Thanks to all for the warm welcome! We live near Columbia, Lancaster County, PA. Now, about the car. Both rods broke at the end of the threaded portion of the rod. 6" from the end. A clean break, no signs of a previous crack either. Must have been the stress from breaking those !@#$&* nuts loose, I guess. New bushings are OEM rubber. Poly bushings are, like you said, too stiff (for some things). Used them on sway bars before, but kept breaking the end link bolts. Put rubber back in and haven't broke one since. Not enough flex and they transmit too much shock through the chassis, if you want a smooth ride. Now, on my Bronco, EVERYTHING was urethane. Rode like a buckboard wagon, but it went anywhere! Oh yeh, here's a pic of the Mav(hopefully!). "Later", Steve
I like urethane bushings on the sway-bars but not on anything else because they're too noisey (squeak). I wish I had used rubber when I replaced my leaf springs. I even greased them before installation and they still squeak. "Polygraphite" squeaks too, although not as bad. And yes, I now feel every little irregularity in the road...
Any place that has a large amount of flex out of normal static alignment such as anti roll bar links, using the urathane bushings in a tight condition , puts a large amount of extra stress on the whole assembly. This breaks link ends, flexes the mounting areas and splits bushings.
Hey Steve, I live just across the river from you in York. John Fasig lives just north of you in Mount Joy. Guess we'll have to have our own mini meet. :bananaman
