View Full Version : Polybush Fitting - Greasing
chimp007_uk
20-03-13, 01:06 PM
Right, I'm in the process of polybushing my nova and my mx5. I've read sooooo many conflicting stories, such as:
- Grease the outside of the bush and the inside
- Grease none
- Grease just the inside
Then there's the greae choice, it's a mine field! The one thing I don't want is stipping the suspension at £60 a alignment session to re-grease everything especially on the MX5 where it is double wishbone front and back with camber bolts...
Any advice appreciated!
Cheers
Chris
:thumb:
paul james
20-03-13, 04:54 PM
I used some copper grease on my Nova ones, in and outside of the bush, if nothing else it helps press them in place. Seeing rust on the metal around the old rubber bushes also suggested to me it was a good idea to grease up.
mk1nova_rich
20-03-13, 06:30 PM
A lot of people use soapy water to fit poly bushes
A lot of people use soapy water to fit poly bushes
They do,i used a hacksaw and a hammer lol
meritlover
20-03-13, 06:34 PM
why would you want to grease a poly busy?
why would you want to grease a poly busy?
What this man says.
End of thread.
turbojolt
20-03-13, 06:39 PM
so they give you little packets of greese with them for the hell of it then?
staggy_gsi
20-03-13, 07:43 PM
why would you want to grease a poly busy?
Why wouldnt you??
Its bound to make them easier to fit if they have grease on. Like trying to jump straight on your missis without a little foreplay first lol lol
why would you want to grease a poly busy?
Because otherwise they wear against metal.
Why wouldnt you??
Its bound to make them easier to fit if they have grease on. Like trying to jump straight on your missis without a little foreplay first lol lol
LMFAO lol lol lol
I was told red rubber grease, as it wont eat away at the polly/rubber.
Pistol Pete
21-03-13, 02:38 AM
The polyflex purple ones come with a small sachet of grease in a silver packet. Cant think what thats for?? To whack one off over your nice new bushes?? lol
chimp007_uk
21-03-13, 12:21 PM
What this man says.
End of thread.
Because, as said I don't want them to wear, and squeak!
chimp007_uk
21-03-13, 12:22 PM
The polyflex purple ones come with a small sachet of grease in a silver packet. Cant think what thats for?? To whack one off over your nice new bushes?? lol
Done some digging and it's copper grease.
chimp007_uk
21-03-13, 12:24 PM
Been trawling the net and a fair few people have recommended Lucas Red n Tacky grease, if that fails I'll resort to marine grease.
Finger's crossed lol
Pistol Pete
21-03-13, 12:25 PM
Yes, it is. Just a light smear to aid fitting. Thats what i did. Not a single squeak.
the correct stuff is actually tyre fitting lube. failing that, use washing up liquid or soap. copper grease will make the bushes spin in the housing, when they should be an interference fit.
ps. they are meant to be a difficult tight fit, use a purpose make drift & a large vice
Pistol Pete
21-03-13, 12:39 PM
Actually thinking about it...i think the grease was to aid fitting of the new sleeves.
The purple Powerflex do come with grease that looks exactly like copperslip. I used to have squeeky bushes and have fitted them all with copperslip inside, on the sleeve and outside and they've looked fine every time I've seen them.
turbojolt
21-03-13, 12:44 PM
the correct stuff is actually tyre fitting lube. failing that, use washing up liquid or soap. copper grease will make the bushes spin in the housing, when they should be an interference fit.
ps. they are meant to be a difficult tight fit, use a purpose make drift & a large vice
washing up liquid eats rubber! not sure about polly
meritlover
21-03-13, 01:19 PM
the grease supplied is mainly to ease insertion.
jimbob-mcgrew
21-03-13, 01:39 PM
they should be an interference fit. they are meant to be a difficult tight fit
^ i was thinking this, thats how its supposed to be.
Grease is supplied to make fitting easier.
They are an interference fit as mowgli rightly says.
If they needed to be greased,how come its not specified at a service interval??
But then they "stop it sqeaking"...oh ok then........a spinning bush and or a spinning sleeve is,of course ideal??:wtf:
Pistol Pete
21-03-13, 02:39 PM
the grease supplied is mainly to ease insertion.
Dry slap FTW lol
washing up liquid eats rubber! not sure about polly
no it doesn't or it would melt the bottle!!!!!
as for rubber, natural oxidisation does, exposure to direct sunlight does, road salt does, some additives in HD grease will, but if washing up liquid eats rubber, please explain how i've managed to keep the same flask perfectly sealed for about 6 years & wash it daily.
the whole concept of using soap based lubrication is that it gets pushed out by the bush & then washes away with normal daily use (cos it rains)
turbojolt
21-03-13, 08:17 PM
no it doesn't or it would melt the bottle!!!!!
as for rubber, natural oxidisation does, exposure to direct sunlight does, road salt does, some additives in HD grease will, but if washing up liquid eats rubber, please explain how i've managed to keep the same flask perfectly sealed for about 6 years & wash it daily.
the whole concept of using soap based lubrication is that it gets pushed out by the bush & then washes away with normal daily use (cos it rains)
yes it does, thats why its not to be used on gas fittings any more as it can eat away at the rubber washers.
See i'm gonna agree with TJ, i've been told by a few people not to use Fairy.
Jeff16v
21-03-13, 10:17 PM
I love a fairy on my bush, lol
You can get specific rubber/poly bush lube... It's not cheap or easy to get, but the oem's use the stuff.
turbojolt
21-03-13, 10:37 PM
See i'm gonna agree with TJ, i've been told by a few people not to use Fairy.
**** me there is always a first lol
mk1nova_rich
21-03-13, 10:44 PM
Why are sink plugs made of rubber then :confused: I'm with Mowgli, I call bull**** on it
You can get specific rubber/poly bush lube... It's not cheap or easy to get, but the oem's use the stuff.
That's the red rubber grease.
Why are sink plugs made of rubber then :confused: I'm with Mowgli, I call bull**** on it
Watered down tho, and not sat in there for ages? I dont know, but i'm sure i've heard people say it...
turbojolt
21-03-13, 11:30 PM
Why are sink plugs made of rubber then :confused: I'm with Mowgli, I call bull**** on it
im sure the gas regs know a dam sight more then you and mowgli (well i would hope anyway lol)
tj. what sort of muppets work for the gas companies????? i can't imagine for a second that washing up liquid was ever specified to lube gas fittings. if it was at any time, then it would have been subjected to stringent testing. i would guess that the proper stuff was not easy to work with, like tyre fitting lube, and some clever sod decided to use washing up liquid cos it was easy...
rubber flat face washers are meant to be fitted dry & clean, then the surface clamping pressure forms the seal. and then threaded connectors use that awful claggy jointing compound that sticks like scandal to an MP.
turbojolt
22-03-13, 01:53 PM
and whats the first thing you ould have grabbed to test the joint if you thourght it was leaking?
the last time i saw a gas fitter check a fitting, he used an electronic sniffer..
turbojolt
22-03-13, 02:00 PM
avoidance, well played.
tj, a feature of natural gas is that it has a chemical smell added, so that leaks can be rapidly found, simply by sniffing... also being quiet & listening for a hiss is a good way too... slapping a load of fairy liquid on it is probably the daftest thing to do... 'ooh lets make flammable bubbles'
ps. the factory in b'ham that makes the gas smell had a large leak a few years back.... british gas vans were hurtling round to answer all the emergency calls
errrr wrong answer girls. You look for a gas leak with a lighter.
errrr wrong answer girls. You look for a gas leak with a lighter.
I watched the kid in the bodyshop going to use a lighter to warm up a pipe to help push it in, like he'd seen the boss do with washer pipe... Prob was he was going to use it on petol fuel pipe....
abznovasport
22-03-13, 02:29 PM
tj, a feature of natural gas is that it has a chemical smell added, so that leaks can be rapidly found, simply by sniffing... also being quiet & listening for a hiss is a good way too... slapping a load of fairy liquid on it is probably the daftest thing to do... 'ooh lets make flammable bubbles'
ps. the factory in b'ham that makes the gas smell had a large leak a few years back.... british gas vans were hurtling round to answer all the emergency calls
Its called mercaptan, just smells no harm to humans or polybushes!! :)
LOL at fairy eating rubber,its a myth,all the wfp window cleaning lads use that saying to justify not going up ladders anymore.
Iv cleaned the same windows on my round for 2 and half years and nobodies rubber gaskets on their upvc windows have been "eaten" lol
Its called mercaptan, just smells no harm to humans or polybushes!! :)
i'm glad its got a real name.. i know its harmless, but its there for one very good reason... so prats from the gas board don't need to squidge fairy liquid about to find leaks.... lol lol
meanwhile, back at the thread... the reason for using a soap based lube ont he bushes is to get them 'started' as there is usually a lip on both ends.. so you need to get the 1st lip in & then push it thru with a drift in a vice. the lip forces the soap thru, leaving an interference fit. job jobbed... end of... etc...
turbojolt
22-03-13, 07:05 PM
i dont see a need for lubing the split polly bushes up they fit snug by hand just use some greese on the tube to ease it in, if you end up with a squeeking bush (i doubt it) just spray some wd40 on it thats always stoped them making noise for me.
turbojolt
22-03-13, 07:09 PM
Its called mercaptan, just smells no harm to humans or polybushes!! :)
is there really no smell to natural gas? or is it like people telling you vodka dosnt taste of anything and it blantly does lol
TJ, this is the problem... the bushes shouldn't be a hand fit, they should be a press fit in a vice... the reason they squeak is cos they are actually too loose in the 1st place.
its yet another case of shoddy goods being palmed off on people cos they are a 'tuning' part with little, or often, no real development having been done before hitting the marketplace...
mk1nova_rich
23-03-13, 03:15 PM
This thread reminds me...I have some polybushes that I want to clean - is washing up liquid good to use? Serious question by the way lol
errrr wrong answer girls. You look for a gas leak with a lighter.
and for once I agree with Stu, Simple and easy!
you should always use a light switch to find a gas leak... they used to run adverts about it on the telly
TJ, gas really doesn't smell of anything, hence the added smell
mk1 rich, fairy liquid is fine to clean them up... but a dish washer is way better.... lol
mk1nova_rich
24-03-13, 01:55 PM
mk1 rich, fairy liquid is fine to clean them up... but a dish washer is way better.... lol
The dishwasher still has a name in our house lol
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