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Good morning Art and Bruce--whoops, three hours, good afternoon. I'll jump in if you don't mind, as a once-hobbyist and now just crazy. My initial resistance to the poly bushings was based on just this point. Obviously all the surface area of the rubber bushings, bonded to the shell, resists rotation of the axle. My greatest concern was how u-joint angles would be affected as drive torque was applied, rather than the axle's response to simple suspension movement. There is some clamping surface provided by the lips on the edges of the TABs. I don't compare it to the full contact of the OEM bushings. When I got around to doing the bushings on my wagon, which is from the East coast originally, I had the opportunity to test. With torque rods out, driveshaft disconnected and panhard rod freed at the axle, I put one of the torque rod bolts in and set a long pry bar against the axle. The axle would rotate, not much though, and the bushings did pull it back to position. This in fact was what reminded me about when to torque the bolts. I loosened everything, put all the parts back in place and re-torqued with the load on, as is recommended. In addition to the lips on the ends of the bushings, I think the crush tubes do expand some. No doubt this spreads the bushings some so they lock tighter to the sleeves. I would also add that I swear by the urethane torque rod bushings too. Thus, it's pretty hard to twist that axle. I like the poly stuff more for the lifespan than anything else. I know the hobbyists like the stuff for "handling properties". I don't think the majority of 240 drivers are pushing their cars hard enough for this to come into play though. As for noise, I maintain that, even in a wagon, there's no significant increase. Not noticeable at all in a sedan.
Best to all,
DS
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