Proud Rhino rod bushing issues

[Kgh]

Ran the last day at URE with new Proud Rhino lift rods.

All well and good until yesterday when I got around to switching back to stock rods. Underside of truck was washed, no dirt on rods, height sensors or brackets. Used a liberal amount of lanolin based lubricant (I use it on Jet Ski fittings, enviro,safe stuff). Very slippery, and rods were sliding on fittings well.

Using a divot tool, and going slowly, I managed to tear out 2 of the bushings/grommet thingys from the rods. One popped back in, other is cut and unserviceable. Was tempted to pitch them in the trash!

Anyone else have this issue, and where did you source new bushings?

 

[ZG]

Did you call Lucky8? I'm sure they can source new bushings for them

 

[Bama4door]

You may be able to find some replacement grommets at Ace Hardware. I've seen a bunch of different sizes there in their parts bins before. Take the rods in and see what will work, if not call Lucky8.

 

[Kgh]

I will prob call Justin, although if that is how tight the Rhino bushings normally are, I will not use them.
Either find a slightly "looser" fit, or these go into the bin of excess Rover parts.

Way too difficult to remove to be a "I will just put these on for a trail run" mod. And I do not want to leave on full time, even if I got truck aligned to match.

 

[getlost4x4]

They probably were not designed to be taken off an on. If you want the ability to go between lifted and stock, you should probably find a programmer. I haven't heard of anyone else wanting to switch suspension rods everytime they go 4 wheeling.

 

[DiscoDavis]

They probably were not designed to be taken off an on. If you want the ability to go between lifted and stock, you should probably find a programmer. I haven't heard of anyone else wanting to switch suspension rods everytime they go 4 wheeling.

The disco 3 and 4 guys do this fairly often AFAIK, installing and removing rods when hitting trails. First time I've heard of the bushings getting damaged though. I'm content with the minor lift the IID tool provides myself.

 

[morrisdl]

Agreed, its common to switch the rods for off road use. I use to before I got the IIDtool. I cant imagine running 'lifted' 100% on these twisty mt roads.

 

[Kgh]

Agreed, its common to switch the rods for off road use. I use to before I got the IIDtool. I cant imagine running 'lifted' 100% on these twisty mt roads.

Seeing as I am 200 miles from any real trail, I do not want them on full time. Or at traffic speed (75-80) going thru Miami. Rods and RTT make the ride too sloshy.

Researching IIDT and LLAMS posts.

 

[zelatore]

Seeing as I am 200 miles from any real trail, I do not want them on full time. Or at traffic speed (75-80) going thru Miami. Rods and RTT make the ride too sloshy.

Researching IIDT and LLAMS posts.

Ideally you'd want both the IID tool and LLAMS, but that's a big chunk of cash. The IID tool for all the diagnostic and other benefits it offers and the LLAMS for the ease of height adjustments.

If you could only have one (like most of us) I'd say get the IID tool as it's the more useful over all.

I'm waiting for JWestPro to chime in ... I'm surprised he doesn't have an alert set for any time somebody mentions LLAMS. He's sorta a fan.