Bushings, Spacers & Sleeves

When selecting material for bushings or spacers, polyurethane offers significant advantages over traditional rubber. In demanding applications, urethane bushings and sleeves deliver far greater longevity and support. Key benefits of polyurethane over rubber include:

• Superior Wear Resistance: Polyurethane is extremely resistant to abrasion and tear. In fact, it often outlasts rubber by a factor of 4:1 or more in abrasive conditions. This means urethane bushings and spacers maintain their shape and function much longer under friction and wear.
  
• High Load-Bearing Capacity: Urethane can support heavier loads without permanent deformation. Compared to rubber, polyurethane has a higher load-bearing capacity and toughness. It won’t compress or squish out under heavy weight like softer rubber might, making it ideal for load-supporting bushings in machinery.
  
• Exceptional Resilience & Memory: Polyurethane has superb elastic memory. It can be compressed or stretched and still return to its original shape repeatedly without cracking. It will not chunk or break apart like rubber can under stress. This resilience means urethane bushings absorb shocks and vibration while retaining their structural integrity over time.
  
• Chemical and Environmental Resistance: Urethane resists oils, fuels, and most chemicals far better than natural rubber. It also stands up to ozone and UV exposure without deteriorating. This makes polyurethane spacers and sleeves suitable for harsh industrial environments where rubber would degrade.
  
• Broad Hardness Range: Unlike rubber (which is limited in hardness options), polyurethane can be formulated from very soft to extremely hard (Shore OO through Shore D scale). This means you can choose a urethane grade that exactly meets your needed balance of flexibility vs. rigidity for the part. (For example, soft for maximum vibration isolation, or hard for maximum support.)
  

In short, polyurethane bushings and sleeves provide unmatched durability, flexibility, and performance in ways rubber cannot. They tolerate high abrasion, heavy loads, and aggressive conditions while lasting far longer, translating to lower maintenance and better equipment protection.

Universal Urethane specializes in producing custom-size bushings, spacers, and sleeves to fit your exact requirements. One convenient way to create a custom urethane bushing is by machining it from polyurethane rod stock. Universal Urethane offers cast urethane rods in various diameters and hardnesses (from ~40A up to 90A Shore, with select sizes even in Shore D). These solid urethane rods can be precision machined to achieve the exact Outer Diameter (OD), Inner Diameter (ID), and length you need for your bushing or sleeve.

Rod stock → Machining to ID/OD: Starting with a cast polyurethane rod, our technicians can bore out the inner diameter (to fit over a shaft or bolt) and turn the outer diameter (to fit into a housing or bracket) to your specifications. This approach is ideal for prototyping and small production runs, because it avoids the expense of making a custom mold for every unique size. Many common stock rod sizes (from 1/2″ up to 8″ diameter, in lengths up to 48″) are kept on hand for quick turnaround. You can also purchase polyurethane bushing stock (rod or tube) directly if you prefer to machine the parts yourself.

In addition to machining from rod stock, Universal Urethane can custom mold urethane bushings and parts for larger production runs or more complex geometries. Our in-house molding capabilities produce parts with consistent quality and material properties throughout. Whether by compression molding or precision CNC machining, we ensure every urethane bushing or spacer meets your design criteria and performs reliably.