Thread: rubber vs. urethane

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I am getting conflicting answers from camaro owners. My name is Jay and I am restoring a 67 camaro. I want a drivable car with show quality. As a start to rebuild the stock suspension should I use rubber or urethane bushings. I have read many advantages and disadvantages, but I need feedback from someone who has drove a car with urethane. Thanx

If you've read the advantages and disadvantages it's up to you to decide where your priorities are. Urethane last's longer and provies a stiffer ride, but my experience is they occasionally need to be lubed to prevent squeeking (even the graphite impreginated ones) which is why I shy away from them on my own cars.

Stock bushinbg are cheaper, provide a smoother (softer) ride but deteriorate rapidly in hot dry climates or when exposed to oil (not a problem you should have where your at and if your building a semi show car)..

If it's just for street driving I'd go for the original "rubber" bushings for the very reasons Mike brings up. No sense in doing the "boy racer" thing, and sacrificing ride quality, unless it's your design theme.

As for "Show Quality" and "street driven" those are incompatible in the same car if you really mean either description. If you drive it on the street, more than up and down your neighborhood block, it won't be a show winner at the top of the class. You'll be competing against trailered cars that have absolutely NO sign of usage, anywhere on the car. Whether that makes sense or not doesn't matter, it's reality. If by "show quality" you mean "extemely nice, and detailed, street driven", then that's a realistic objective. But forget the show trophies from serious competition. You'll have a great chance of winning at cruise ins, and top only, cursory judging, and such where the judging sophistication is much lower. As an example, at the Alki Show two years ago, a car with fair to good paint and a lumpy body took "Best of Show" . Probably because it was candy red and a convertible. Or maybe the guy had pictures of the judges participating in an orgy with a goat. Several other cars there were of much higher quality, but, probably some kind of politics involved, they were passed over. That's just the way it is.

I'd have to say rubber.I know I'd scare the hell out of my girlfriend if I came near her wareing a red urethane one.

I use rubber on mine. I really don't need that tiny amount of extra stiffness (hee hee), and I really hate the squeaks.

The rubbers last 15 years, so realistically, are you expecting to keep it that long??

Urethanes are supposed to last longer, but have they been available long enough to really tell?

Not long ago I did a 12 bolt and multi leaf swap into a friends 69 Camaro. We installed urethane bushings. One big thing we noticed is now you can feel much more road vibration in the car. So if you are wanting the smoothest ride I would recomend staying with new rubbers.