As a postscript, Pelican is sending me a new bushing. Hope if comes with instructions :)

I have some experience installing OEM rubber, RSR and plastic bushings that might translate to what you are using.

In the case of rubber bushings, they are supposed to grip the chassis and grip the spring plate. In other words, the rubber is supposed to twist and flex between the spring plate and the chassis in a spring like manner; no slipping on pivot points. I have installed them with soapy water and a rubber mallet. The soap dries and rubber really sticks to the two surfaces.
[No rubber safe grease and definitely no ordinary mineral or ordinary synthetic grease.]
I like to put the bushings on the spring plate first and then put the assembly on the car.

In the case of Rebel RSR bushings, I installed them into the chassis first and then bolted on the spring plates. This involved a rubber mallet and pressing the bushing in with the spring plate and bolts.

My product opinion:
+ Porsche branded rubber bushings
+ Rebel RSR Polytetrafluoroethylene bushings (love these)
+ Elephant Bushings, all models
- Plastic bushings are inferior, frustrating and a waste of money [I used them on a <$1000 Chump race car, and they were not good enough]

I’m in a pickle. I tried to use the spring plate cover to seat the bushing to the body. I put a lot of torque to the longer bolts I used, but it refused to walk in. On the 87 the torsion bar is pretty long and you have to sneak the cover plate in between the fender and the tube. It’s a fiddle. In my pic you’ll see I’m stuck. I tried to knock the cover plate off the inner bushing but the cover and bushing just walked down the tube. The cover plate is not coming free from the bushing!

I can’t see how you index the torsion bar with the inner bushing in place. It is such a tight fit. I knew from all the posts this was going to be challenging but MAN. What a pain this is.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1594496194.jpg

This is not rocket science; don’t over think it. First, be sure the the chassis cavity where the bushing goes is really clean. Use a good wheel brush on a high speed drill and clean the snot out of it. Then, use a lot of good silicone lube on the bushing and press it into the cavity with the cover and longer bolts. If the bushing seems too large for the cavity, sand it a bit if you have to at the leading edge. If you put lube on the shaft as well as the bushing, you can rotate the spring plate and index the torsion bar. Just be sure everything is lubed with silicone.

Are rubber bushings engineered to be bearings??
 

I have seen numerous posts, where bushings are lubed with a “real” grease, silicone, or other rubber safe grease, to facilitate bushing installation. My inclination is to believe that the rubber will continue to slip in the mount as lung as the lubrication is sufficient to allow relative movement.
Elephant specifically recommends soap to facilitate bushing installation, noteing that adjustments must be made within a relatively short period, before “stiction” sets in.
Given the loads on the suspension bushings, I imagine the rubber will wear fairly rapidly if lubed and not “bonded” to the chassis or arm.
I believe the factory designed the rubber to be bonded to the components and are an element of the suspension “spring rate”. Lube fooks all of this up.
I just installed new “sport hardness” rubber rear control arm bushings and the instructions, specifically recommended allowing the suspension to compress to the final ride height before tightening the pivot bolts, thus, not putting a preload on that particular rubber bushing, unlike the front a arms and rear spring plates, where, I think the spring effect of the rubber is a component of the effective spring rate.
In short, my question is, are the rubber bushings designed to bond with the metal and “flex”, providing some amount of “springing”, or they designed to slide.

OCD, until the bitter end,
Off to do the mowing, (unfortunately, not with a Porsche tractor),
chris

How is the vehicle able to have consistent spring rates if each corner has its own frictional/spring rates. Does not make engineering sense unless all designed friction is more or less the same.

Perhaps Elephant Racing only wants one joint surface (the bushing OD) to be stationary in the spring plate cover.

MHO,
Sherwood

Thanks all. More things to consider. I’m going to “phone a friend”. Someone who has done this before. I don’t like that I’m using the 3.0 lb sledge on this project!

I recently acquired a set of SC spring plates for my 74 which has non-adjustable spring plates. My olds bushing are shot as the spring plates are rubbing on the covers. I hope to be able take an angle measurement and re-index the new spring plates in order to lower the rear down. Today I removed the old bushing and was impressed with how well the factory bonded them to the spring plates. Seems odd to me that there is so much discussion on why this was done and questions as to how to replace/refresh this component of the rear suspension. I'm about ready to purchase new bushings and I am un sure of the correct type and installation technique given the debates I read in numerous threads.

Any advice would be appreciated.

At least one of the aftermarket sellers of bushings for this application must have installation instructions? Neatrix?
I know that alternatives, like the Polybronze, come with instructions.

Never seen rubber bushings with a hard liner. I bet that's just the adhesive used to bond them to the spring plate. Never seen them installed in the tube first either.
FWIW, URO sells a set of 4 rubber ones for about $30-$40. Look just like the stock ones.

URO Parts high-quality "heavy duty" Rear Spring Plate Bushing Set 911 333 009 00BHD looks like stock, but they're actually more firm (about 80-85 shore A hardness) than original (55-60 shore A), without being harsh like many of the poly bushings. They're a good balance between performance and ride quality.

If someone prefers a stock ride, we also offer Rear Spring Plate Bushing Set 911 333 009 00B, which is 55-60 shore A.

Thank you for the responses.
Just seems odd that the factory bonded the bushing to the spring plates and all of the modern replacement don't call out for this procedure. There must have been a reason.

Elephant's instructions clearly explain how to bond the bushing to the spring plate (super glue) and how to insert the assembled spring plate in to the body (lube with a bit of dish soap).
As I recall, my Neatrix bushings came with some super glue as well.

The manufacturers response in the original post from last year is pretty ignorant. Sounds like a customer service agent that doesn't know much about how the bushings are supposed to work. Was it ever stated who the manufacturer was?
At least Pelican stepped up and sent the replacement bushing.

It's a ***** to do it right and it's easier to do it wrong.

Probably also however they're doing it at the factory uses scary chemicals not available for home use. The ER bushings have a good method with the super glue, but I can't imagine it comes close to the original adhesives used.

Last winter I replaced my rear bushings with the ER kit and used the super glue provided.

Last week I removed the rear spring plates to change torsion bars and the inside bushing stayed in the torsion tube. The super glue was no match. I was able to remove the bushing from the tube, re-glue to the spring plate and on my merry way.