What is a poly bush?

A standard rubber polyurethane bush plays a vital role in vehicles and machinery. However, specifiers are increasingly requesting a polyurethane alternative, as poly bushes offer significant advantages.

An engineering ‘bush’ serves a number of crucial purposes, involving connecting two parts in engines and other machinery. Reliability and accuracy can be serious safety issues, particularly if these are two moving parts. Also, bushes need mechanical strength, which sometimes runs in tandem with a finite amount of ‘give’.

Commissioning bushes that are the ideal fit in terms of dimensions, tensile properties and performance, can also be vital to ensure a vehicle or machine can run consistently at its optimal speed.

Traditionally, specifiers have chosen between solid plastic or pliable rubber bushes.

So, what is a polyurethane bush? It is a modern alternative to standard rubber or solid bushes that is increasingly in demand. It relies on the many benefits that polyurethane provides.

Why are polyurethane bushes being used?

This is primarily due to the way poly bushes are manufactured. Experts in precious engineering polyurethane parts can vary this substance’s properties to an incredible degree. Including producing bushes that are more pliable or stronger than their traditional alternatives.

Even under intense pressure and use, polyurethane bushes hold their shape and offer impressive durability and reliability.

This includes acting as an extremely strong and flexible connection to support suspension systems or moving arms that carry considerable weight.

Ordering bushes with customised tensile and density properties is not the only reason to opt for a PU version though. Polyurethane bushes are also an easy-to-fit and cheap alternative to standard bushes.

They tend to create a more responsive product too, reducing flex or friction, and improving the performance of the parts they support and connect.

Can polyurethane bushes support the same amount of weight as solid, metal bushes? They can if they are precision-engineered using a dense and extremely strong variation of polyurethane.

More advantages of polyurethane bushes

It’s worth looking more closely at the durability of polyurethane, and why that provides such a compelling reason to specify it as an alternative to rubber bushes.

As they are made from PU, poly bushes are resistant to oil, moisture, mould and other contaminants. This further increases their reliability and performance factors. Poly bushes don’t rot, crack or become slippery.

That makes polyurethane a great option for bushes used in conjunction with brake systems.

The fact that polyurethane bushes also have an excellent ability to withstand extreme temperatures is also highly significant. It means bushes mounted near exhaust or engine systems will retain their integrity and strength when close to heat sources.

You can specify a polyurethane bush in two halves as well, then slot them quickly in place, before fixing them together.

Polyurethane bush safety and vibration issues

Clearly, replacing bushes regularly is still vital. Especially those connected to steering and braking systems.

However, specifying engineering bushes made from polyurethane provides you with a quality product that lasts. This helps to manage the scheduling of repairs and updates for vital vehicles and machines.

With all that said, do poly bushes have disadvantages?

In some applications, bushes made from polyurethane do create a greater degree of vibration. This can impact comfort factors in a vehicle when a polyurethane bush is used in steering or suspension systems for example.

Specifiers need to balance that, with all the many advantages of polyurethane bushes.

The cost of polyurethane bushes

As they do have so many benefits compared to traditional versions, it would be easy to imagine that commissioning poly bushes means paying a premium price.

In fact, the opposite is true.

Not least as natural rubber involves relatively complex cultivation and harvesting practices. Whereas the components used to engineer parts from polyurethane are readily available and highly cost-effective.

Polyurethane bushes can be produced with a short lead time and quick delivery too, minimising machine downtime and speeding up prototype projects. This could represent another cost saving.

With so many compelling reasons to specify polyurethane as an alternative material for bushes, you could well be wondering where to buy custom-made polyurethane bushes?

The answer is Custom Moulded Polyurethane. We can produce a polyurethane bush in a range of colours and shore hardness, with incredible accuracy and performance values.