Spring plate bushings
 

My rear spring plate bushings are mushy after 38 years. It's only street driven so I want something not too hard but I also don't want sagging either.
I see some different versions that require glue but 30 yrs ago with my 73S I just burned off the old rubber and slipped on the new rubber that was available then. I know they were not plastic.
I just used silicone grease and never had a squeak or groan.
I almost was going to switch left to right but I figured 38 yr old rubber is pretty dried out.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

you basically answered your own Q's

burn em off

new rubber ones on

not worth reusing

my poly ones squeak a bit when cold

hope that helps

I replaced mine with oe match made by a company called Prekom. I was dissapointed to say the least, within a few miles they were as sagged as the 38 year old originals. If i was doing it again, id replace the spring plates and all, as the bushings are boded on properly from factory, and the replacments are only glued, and ultimately spin around and make premature wear. Maybe polys are better but the risk of sqeaking put me off.

I believe 38 yrs ago mine were Weltmeister. Back then they only had 2 choices, plastic and a rubber that was harder than OEM but acceptable for street driving. They never sagged but that was a pretty light car.
I see Pelican lists URO Parts " Heavy Duty Rubber ". If they are a step up from the OEM grade, softer, aftermarket rubber that may be what I'm looking for.

Clean out the old rubber, slip on the new ones, and grease them with a bit of silicone grease. They’ll stay quiet and keep the ride comfy. If you want something a bit stiffer, you could try polyurethane, but it can feel harsher and sometimes squeaks. Rubber’s probably your best bet.

Just had my whole suspension done over. No upgrades all rubber and all I can say is wow, what a difference. It rides like a dream now not washey at all anymore.

The difference between the old original bushes and a refresh is like night and day. My thing when I got it, used to spear off to the left under full power. I would countersteer going down a straight piece of road. I wondered how on earth I was going to fix that. Once I re did all the suspension bits it was a completely different beast.
Alan

About to do this rear refresh as well, spring plate bushing sag is obvious. I was contemplating about not messing with the burn off and glue, instead just buying new OE type Rennline spring plates with bushings already vulcanized and ready to install, price is reasonable too. Anyone using them?

Hoping the battle to get the torsion bar separated is a non issue.

I was planning on responding to my thread that I started. I installed URO so called Heavy Duty bushings only on one side (drivers). I only did one side because I was skeptical about the firmness compared to the 38 yr old factory which were sagging. The UROs seemed like the rubber was spongy and not really firm.
I set them at the lowest adjustment on spring plate and after a ride around the block the fender height was 25 3/4. After a 50 mile ride settled to 25 1/4. Now 2 weeks and about 150 miles total it was sagged down to 25 1/8 and the spring plate cover is almost touching the torsion bar. Re-indexing will most likely be a waist so I'm considering polyurethane and put up with an occasional squeak.
Check out the firmness of Rennline because I chose UROs because on searching I believe someone posted they sagged.
Maybe todays rubber is different from yrs ago as I found out restoring a 73S.

I was planning on responding to my thread that I started. I installed URO so called Heavy Duty bushings only on one side (drivers). I only did one side because I was skeptical about the firmness compared to the 38 yr old factory which were sagging. The UROs seemed like the rubber was spongy and not really firm.
I set them at the lowest adjustment on spring plate and after a ride around the block the fender height was 25 3/4. After a 50 mile ride settled to 25 1/4. Now 2 weeks and about 150 miles total it was sagged down to 25 1/8 and the spring plate cover is almost touching the torsion bar. Re-indexing will most likely be a waist so I'm considering polyurethane and put up with an occasional squeak.
Check out the firmness of Rennline because I chose UROs because on searching I believe someone posted they sagged.
Maybe todays rubber is different from yrs ago as I found out restoring a 73S.

That was a similar experience to me, sagged till the cover nearly touched after very few miles, and i got mine from FVD in Germany which were also expensive. I'd consider new spring plates if i was doing it again where rubber is bonded on properly, im not an expert but i think that might be the secret to oem longevity, or maybe poly anything is better than doing this job very often.

Anything from URO should be considered suspect and probably not used unless there is *no* other option.

Contact Elephant Racing for new rubber bushings. Their parts are quality and have proven to last.

Rebel Racing makes some delrin bushings that are very nice. Issue as always with that outfit is whether or not he is in the mood to answer the phone or emails. I caught him on a good day.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...o/DSC_0700.JPG

How much can hard or soft bushings actually hurt the ride? I don't think there's any case where spongey bushings make the car ride better - just mushier.

I have the metal ones and I think the ride is much smoother than the rubber ones that were in there before.

Guy that did the work said its sport shocks and big swaybars that hurt the ride on the street.

Someone posted on 911 Tech Forum that the rubber rear spring plate bushings from Elephant also sagged.
It's puzzling that the same bushings for 3.2s are the same for the heavier 930s.

Not puzzling that they would use just one spring plate assembly for both cars. They're a small manufacturer that nearly went bankrupt several times in that era, and shared parts saves money.

What is puzzling is Elephant's bushing failing.
We haven't experienced that in dozens of Turbos, or hard core 911 Safaris.

Elephant Recing also lists the same spring plate bushings for the light 68s up to the heavy 930s.