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Hello - I'm am replacing the tie bar rods and bushes on my 96 Rover Mini Cooper which have been supplied with standard rubber bushes - see link below. Someone suggested to me that fitting a poly bush at the top with a rubber at the bottom is a better way to go - just be keen to get some feedback on which is the best option?

Standard Bushes - https://www.classicminispares.co.nz/sto ... single-rod

Poly & rubber bushes - https://www.classiccarparts.co.nz/index ... ct_id=1298

Cheers

You want to control caster changes under heavy braking. Rubber bushes are not really good at this as their flex allows the bottom of the hub to move back ... However, stiff ploy bushes limit the flex the front of the tie rod needs needs as the suspension moves up and down.This can cause more excitement than you could possibly want if the tie rod fractures due to the repeated bending moment caused by the stiff bushes ...BTDT

A reasonable solution (works for me) is to place a stiff bush (poly) at the front to limit the backwards motion of the tie rod under braking while fitting a soft(er) rubber bush at the back to give the necessary flex....

Cheers, Ian

we always fit the minispares kit that has one two different bushes, i forget which way round there are, also pay attention to the correct washers etc being there as we've seen some with flat washers, some with cupped washers, some nylocs, some not, a real mix and match, often on the same car!

Thanks for the info which is much appreciated. I'll use the ploy/rubber bush kit when fitting the new tie rods, cheers