Hey all,
I came across these while looking for a replacement for my mates flogged out strut bushes.
For those of you who’ve had issues with IFS bottom strut bushes getting flogged out and not lasting long (quite a common problem on the IFS), there’s an interesting new material type available which will last much longer than OEM rubber bushes. The photo below shows the new type of bushes;
These are made from a synthetic elastomer (a synthetic form of rubber) which is made as a composite with silicates (rather than typical carbon black mixed with natural rubber). They are made here in Australia.
These bushes have been tested out to 200,000 cycles at 17kN. After 200,000 cycles they were still like new! In comparison, OEM rubber bushes failed by 60,000 cycles. The synthetic elastomer bushes will also out-flex natural rubber, something like 33% to 19% elasticity. The bush material is also recessed from the edge to allow for elastic expansion without flowing past the edge of the crush tube.
These new synthetic bushes have been tested by a Pradopoint member who was having front strut bushes fail at low km’s on his 120, and who had tried both rubber and urethane without success. He has now driven over 10,000km on them trouble free, and he’s running a Bilstein/King combo on the front.
I’ve also been told there’s an armoured 200 series running around Canberra that has re-valved Bilsteins that also use these bushes.
I’ll be trialling these in my mates 120 with Koni RAID 88-1712 struts, as his Koni urethane bushes have flowed a lot already with minimal km’s on them.
If you have problems with your strut bushes, give Fulcrum R&D in Brisbane a call and they can set you up with a synthetic elastomer pair!
Best
Mark
I came across these while looking for a replacement for my mates flogged out strut bushes.
For those of you who’ve had issues with IFS bottom strut bushes getting flogged out and not lasting long (quite a common problem on the IFS), there’s an interesting new material type available which will last much longer than OEM rubber bushes. The photo below shows the new type of bushes;
These are made from a synthetic elastomer (a synthetic form of rubber) which is made as a composite with silicates (rather than typical carbon black mixed with natural rubber). They are made here in Australia.
These bushes have been tested out to 200,000 cycles at 17kN. After 200,000 cycles they were still like new! In comparison, OEM rubber bushes failed by 60,000 cycles. The synthetic elastomer bushes will also out-flex natural rubber, something like 33% to 19% elasticity. The bush material is also recessed from the edge to allow for elastic expansion without flowing past the edge of the crush tube.
These new synthetic bushes have been tested by a Pradopoint member who was having front strut bushes fail at low km’s on his 120, and who had tried both rubber and urethane without success. He has now driven over 10,000km on them trouble free, and he’s running a Bilstein/King combo on the front.
I’ve also been told there’s an armoured 200 series running around Canberra that has re-valved Bilsteins that also use these bushes.
I’ll be trialling these in my mates 120 with Koni RAID 88-1712 struts, as his Koni urethane bushes have flowed a lot already with minimal km’s on them.
If you have problems with your strut bushes, give Fulcrum R&D in Brisbane a call and they can set you up with a synthetic elastomer pair!
Best
Mark
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