Rubber Vs Nolathane

Hi Guys, i wanted to ask for members advice on whats best for the Navara.

Im going to change this year all the rubbers on the suspention, links, bushes, sway bar (all of them) and im thinking of going nolathane??

I have nolathane on my Turbo datsun but thats a street car. I do go off road with my navara and wanted to upgrade all my parts as i change them.

I am still looking for comfort in my ride but its not the most improtant thing.

Whats your opinion?

thanks BigD

Rubber flexes better than nolathane, but they both get pretty flogged when off road

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stick with rubber, might cost you a little more but, last longer and work better.

Thanks guys, im looking for maximum life possible. I thought the nolathane would last longer being harder material but give a rough ride.

I know the rubbers offer more comfort and if they last the best then thats what im after.

All new rubbers through out with Micky Thompson tyres over christmas cant wait.

Im about to have my suspension worked on. The guy im using said my rubbers should still be good, and if so he wont replace them yet. But if they are buggered he will go with poly bushes.

His believes rubbers may give a slightly better ride, however as the new leaf springs will make the shackle work/move alot more over the standard flat leafs, rubber will wear faster as they will be worked alot harder.

More flex with rubber would be barly noticeable as well he said.

So im staying with rubber for now, but once stuffed, will swap to poly and greasable shackles. Pumping new grease in removes any grit etc that may get into the bushes, cause more wear.

This is what he has told me. Just wait and see how it all goes i spose. Getting it done monday.

Sorry this is only for leaf bushes to, not sway bars ect

Pete

Im going to change this year all the rubbers on the suspention, links, bushes, sway bar (all of them) and im thinking of going nolathane??

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I just fitted near Tuff Dog springs in the rear and fitted the synthetic. I put greasable shackles and pins in so I can regularly pump waterproof bearing grease into them. The ute rides and handles a whole lot better.

In my humble opinion if you cannot grease the bush, leave it rubber.

Gold gold, thats sweet guys thanks i will look into that more now that i have a better understanding.

Peteyen86 let us know how it goes after the work is done and what to expect $$$$

as far as nolathane goes i think times have changed a bit. you can get different degrees of hardness now. you can get them soft as rubber, a harder street compound or a really hard track compound.

BigD said:

Gold gold, thats sweet guys thanks i will look into that more now that i have a better understanding.

Peteyen86 let us know how it goes after the work is done and what to expect $$$$

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Hey mate. Got it done today.

My Nav was riding on the front top bump stops from sagging. That is, i had shit loads of down travel but no up. So my shocks were barely getting used in the front. Made the ride shit house, felt every little bump as you could expect as it was riding on the stops.

The rear standard leaves were flat, so limited movement there to.

Had the rear leaves reset (heated, not cold formed) and an extra leaf installed. Now they have a second level of leaf.

Front standard bars wound up. He said there is still a bit of adjustment there if they sag again.

The rubber bushes were still good, so he left them and the standard shackles. Only replaced the front bushes in the leaves with new rubber ones. New u bolts were also installed. I already had Bilstein shocks.

Just from driving home and around town, the ride is 100% better. Much more comfortable to drive. Looking forward to getting her up the bush. Will see how she settles in over the next week (how much its drops down again).

Also keep in mind i dont have a steel bar, dual batteries, so the standard torsions were fine to use again.

All up he charged me $600.

Hope this helps. Ill keep you posted how they go over the next few weeks, but so far, really happy.

Pete

Awesome!! it amazing when the experts look at it what they find. I will say mine does drive very good. i just want to keep it bullet proof.

I flat towed my dads work van on the weekend up this massive hill, all rocks and ruts etc, he should not have even come down. (i told him he would get stuck) So on his way out i let him carry on for a while and then i came to his aid and pulled him out. i cannot believe how easy my navara pulled him up that mountain. i wish i took a photo it was cool.

The standard bars are such crap that winding them up gives a very harsh ride compared to replacing them with something decent that gives the height and a good ride.

BradM said:

The standard bars are such crap that winding them up gives a very harsh ride compared to replacing them with something decent that gives the height and a good ride.

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Im still happy at the moment. Ride is 1000x better then it was. Have you got a steel bar, dual batteries, winch? If so the standard bars would not cope to well.

I have none of the above so at them moment they are fine. Will keep an eye on sag over the coming months though. Since i dont have the items mentioned above i think giving the standard bars a go doesn't hurt at all.

Like i said, the ride is a lot better at the moment.

Guys....

Looking at replacing my rear Shackles Bushes with new rubber ones as the old yellow poly ones have fallen apart.... Any idea where the best place to get rubber bushes from other than Nissan?

Nissan quoted me $93.90 for the 8 rear ones and said that the front fixed were some ridiculous price of $140..... no way

any ideas..... what about Nissbits??