bushes.

i used both types in my front end :spoton:

people say the nolethane ones crack...??? i hope mine dont haha

Edited by ToranaZ, 26 August 2006 - 01:37 PM.


#5 gtrboyy

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 04:02 PM

Super-pro sell bushes with differing hardness(3 grades from memory).I put the ones in that weren't the hardest(2nd grade) in the front,not very noisey & was quite happy.

Problem was when I put the hard nolathane bushes in the trailing arms,very noisey,annoying & makes the car feel like it's metal to metal when you hit bumps.The bushes in the diff housing are std rubber so there is some give.

The car does handle better but it sucks on rough roads(sydney) & it isn't helped by having low profile tyres.

If you want to drive it regularly & don't want it to be noisey/annoying then don't put in the hardest grade bushes,especially if you have low profile tyres.

#6 _keith1962_

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 04:33 PM

So gtrboyy what you are saying is that if you are using the car for
street use the standard ones are better. On the other hand by the
use of the harder ones for the race track.

cheers Keith

#7 Tiny

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 06:35 PM

We put Nolathane bushes all throught eh front of the HQ and it stiffened the ride up incredibly... I was wanred NOT to use all urethane bushes in the rear end of a car for the fact that urethane doesnt absorb impacts ( like hard drag launches) well, and can cause major hassles with the suspension.

i was advised to use rubber in either the upper OR lower and urethane in the other which is what i did!

Nolathane is definiteoly just a brand of urethane bushes, and gtrboyy is right you can get different grades!

I was advised to go to Pedders suspension ( speciafically the Liverpool in Sydney branch because they deal with a lot of race cars) as they have the knowledge of putting which hardness bushes wehre to achieve your desired ride feel and stability!

Cheers!

#8 _SSHatch_

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 06:54 PM

Good advice for the rear end there Tiny.

Best option is to go for the Nolathane in the lower arms in the rear and stick with the standard genuine bushes in the top arms.
The softer bushes in the top absorb some of the on-off throttle "knocking" better.
With the Hard bushes all through the rear the early Holdens have a tendency to tear the mount points out of the floor.

#9 gtrboyy

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Posted 26 August 2006 - 10:51 PM

The medium grade hardness is what I would recomend & use again.Fit std bushes or medium grade hardness if you enjoy cruising IMO.

Where I stuffed up was using the hardest grade in the trailing arms thinking it would help traction,my traction problems were incorrect settings with the coil-overs.

#10 _rorym_

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Posted 27 August 2006 - 08:21 AM

I used the red Nolathene ones throughout the race car..very happy with response. I was told the blue SuperPro ones were the go as the red ones crack...then I was at the panelbeaters to pick up the commodore and the guy there had an icecream bucket of blue ones all cracked from his BMW...I think you just need to keep an eye on them all.If they are well greased at installation they wont make any noise.
R

#11 TerrA LX

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Posted 27 August 2006 - 12:52 PM

^ agree with above as if the hard ones are cracking in its given application, then a softer one would just flogg out anyway, so if you take serious at all then you should be doing regular inspections.

#12 _MRNOS_

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Posted 27 August 2006 - 08:42 PM

My old LH with SBC only had rubber in the rear suspension, when the last owner had it with a 400sbc it ran in the 9sec zone with this rear end

#13 TORLX8

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Posted 28 August 2006 - 10:46 AM

GTR boy, are the Super Pro bushes a Urethane type bush or are they different grades of rubber?
Im pretty sure these are the ones my alignment guy recommended.
So the medium grade hardness ones might be the go.
Lots of good advice here, thanks for everyones input. :spoton:

#14 gtrboyy

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Posted 28 August 2006 - 04:03 PM

Yes they come in different grades but probably the other brands do as well if you ask I guess.

Toranamat69 would be the best one to seek advice from though,he really gets into suspension stuff if you remember his posts on the old forum & here as well.Great reading IMO.

#15 Dangerous

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Posted 28 August 2006 - 04:06 PM

TORLX8, for what I think you want the car for, I'd recommend the Superpro ones, and stick with all urethane (except go for a solid mount UC steering rack, or wait for me to make a few sets of A9X style solid mount LX rack bushings), not mixing rubber and urethane -

Superpro webpage

catalogue

If you have a look at the LX catalogue printout from the webpage above, it shows the options available for comfort, sport and competition use - I stuck with 'comfort', as it is still a lot stiffer than rubber.

They grade the density of the urethane according to its application in the suspension system (stiff where it's an advantage, more compliant where it needs to be). The "Nolathane' brand is all high density (stiff), irrespective of its application.

I got a full set of superpro bushes for my hatch, custom made in black. I ordered the set through Morpowa Auto Centre, just off Milne Rd (08 8264 2077).

#16 _fatA9X_

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Posted 28 August 2006 - 06:59 PM

there is also a brand called noltec they are apparently poly propelene softer and you can bend them in half and theystill wont crack/split. they are a little pricey though but i think about the same as nolethane. i used them in my landcruiser with big lift and offroad quite a bit and they were fine. i think they are based at thornleigh in sydney .cheers wayne

#17 dattoman

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Posted 28 August 2006 - 10:14 PM

I use Noltec too
The guy who started Nolothane sold out and now has Noltec
They are much better in my opinion

#18 Toranamat69

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Posted 30 August 2006 - 10:07 PM

This thread covers my experience with the Polyurethane bushes in the rear suspension.

http://www.gmh-toran...st=0#entry86050

For the Front end, I currently have polyurethane everywhere and a solid mounted UC rack but I dont like the squeaking of the polyurethane.

I have heard mixed reactions about using the poly we get locally in the upper A arm pivots. I can see the problem with them but I have never done a comparison to see if they make the handling worse or better specifically.
I have found at least one other option but I havnt tried it on the road yet.


M@

#19 _BCR42Y_

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Posted 04 October 2006 - 03:01 PM

Getting back to this subject,

I have heard of Noltec before would you guys recommend them for the whole front end? Or would you use a mix of rubber in certain spots.

The cars end use is going to be straight line basically....

Regards Halil.




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