Polyurethane suspension bushings

Who has them and how much difference has there been? I'm planning on going full polyurethane. Want the car to feel like new. There re are a couple of U.K. Made options. Polybush and Powerflex that make full kits for the 996. Does anyone know of an American company that makes or could make a full set of polyurethane suspension bushings?

Powerflex seems to be the most common option. I recently priced a full set of bushings from them for my C2 and it came to about $1400. Monoballs are likely better for certain stress areas of the suspension such as the LCAs but are definitely more costly.

I have Powerflex on my rear upper control arms. I ordered them from their US site. When I refreshed my suspension, I went with all new LCA's instead of just replacing with inserts because the ball joints were shot too.

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Good point. If you have to spend the money to buy LCAs anyway maybe spend a little bit more and buy the Rennline or Tarett adjustable versions that include a new ball joint as well as monoball ends and centers.

"If you have to spend the money to buy LCAs anyway maybe spend a little bit more and buy the Rennline or Tarett adjustable versions that include a new ball joint as well as monoball ends and centers." The adjustable LCA's are more than "a little more expensive"... they're like 4-5x http://www.tarett.com/items/996-997-...kit-detail.htm I'm not saying they're not a great upgrade but it gets very expensive, very quickly. Same goes for the poly bushing kits - if you've ever done poly suspension bushings, you know how much work it is. If you've got plenty of time, a good place to work, and decent tools, it's not that big a deal - certainly doable by a "home mechanic" but not for the faint of heart!!!

Any recommendations on order of bushing replacement based on ease of replacement and or ride/handling improvement. Keeping in mine no lift and hand tools only.

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At the least you'll need a press. A 12 ton press is pretty cheap at harbor freight. Then you'll need to rig up various arbors (usually sockets) to use to push the bushings out. You can buy professional arbor kits in various sizes but they are costly.

You can do them at home , you can do one side at a time with a couple jacks and stands , a press or vice , torch , brute force and bruised knuckles . A hoist , even one of those low jack pack ones would make this much easier .once you get your old bones all clean , old bushes out , the powerflex bushes are fairly easy to install . once you get it together , take it to a good suspension place to set it up and align it .

I did mine in the driveway with jackstands. Wasn't impossible, just took a couple days. I used a tool like this to press the bushings out. Amazon Amazon

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The powerflex bushings seem to be popular and well integrated. You can also get them in different hardnesses (street or track)... I've used them on a E39 540i (just front control arm bushings) and they made a significant difference over the slightly worn out stock rubber bushings...

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if this is a daily driver you will regret the change over .....if you track it you will love it after you adjust to them

Poly does not last very long from my experience.

^^^^^ and when[not if] they start squeaking/groaning looking for the offending one to lube [special lube too] is not fun

The powerflex street purples have been in my street car for two years , couldn't be happier , feels better than new they DON'T SQUEAK and aren't too hard (30% firmer than oem) . Good set up for a street or part time track car or endurance / ralley car . A short course pure track car would benefit from the harder black powerflex bushes but would probably be too stiff for the street . The purple ones have been night and day better than the oem ones on the street or doing track days Polybushes of good quality like the U.K. Made powerflex ones will last 4x as long as the factory oem bushes .they come with a lifetime warranty On a car like the 996 with its complex multilink suspension , I think this is a very worthwhile upgrade , at this age every 996 regardless of mileage needs some bush work . My car was just past ten years old and only had 35000 miles on it when I did them , it was well worth it !

I bought mine from larkspeed in the U.K. , they put together a complete set as a package for me and had the most reasonable price , even with shipping to Vancouver they were cheaper than US sources. I used them for every bush except the swaybars , as I was fitting new h&r swaybars at the same time and the h&r bars come with polybushes already . http://www.larkspeed.com/category/view/POWERFLEX

This video gives you a feel for what's involved You Tube

There is a good bit on bushes in the middle of this . You Tube

In those videos I see use of a combination of purple (street/sport) and track (black) bushings. Anyone have an opinion on which should be used where in the suspension to give the best results on (for example) a car that is used 80% track/20% street and driven to and from the track?

I went with all purple and think that would be a good way to go for a street biased car or distance racer , if the car is used on the street at all , I don't think you'd be disappointed going that way , I think the black ones would be best for a full track car , you could always give powerflex a call for their recommendation .

I'll be calling larkspeed tomorrow. I'm also considering polybush brand bushings. Here is the kit they sell for the 996. Price looks reasonable. https://www.ebay.com/i/130625930981

I emailed Larkspeed and received a reply on pricing at $797USD plus $95 shipping for a full kit including subframe bushings. This is about half the price of ordering the same from Powerflex USA.

I can attest to their great service and pricing . They responded to my emails very quickly and shipping took 5 days , including Canada customs .