Nolathane Suspension Bushings Now Available at Summit Racing

Suspension bushings are the link between your vehicle and its springs, struts and shock absorbers. They provide the movement and/or mounting points in your vehicle’s suspension system. OEM rubber bushings quickly deform and degrade under normal use, so you’ll know when yours have given up the ghost—you’ll feel vibration in the steering, experience erratic handling and braking, and see uneven tire wear.

The top suspension bushing maker in Australia, Nolathane got its start making urethane bushings to replace brass bushings in antique vehicles competing in hillclimb events. When the company expanded into bushings for street-driven vehicles, Nolathane engineers created urethane formulations that provide improved suspension performance while maintaining or even improving a vehicle’s ride quality. That’s quite a hat trick.

Nolathane bushings are superior to rubber bushings in two ways:

Material
OEMs use rubber bushings because they’re inexpensive, not because rubber is the best material for the job. Nolathane’s urethane bushing formulations combine the durability and flexibility of a polyurethane bushing with the softness of a rubber bushing. That means no compromise between handling and ride comfort. Nolathane bushings are also near-impervious to damage from oil, grease, ozone, and abrasion, so they won’t degrade, deform, or wear excessively over time like rubber bushings.

Construction
OEM rubber bushings are compressed or chemically bonded to their steel shells or sleeves, then press-fit into the suspension components. This method of construction restricts suspension movement or rotation, so the bushing material must be soft enough to permit that movement. Softer rubber means the bushings quickly start to deform or change shape, resulting in unwanted suspension movement. The more the rubber degrades, the worse the bushings deform and the sloppier your suspension becomes.

Nolathane bushings are not compression- or chemically bonded. They are mechanically fitted to their shells and sleeves with minimal crush of the urethane material. That means little or no bushing deformation. Combined with a lubricated center pin or sleeve, Nolathane bushings allow suspension components to pivot freely without restriction.

Nolathane’s combination of superior materials and construction provide these benefits:
• Sharper handling and greatly increased suspension control
• Excellent ride quality
• Less change in suspension geometry under load
• High load bearing capability for hauling and towing
• Longer suspension and tire life

Summit Racing carries a whole slew of Nolathane bushings for lots of domestic and import vehicles, including:
• Control arm bushings
• Sway bar bushings and end links
• Shock and strut bushings and mounts
• Rack and pinion mount bushings
• Alignment correction bushings
• Subframe/cradle and differential carrier bushings

We also carry Nolathane solid sway bars and control arms to further upgrade your vehicle’s handling, plus body lift kits for Jeep Wrangler that give you extra space for bigger tires without body movement and alignment issues.

Visit the Technical Support section on Nolathane’s website to learn more about bushings and diagnosing suspension issues, plus installation instructions and how-to videos.

SEE NOLATHANE SUSPENSION BUSHINGS AT SUMMIT RACING