LR3 Pollybush bushings long term review.

[Matt H]

Well, the Pollybush "Orange" suspension bushings and Pollybush "Red" anti sway bar bushings on our LR3 have been in service for about a year and approx 15,000km so here are my findings.
Our 2006 LR3 HSE has had a "lifted" coil spring suspension retrofit, ARB bumper and winch and aftermarket 18" wheels with stock height tyres amoung other things. The vehicle drives dirt every day and off road occasionally. It's my wife's daily driver.
The comparison is against the OEM rubber bushings that were used before and after the coil conversion and before the bushings wore out. New ball joints were also installed at the same time as the Pollybush bushings along with hub unit bearings checked and a four wheel alignment carried out.

The Install- Brutal. the new bushings themselves are easy to install. Removing the suspension arms,            driving out the OEM bushings and reinstalling in the vehicle is VERY difficult and time consuming from a DIY perspective.

First impressions- not bad but a harder ride. Far less body roll cornering at higher speeds. Increased  vibration noticed on washboard roads. Large bumps and whooops are taken with good control and no undue noise/vibration. Much less pitch and dive during a acceleration and braking.

1 Year and 15,000Km later- no wear detected at all. All potholes, ashfault cracks, expansion joints and washboard road surfaces cause annoying and harsh vibrations in the cabin. (Suspension hardware checked for looseness) Large whoops, bumps and general off roading is as above. ie very good. High speed cornering is also much more stable than with OEM rubber. Again, much less pitch and dive during acceleration and braking.

Conclusion- I wouldn't really recommend using these bushings, especially for a mostly road going vehicle, if the PITA factor of renewing any bushing on the LR3/4 were not a significant factor. They do have a reputation of wearing very well so for a 'fit and forget' solution they should be considered due to the replacement hassle. But the vibration that enters the cabin gets very irritating so I'd say if I had to do it again I would go with OEM bushings.

[binch]

Just out of curiousity Matt.....were the pushes in prior to that big accident and was the vibration there prior to the accident?

Would you consider going with the blue polybush instead, since it is half way between the very firm and the very soft?

[Matt H]

I had the rear set up prior to the smash up but not the front. After the accident the chassis was measured and found to be undamaged. The ARB bumper and the Ford Focus took the brunt of the crash.

When I changed bushings I researched quite a lot and found many folks didn't like the red (hardest) bushings on their LR3's. I chose the orange as that was supposed to be the middle range and blue (softest) were not available at that time. If you could get blue today that may be the way to go?

I did use red on the sway bars but they don't directly contact the A arms so transfer limited vibration.

[Red90]

The UK and Aussy guys swear by the Superpro brand and say they are no stiffer than stock.