Technical Why are my new bushings crumbling already??????

OK, I have a No-Limit Air-Glide front end on my 50 chevy truck, it is about 2-3 years old, BUT, I have never driven it till this month. So I go down to have it aligned and they say "all your lower control-arm bushings are crumbling" so $60 later I bring it home and yea! they are all crap, What is happening? Is it bad rubber, poor process, or am I doing something wrong? The bits falling out are hard and disintegrate when you rub it between my fingers. I have called the Manufacturer and the tech is suppose to call me back on Monday. This is very similar to what happened to the upper ball joint boots . Any advice?

 

Probably was made west of San Francisco.

 

Ya know it! Well if they are sending all the jobs there the LEAST they could do is make something last till you get it out of the box! Well looks like my dream of driving it around this year is almost dead till next spring, unless I can get (good) parts in a reasonable time. Maybe I should get the uppers too, they are probably next.....

 

A visit to a maternity ward will prove they don't make rubbers like they used to.

 

I've had the same problems with 4 bar and shock bushings from "name" US firms, too. I think I'm going to poly stuff next made by the folks who do the aftermarket sway bars, and such. Gary

 

Because the qaulity of rubber nowadays seems to be going to shit. Had the same problem on our 57 Chevy, about a year after I put new bushings in they were already cracking and deteriorating. Pulled em out and replaced em with energy suspension polyurethane bushings. Hopefully they will hold up better. Says they are made in the USA too. I think the full set of upper & lower control arm bushings was about 50$.

 

What you got against Hawaiians?

 

Almost all rubber parts do that to me. Frustrating as hell.

 

If you are installing the new bushings and tightening them down with the a arms off the car they will wear faster. Install the new bushings then install the a arms back on the car put the wheels on and lower it back on the ground and then tighten bolts holding the bushings.

 

I thought I was the only one. I replaced some on a 30 year old ot car and a couple of years later they were worse than the ones I replaced.
They were not broken down like you describe but the inner side of the bushing got oblong. The upper control shaft was just about metal to metal on one side.

..And I know not to tighten them until they are under load at drive height.

Went to polyurethane and dealt with the squeaking. Maybe some grease would help(?).

 

Excellent point there. Also, don't hammer them down with an impact and squash the rubber out on the ends as that tears them up.

 

Buy MOOG parts, not offshore crap....

 

A friend just did the rear bushing on his 40 Willys, they just wore out prematurely and were quality ones from a reputable supplier. Quality is not what is used to be. Poly bushes solved his problem.

 

I think moog went offshore. Used to be good parts, though.

I'm on my 4th set of ball joints in my OT DD (2001 4WD Dakota). The last set were moog, only lasted a few years, then the boots failed, and the joint started to corrode. I'm using Napa house branded joints now. I don't know if they'll last, but they're lifetime warranty.

 

The boots on my '57's ball joints are cracked..hasn't seen the road yet, but the ball joints were installed probably 5 years ago. Got them from Concours, as well as the control arm bushings, which are also cracking. What gets me, is why does it seem like the harder a part is to replace, the faster it's going to deteriorate.

 

Oh great, I got some parts from them too...did not like the made in India parts I got from India either... did I save the old ones?

 

I guess rubber has got to come in from someplace. As far as I know rubber trees don't grow in North America. So, is it the process?? the basic materials?? use of recycled rubber??
I though India was an old rubber producing country. ??

 

Why don't tires crumble and fall apart after a few years if it's the rubber

 

tires are made out of oil

 

Since Federal Mogul sold out, most of their manufacturing seems to be shifting over seas. Quality has been declining since.

 

We have rubber trees all over the place, here in Southern California.

 

I definitely notice my tires cracking and showing signs of wear far to quickly now too.

 

I didn't tighten them till I had the air ride setup installed, so it would hold at a ride height. Not with an impact either. Been sitting in the garage, And I just drove around the block for the first time this month.

 

I put NOS MOOG control arm bushings in and they crumbled where the large flat washer squeezes them, the part that the arm shaft runs though is fine though. I chocked mine up to be old rubber.

 

Tires seem to have the same problem.


The attached pictures are the tread on my Michelin LTX-A/T 2 265/70R17 tires, manufacturer on the 38th week (August) of 2010 and installed by Ford Motor Company on my 2010 Ford F150. These tires are less than 5 years old when the pictures were taken (July 2010) and the vehicle has 31000 kilometers (19000 miles for those of you still using the old fashion distance measure) on it. Tread wear is approximately 25 % . When not in use the truck spends most of the time in an insulated garage.

When I approached a Michelin dealer that I have dealt with for many years (Costco Canada), he told me there was nothing they could do and I should take them to the dealer that I bought the truck from.

When I took them to the Ford dealer ( the dealer that bought out the original selling dealer), they were more than ready to sell me another set of tires, but would not do anything regarding the tires on the vehicle. Without looking at the tires, told me the cracking was caused by (take your pick, they were all referred to during the conversation) Heat, Cold, High Usage, Low Usage and also said the problems were just COSMETIC.

The third dealer I went to told me he would try to get some action from the Michelin rep, but could not do anything for me himself, again telling me that Michelin refer to the problem as cosmetic, even though he admitted the cracks were quite deep. He also told me that cracking was a known problem in the industry with Michelin and BG Goodrich tires, both Commercial tires and Passenger tires.

Apparently Michelin does not see this as a manufacturer problem covered by their 6 year workmanship and material warranty. It is either cosmetic and not covered or owner/usage caused and not covered.

I feel that with suspension bushings or tires or vehicles or many other items, the manufacturers are foisting the cheapest crap that looks good initially on their customers. They have no pride in building a quality product or building a loyal customer base. Built a cheap product, deny any responsability for it, put all blame for failures on the final customer and generate good yields for their executives and share holders.

As final customers all we can do is tell others of our experiences and buy from someone else. Take a page from the manufacturer's book and ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE.

Canuck

 

Those actually look pretty good for five year old Michelins.

I bet they would be worse if you didn't park inside.


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I got a callback from No-Limit today and they are sending out a new set of bushings, free of charge, to get me back on track. I am going to send back the old ones so they can see whats up. They have taken good care of me, and I don't blame them at all. When I get them out I will post a good pic.

 

They just don't make good parts like they used to. I put all Moog parts in my 56 ElCamino and after 5 years and about 25K they are also showing premature signs of wear.
I remember working at a gas station in the 60's. My boss had us squirt a light oil (his special blend) on all the rubber bushings every time we did an oil change for a customer. Maybe I should do this on my own cars.

 

Nice to see a vendor that stands behind the product that they sell, even if they are not the manufacturer. Far too rare in the marketplace in today's enviroment.

They have earned the good references and support of their customers.

Canuck

 

If they're made of rubber and from the same manufacturer I would expect the same results. If polyurethane Is an option for your truck it's worth the $ just to not have to pull the control arms off again in 2 years when the rubber rots out again. Good luck w it.