Why urethane bushings??

[NunayaFB]

From what I know about Urethane bushings they are firmer and therefore resist deformation, same thing with boxed or tubular control arms. Now if the original control arms and bushings were designed to flex to allow articulation, then wouldn't the aftermarket parts inhibit it. I have been avoiding a new "kit" until I hear nothing but good news about urethane.
It seems better to stick with rubber for comfort and for protecting the rest of the jeep from harsh impacts. If anyone has done any RTI comparison with rubber versus urethane I am curious what the results were.

[igofshn]

Who cares about rti. It doesn't mean a thing off road.

I personally hate urethane bushings. They wear out too fast and allow all vibrations to be felt. A good Johnny type joint is much better.

[mrblaine]

Who cares about rti. It doesn't mean a thing off road.

I personally hate urethane bushings. They wear out too fast and allow all vibrations to be felt. A good Johnny type joint is much better.

To help some of us be a little more informed as to the origin of product names.

The Johnny Joint was invented by one of the Curries. I'll let you figure out which one. After the development was done and the durometer of it's urethane races figured out, they were standing around in the shop trying to figure out what to name it. Someone popped off with the term "Johnny Joint" and it stuck.

It is now to rotating ball link joints what Kleenex and Thermos are to tissue and vacuum bottles respectively.

[JeepGal]

Urethane bushings feel better on the road. But they flex less off the road. They DO give, which makes them wear out quickly...the last set I had on my Jeep lasted ONE wheeling trip.

I ran the Rancho lift, not the Rock Crawler. The ride was BETTER then stock. The control arms were the gold rectangular ones. Unlike the stock ones that twist a bit...these are completely unflexible. Therefore, the flexing occurs at the bushings. The first set of bushings took me a while to wear out, primarily because my wheeling was pretty mundane, or possibly because I didnt really notice. I purchased as second set, and they wore out in ONE trip to Calico.








Im now running the RE lower adjustables with the Johnny Joint. I absolutely LOVE them. The flex is awesome. I flex more then I have room for.

BTW...WELCOME to the board!

Tam

[NunayaFB]

rti relates directly to offroad

Who cares about rti. It doesn't mean a thing off road.

Better rti on ramp = better off road articulation, I agree the JJ is superior (also enables very nice rti), but jj require either ~$2000 kits or custom control arms. For the wheelin most people do including me I am not going to put that much time/money in. thanks for the pictures of those bushings, they convinced me not to buy some cheap kit.

[igofshn]

Better rti on ramp = better off road articulation, I agree the JJ is superior (also enables very nice rti), but jj require either ~$2000 kits or custom control arms. For the wheelin most people do including me I am not going to put that much time/money in. thanks for the pictures of those bushings, they convinced me not to buy some cheap kit.

Better rti doesn't mean better offroad articulation. Most rti articulation is wasted articulation offroad.

[NunayaFB]

Most rti articulation is wasted articulation offroad.

What do you mean by wasted articulation?

[mrblaine]

What do you mean by wasted articulation?

There is a series of posts on JU over a couple of years by a very nice guy going by the username Beast40.

He started down the path of trying to build in massive amounts of flex to gain that so called offroad articulation you keep referring to derived from an RTI score. He got to the point in his build where he could drop the rear axle about a foot more than the reach of his uncompressed rear springs. Made for wonderful pics on the ramps, but totally sucked offroad.

He finally started paying attention to what works and dialed it back down to a less flexy but way more capable rig.

If you want to play RTI, let's play. I'll disconnect my rear shocks and limit straps, air up opposite corners, way air down the other two, disco my front shocks, disco a sway bar link at each end and I'll easily do a thousand on a 30 degree.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to wheel that way. Do you understand the difference yet?

[JeepGal]

The kit wasnt cheap. It was a Rancho 2 1/2" suspension lift, with control arms, and Rancho 9000 shocks . . . I think I paid about $800 for it. (supposedly, I got the shocks free with the kit.)



Ill never own straight poly bushings again. I still dont abuse my Jeep, but the performance far outweighs the benefits. I purchased the lower control arms used for another Jeepin' buddy (Thanks Mike!) I just swapped them in. You dont need to pay for an expensive kit to get them.

Tam

[NunayaFB]

If you want to play RTI, let's play. I'll disconnect my rear shocks and limit straps, air up opposite corners, way air down the other two, disco my front shocks, disco a sway bar link at each end and I'll easily do a thousand on a 30 degree.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to wheel that way. Do you understand the difference yet?

Jesus Christ man I am not trying to play RTI, and by the way disconnecting stuff changing air pressures etc.. is not the way you test a vehicle on a ramp, this guy you pointlessly referred to was obviously building an rti vehicle only, and it was not a trail ride.

quit getting so emotional over this stuff

[JeepGal]

The point is Nunaya, that RTI ramp flex doesnt pertain to offroading. Just because you get great flex on the RTI ramp, doesnt mean your vehicle is going to flex well offroad. The conditions on an RTI ramp are perfect, youll never recreate those conditions on the trail.

Blaine knows what hes talking about...Ive been there. How can you seriously consider urethane bushings and fixed rectangular control arms, if youre planning on doing ANY offroading? If your intent is to have a pavement pounder, then its a perfect fit for you. You asked a question, and you got answers...if you dont want answers, dont ask questions. The reason its getting warm in here, is you refuse to take the advice you asked for.

Tam

[Dukes69]

hmm, ok.

To answer your question we have done real world testing between RE superflex arms and Rancho urathane bushing arms. RE wins.

[NAILER341]

Jesus Christ man I am not trying to play RTI, and by the way disconnecting stuff changing air pressures etc.. is not the way you test a vehicle on a ramp, this guy you pointlessly referred to was obviously building an rti vehicle only, and it was not a trail ride.

quit getting so emotional over this stuff

watch your language!

[mrblaine]

Jesus Christ man I am not trying to play RTI, and by the way disconnecting stuff changing air pressures etc.. is not the way you test a vehicle on a ramp, this guy you pointlessly referred to was obviously building an rti vehicle only, and it was not a trail ride.

quit getting so emotional over this stuff

Are you sure your not trying to play RTI? You made this statement- Better rti on ramp = better off road articulation,

I merely pointed out to you the fallacies contained therein with a well documented example. Educational, analytical, objective, or just plain observant, but I wouldn't consider it emotional.

No, I've followed Brad's posts for years and he wasn't trying to build an RTI queen, he was operating under the mistaken assumption that better ramp travel index score would make a more capable offroad machine. It didn't. Perhaps you'd like to rephrase your question?

[NunayaFB]

Blaine knows what hes talking about...Ive been there. How can you seriously consider urethane bushings and fixed rectangular control arms, if youre planning on doing ANY offroading? If your intent is to have a pavement pounder, then its a perfect fit for you. You asked a question, and you got answers...if you dont want answers, dont ask questions. The reason its getting warm in here, is you refuse to take the advice you asked for.

Tam

Jeepgal, ugghhh! every salesman is trying to sell me a kit with urethane and tube arms. I questioned the flexability of this setup, read my original post please. I am not I] considering urethane bushings and fixed rectangular control arms, if youre planning on doing ANY offroading[/I]?

You asked a question, and you got answers...if you dont want answers, dont ask questions. The reason its getting warm in here, is you refuse to take the advice you asked for. Tam

I wanted answers I got answers and a lot more, the two of you are putting words into my mouth here, once I saw your pictures I knew I would never buy urethane.
Also I was just curious how much flex was lost due to urethane, controlled testing is how comparisons are done, I dont care about specific rti scores, Im not stupid I know they dont mean anything offroad.