Suspension bushings may not seem like the most interesting subject, but when you drive your car with bind-free, ultra-low deflection bushings, you will smile from ear to ear. The gold standard of suspension bushing material is not polyurethane; nor is it rubber. The ultimate suspension bushing material is a thermoplastic known as polyoxymethylene…better known as delrin. While we, too, would prefer to ogle over the latest chopped and channeled hot rod, RideTech considers bushings to be a critical part of proper ride and handling design. Let’s take a quick look at the features and benefits of delrin bushings.
Before we explain delrin’s properties and benefits, let’s define its common alternatives: rubber and polyurethane. From the factory, classic cars were assembled using flex-prone, wear-prone rubber bushings. Some 30-50 years later, the average rubber bushing has either disintegrated or completely seized. Rubber is not particularly resistant to heat and chemical exposure. On the plus side, rubber is useful as a vibration isolator because it is relatively soft. While rubber bushings might ride nicely, they may actually be detrimental to your car’s performance in certain situations.
For many years, enthusiasts have turned to polyurethane bushings for high performance use. Polyurethane, or “poly,” is extremely rigid and therefore greatly resistant to flexing. Under hard cornering, poly bushings resist deflection, just as delrin does. The downside to poly as a material is that it that it requires lubrication; without some form of grease film between the poly bushing and its metal bore, poly bushings are prone to wear, noise, and worst of all — binding. That makes poly a great choice for high-performance isolators such as engine and transmission mounts. It’s also still useful for sway bars. For high-performance suspension pivot point bushings, however, poly is not quite as effective as delrin.
As a bushing material, delrin boasts many important properties including high tensile strength, high impact strength, high elongation, high chemical resistance, low moisture absorption, and more. In addition to low deflection, delrin’s best feature when compared with polyurethane is self-lubrication. As delrin bushings do not bind, your suspension arms are free to move through their entire range of travel. A useful side benefit to zero-binding is that delrin bushings will last a very long time.
Delrin bushings suffer from one common misconception: Some enthusiasts believe that delrin bushings are somehow more difficult to install than poly or rubber bushings. This is simply not true. The installation procedure for a delrin bushing is exactly the same as any poly bushing…and NO modifications are required to suspension parts. As with any bushing material, delrin bushings must be pressed into place. You can take bushings and suspension parts to a local machine shop or other business with a press, or you can purchase one of our bushing installation tools. Check out this Bushing Installation Tool video.
For information on purchasing a delrin bushing kit for your car, click the following link, then choose your application. You can purchase delrin bushings as part of a complete suspension system, or as a separate bushing kit for use with your existing suspension. You’ll be impressed with your new bushings!
To find your Bushing Kit, click HERE, then find your vehicle and scroll down.
