I like to work on my car on my own terms. When I do a mod or mtce, I like it to be because I want to, not because I HAVE to. So I go to put SS brake lines on the formula, bcz I want to, and I discover a job that I HAVE to.

Question, what looks like brown cottage cheese and flies all over your freshly detailed engine bay and wheel tub? What looks like Aunt Jemima exploded on your tranny pan? Inner CV tripod boot baby. I looked at that mess and said "if I'm gonna do 1, I'm gonna do all 4." Let me also say the replacement CV boots are not cheap!

While I had the hub carrier portion of the rear control arms and lateral arms loose, I decided to re-grease the poly bushings that were exposed. Ugh, they didn't come out as easy as I thought. The steel sleeve acted siezed to the poly, and the poly acted siezed to the arms. Now bear in mind, this poly is only 2 years old and less than 5000 miles. And I greased the heck out of 'em going in, so I wouldn't live with the dreaded squeeking. I wouldn't think it would be siezed.

I had to pound out the sleeves (A LOT of pounding). And then the poly was none too yielding in coming out of their housings.

Here is what I observed. There was no residual silicon grease left on the sleeve to poly surface. There was no residual grease left on the poly to housing surface. Some of the sleeves had a black carbon blemish that ate through the anodized coating. I have no idea what that was from, that stuff was showroom clean when I installed it.

Furthermore, when I originally installed these, I had spray painted a couple of the control arms. The overspray in the housing got on the poly and acted like a glue. Instead of a slick red surface, it looked like I had sprayed the poly! The moral here is, paint acts like lock-tite on poly. Be aware.

After a couple of years you could tell the poly was a little more brittle, maybe compressed is the right word? It almost made me want to regrease the whole dang poly suspension, but if that grease disappears in 2 years anyway.... why should I?

BTW did I mention CV boots are messy and expensive?

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REMEMBER: stoplights synch'd for 35mph are also synch'd for 70mph.
(and for 140mph, now that I think about it.)

I've being using MOOG brand poly for certain bushing replacement applications in the front suspension of Ford Tarus's, Tempo's and half ton trucks for a number of years now.

I have noticed similiar occurances such as you have described.

I've also seen a large number of worn out poly in some of the cars mentioned above.
The poly looks squished or compressed to the point where the inner sleeves slop around in the bushings, necessating replacement.

For awhile now I have been pondering similiar questions, such as what is the service life of poly bushings.

Before we go too far on this subject, one has to relise that these cars i talk about have seen several years of daily use. Probably alot more use than the average Fiero on poly.

I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who has put a bunch of miles on the poly busings in a Fiero, say 50k miles or more.

I would imagine that the poly bushings will break down over time and will need replacement at some point.

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1988GT T-Tops, 5spd, Loaded

Well... I installed poly on my car last July. I noticed a little squeeking this last month. I decided to remove the bottom arms and found the grease was already gone. I had put 28k on it since. I drive the crap out of mine. The worse thing I noticed besides the grease being gone was that the A arm sleeve(metal housing for the poly bushing) had broken loose from the A Arm and was now rotating in the Arm instead of the poly. This time I just greased the heck out of it with wheel bearing grease. Two mechanics told me thats what they use.

As noted in my cave.... I do not like pollyurethane for control arm bushings. It may have slight advantages in race only cars but it flat blows for street use.

1. Most people that claim poly is better... are comparing to worn out rubber. This mistake is even made by many so called pro's that should know better.
2. Many people that install polly... don't keep the car long enough to learn all the problems.

I won't install polly in control arms of street vehicles if you pay me. People have tried. I'd rather lose a little money up front than eat a bunch of cash/bs later when they whine about the polly. I don't need that kind of stress.

I tried in my cave to give people who insist on pollyurethane a few things that may help it last and work better. Long term, pollyurethane isn't made for daily street use. Nothing the polly makers or endusers do is likely to make it work in that application.

The squeaking problem is well known. I think that you will find the "residue" and inner sleeve wear you are observing is the polly itself wearing from lack of lubrication. Remember Pollyurethane bushings function as a bearing when used in control arms. ALL bearings reaquire appropriate and addiquate lubrication. Minus the lubricant the bushings/bearings will wear, usually rapidly.

NOTE... You do NOT lubricate the OUTSIDE of pollyurethane bushings. You DON'T want the outside of the bushing to move at all in the outter sleeve.

Get rid of the pollyurethane and install Moog control arm bushings. A new set of Moog bushings, when correctly installed, will likely outlast the car. The catch, at least for Fiero, Moog only makes the full set of parts for 84-87 Fiero. They don't list much for 88. (The 84-87 parts list is in my cave.) Use the Moog caster kit in the UCA. It comes with the bushings and all the hardware.

For Fiero, the only place I always want pollyurethane or, if you can afford/find/make it, metal is the cradle mounts. You don't want that thing moving even a little bit. Polly isn't a bearing in that application so it will last a long time even with no lubrication.

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RIP Crew of Columbia. 01-Feb-03

quote NOTE... You do NOT lubricate the OUTSIDE of pollyurethane bushings. You DON'T want the outside of the bushing to move at all in the outter sleeve.

That contradicts the manufacturer's recomendations.

-Jelly-, glad (or maybe should it be sad?) to see that someone else out there has the
same experiences/trouble as I do.

-ogre-, I'm an '88 so options are limited. I like the way my suspension felt after I went to all poly, but I cant believe the grease is gone with just 2 years and limited driving! It does seem that your philosphy regarding poly works well for you.

I am going to try some marine application grease. The stuff is thick and water insoluable. It looks like blue paste. I put a little on my fingers and could hardly wipe it off with a rag. Maybe it will have better results than the silicon grease. If/When I rip the rear suspension down again I will let ya'll know.

I'd like to see a few more people sound off on this!

I've got the receipts at home, but I've got about 3 years and 50K miles on my full poly suspension with no complaints. No squeaks, no sloppyness, etc. I am a fellow '88er also, and now with 207K miles, and a few seasons autocross on the poly, I am still happy.

Sounds to me that you're complaining that getting the bushings out of the sleeves was a pain. No $hit. Don't you remember having to press them into the sleeves? They aren't supposed to be loose fitting. BTW: I did not grease the outer portion of my bushings.

About the "missing" grease, just regrease them. You can also add grooves, and/or make them greasable with a drill and adding a fitting to the outer shell.