Snubber Rubber

[Greg001]

Does anybody make a snubber or front engine mount out of tougher material than stock? The stock replacement ones are made from way too soft material.

I have an '02 Pioneer with the bolt on tang so changing is easy. But I am buying a new one several times a year. Some I catch before completely worn to the point of falling off. Most times I just start hearing the banging around when going over bumps and the vibration. I replaced the bushings in the spring ends and shackles. So I know I am not getting excessive movement. I drive several miles of dirt roads daily. Yeah, I know, rough life ;)

One made from polyurethane seems it would do the job and last much longer. If I can't find one made of better material I have thought about making my own. Out of tire tread layered together.

[CP241]

What you see is what you get.

However, if you're going through them something is definitely wrong. I changed the snubber in my carryall once when I built it, and it never needed replacing again. The only reason I even had to replace it was because the original one was deteriorated and falling apart, it finally fell out when I put in a lift kit. I put that carryall through a LOT and it was always fine.

Can you post a picture of how it is installed? How exactly are they "failing"? There really shouldnt be any kind of force on it, it just sorta helps rest that tongue so it's not flopping around onto the metal frame rail.

[Fairtax4me]

Are you using aftermarket or OEM Club Car parts?
The aftermarket ones are usually chinese knock-offs and don’t last as long, especially on rough terrain.

My solution was to “make” snubbers out of a 12” length of 5/8” heater hose wrapped around the bracket and secured with a couple zip ties through the center of the hose. Lasts a long time and much cheaper at only about $2.99 a foot from an auto parts store.

[Greg001]

Thanks Fairtax4me, good idea. My buggy sees rough use. Sometimes going over a rise in the dirt road I travel daily we catch air. Landing is most times soft, sometimes not. Yeah, I beat the bitch. LOL

Great idea of using heater hose. Most times I over complicate and wind up with same thing but with lots of time and effort involved.

I was thinking of cutting tire tread in pieces wide and long enough. Running a bolt with nut on each side of tang to hold them together.

On the stock replacements the bottom wears out. Then the tang rides metal to metal on the frame bracket.

Being a Pioneer it shares a lot of parts with the golf carts. But is different. Came with 11" of ground clearance and 23" tires. Power dump bed. Bucket seats with parking brake and axle locker between them, and a cup holder. Not sure if golf carts have hydraulic brakes but this does.

A day at work sometimes means load 500 to 800 pounds of dirt or sand into bed. When this happens snubber is firmly against top of frame bracket. I have noticed when that much weight is on it the tang is almost fully engaged into frame bracket. With no load it is about 3/4" into frame bracket. So the pivot from front spring mounts swing the engine forward as suspension compresses. I thought about replacing snubber with a hinge but it would not work. A fellow redneck genius suggested that I use a slip yoke from a drive shaft. It would allow up and down and in and out. But limit side to side. I got dizzy trying to figure out how to mount it and started dreaming of a Polaris UTV.

[Fairtax4me]

Yeah as the spring compresses the engine cradle actually moves up relative to the frame so the more weight you have the higher the bracket sits up.

How many leafs are in the rear springs on that? I think the stock heavy duty club car springs should be 4 leafs. If it doesn’t have 4 then going to a true heavy duty spring in the back would help with load capacity.

Not to say that the heater hose idea lasts forever, but it’s cheap and easy. And if you have some 1” heater hose you can run 1/2” hose through the middle and double them up to make it a little wider.

[Greg001]

Pretty sure the Pioneer has model specific rear springs. They are 4 leaf. Part number 102006501. The front suspension is coil spring over shock, not the transverse single leaf spring like a golf cart.

I am going to try your heater hose tip. Thanks.