When I got this van, it had orange "Ramoco" poly bushings that had the front bushings crushed a little just like this. These are new Ramoco blue poly bushings that came as a part of the kit I putchased from NAPA, and they have also crushed, as you can see. I have now purchased the rubber bushingb"driveworks" kit from the advance, but I am trying to find out whether the problem is the Ramocos, or maybe something with my van.

Anyone experienced this problem before? Ideas before I put the new kit in?

At this point, all I have for a theory is material I have seen stating polyurethane should not be used for strut rod bushings because they dont expand back after being crushed under braking force.

TIA.

 

I did a quick search and one of the only relevant hits for Ramoco bushings was this thread. You sure on that brand name?

I have not heard about Poly bushings getting crushed, I thought they were supposed to be more resilient than rubber. I had heard they transmit more road irregularities to the vehicle. While they might tighten up handling on a sports oriented vehicle, that hardly applies to Vans.

I put a Moog strut rod bushing kit in mine back in early '08. The old ones appeared fine until I took them off and compared.



The instructions which came with the Moog's said that was the proper orientation of the rearward washer.

Where they mount to the frame, there was sharp metal edges around the hole, and some rubber transferred to the bracket. I smoothed everything out and razor bladed and wire wheeled off the rubber before installing the Moogs.

 

Sorry, I wrote that earlier from my "smart" phone, and it "corrected" everything for me.

Let me give you the lowdown. The brand is Ramcoa, and they make thermoplastic bushings, and they are garbage. They will crush, split, or something in very short order. If these Driveworks ones don't hold up, I am going to the dealer.


I have the DW kit in front of me, and it is a very hard rubber, but from the look, feel, and smell of it, it is definitely rubber.

 

Looks like on some other forums, Ramcoa bushings are being put in Moog boxes.

I am rather disgusted by the aftermarket parts being peddled to us. One never knows the country of origin or if one is getting older 'made in America' stock, or the newer outsourced 'my wife want's a new Mercedes and she will make my life hell/ maximum profit' third world made product.

I put in new TRE's 2 years ago. XRF and Mcquay norris brand.

I've had to replace the boots on both those so far as they split open at the seams or just ripped in half.

8 months ago I replaced my Drag link with a Moog. Same thing, the boot split in 2 months on that one.

I replaced them with Energy Suspension Boots. One just yesterday. So far so good with the previous replacements, and they were a size too small.

This is the correct size if you can read the part numbers. Not big on the red color, but couldn't argue with amazon's price with free shipping.

 

I think all of the boots are split in my suspension. Might need to figure out the correct size for all of them.

 

I believe the TRE's are the same on an 89 as a 98 so the part # in my pic should work for you but double check TRE part numbers on Rockauto before ordering.

or just measure:
http://www.energysuspension.com/univ...ust-boots.html

In fact the other boots I replaced were a size smaller, but they will still do their job up keeping grease where needed and dust and water out.

It is the ball joint dust boots which require the more vital sizing fit. luckily I have not had issues with those, yet anyway.