Front suspension rebuild options

[calidude]

I’m contemplating replacing the original control arm bushings, ball joints and tie rods but am lacking tools for the job -

Bench vise
Large pipe clamp
Ball joint socket
Digital angle gauge

Once I spend money on those I’m near a few hundred bucks easily.

I was reading that Elephant will recondition control arms including the ball joints for $650

Anyone else have an idea on having a shop do the work?

Curious to hear what others have done....

[ian c2]

Black Forrest amongst others in Sd can do this for you ,
But if you’ll use the tools again in the future I recommend buying them .

[chrismorse]

How involved do you want to get with your car?
Do you want to get hands on?
Do you have the space, time and enthusiasm to make the car "your own"?..
If your life is complicated and you're bucks up, you can write the checks.
I've been nuts about cars for 55 years, wrenching and reading, a 61 MGA, 66 911, 54 &56 speedster, 72 hotrod 914, a long drought, then a 77 Ferrari 308, then my fathers 74 coupe, which I am earnestly trying to make my own.
It has been fun, challenging and I would do it all again.
But then, I am a few degrees off of vertical,
Chris

[Cory M]

Talk to Mark at Performance Independent in mission gorge, very reasonable rates. This stuff isn't rocket surgery but doing bushings can be a pain. You can borrow my ball joint socket, just give me a deposit and I will give it back to you when you return the tool. You can use an angle finding app on your cell phone for the digital level.

[da Vinci Dan]

Personally, I choose projects I believe will be as enjoyable as driving the car. This is the true compromise... and money to an extent. Learning so I can help others in my geographic community is the best part for me.

If you have the time, space and think you will enjoy it, go for it. The tools are an investment either way: If you like the work and learn how to do it, do it again on your car or help someone else on theirs. If you learn you hate it... well you know more about yourself now... give the tools away or sell them / loan them.

When I think about the most fun I have had with any of my Porsches, it has been time spent in the garage with friends and a few beers. Well, and a few epic drives.

Soap box: I appreciate all the work many have contributed to YouTube. However, it tends to be somewhat isolating.

[davidpsalt]

I just went through my entire front and rear suspension myself - it appeared daugnting at first, but after reading, watching you tube videos and getting under my car to see how everything works, it turned out being very easy for me. The only tool I needed was the ball joint socket which I bought - justified the expense by the money I was saving from having someone else do it. The A-Arm bushings were not as big a deal as some say - boil water, soak them, get them started and use a press (harbor freight). Learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. Mostly, very rewarding when I got her back on the road, all dialed in and rides like its is new again.

List of parts:

URO A-Arm bushings - cheap on Amazon
Sway Bar bushings - Pelican
Ball Joints - Pelican
Turbo Tie Rod Kit - Pelican
Bilstein HD strut cartridges - Pelican
Radial Arm bushings - rear - Pelican
Bilstein HD Shocks - Pelican
Sway bar bushings - Pelican
Sway bar end links - Pelican

Also pulled my axles and went through the CV Joints and installed 4 new boots.

[calidude]

Thanks for sharing all the experiences guys as I've done this work on mostly BMWs and American cars over the years. Have a pickle fork at least.

Dave sounds like you have discovered a different way of doing the control arm bushings over the Elephant method instead. Be curious to know more about that and what Harbor Freight press you used. Your list is close to mine as already did the Bilstein shocks and struts. Hadn't thought about the sway bar bushings (front and rear) but those are probably spongy and original too. The CV joints and axles were done before I bought the car so nice that's out of the way. Assume you mean trailing/radial arm bushings for the rear. How hard are those to replace?

Cory I'll hit you up if I decide to do the work myself and borrow your ball joint socket.

I have a few discount Pelican codes that they sent in the mail after throwing a lot of money their way lately so makes sense to at least buy the parts anyway.

[911obgyn]

I have worked on bmw, suspension valves etc, I find it easier and more satisfying to work on porsche, this forum will answer questions.
Front bushings are pretty simple do the tie rods ball joints and sway bat bushings all you need really is the jack, jack stands, threaded rod trick works good, get the hard rubber from uro or go elephant the tool they supply makes it less frustrating. I saw a thread where someone used a tool set from harbor freight that fits the ball joint nut. It’s not rocket surgery.

[davidpsalt]

Calidude - I looked at the elephant racing tools but was able to use my "12 ton H-Frame Industrial Heavy Duty Floor Shop Press" - just be careful and slow - the rubber bushings want to bulge as you press them in with the collar over them - make sure they are good and hot and plyable. Then index the angle per instructions but don't worry - you can adjust them before they shrink up and lock into place - I let mine sit over night before installing.

The hardest part for the rear radial arm bushing is getting the old originals off of the radial arm - I considered buying new adjustable radial arms that come with the new bushings mounted - if I were to do it all over again, I would go that route as the ability to tune the rear suspension becomes much easier and you avoid the PITA of getting old bushings off and new bushings on. The installation is easy - clean up the inside of the suspension tube where the bushing goes in - I found that some of the rubber from the original had hardened onto the inside of the tube - I used a screw driver to chip it away and some sand paper to clean it up and smooth it out. Once you get the radial arm indexed onto the torsion bar and the bushing lined up and pushed in, use the cover and four bolts to slowly and equally pull it in the rest of the way.

By no means am I a pro - I have rebuilt a 76 Jeep CJ, an 89 Wagoneer and now my Porsche - am having much more fun working on and getting to know my Porsche more so than my Jeeps!

[Cory M]

For the tie rod ends, rather than beating on them with a hammer or pickle fork, borrow a ball joint separator tool from Autozone (like they one linked below). You give them a deposit and they refund you in full when you return the tool. It works great and less risk of damaging parts. Also good time to upgrade to the turbo tie rods.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben-parts/ball-joint-separator-12-56mm/008959sch01a/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-OHkBRBkEiwAoOZqly83niwb7O1FcN-oiFkPX1w28vyhO3FmAkwXTismnAbIjal961co2RoCvuoQAvD_B wE

[brshap]

Originally Posted by Cory M

For the tie rod ends, rather than beating on them with a hammer or pickle fork, borrow a ball joint separator tool from Autozone (like they one linked below). You give them a deposit and they refund you in full when you return the tool. It works great and less risk of damaging parts. Also good time to upgrade to the turbo tie rods.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben-parts/ball-joint-separator-12-56mm/008959sch01a/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-OHkBRBkEiwAoOZqly83niwb7O1FcN-oiFkPX1w28vyhO3FmAkwXTismnAbIjal961co2RoCvuoQAvD_B wE

No experience on a 911 but I bought this tool for some work on my FJ40 and it works phenomenally well. I've read separating tie rod ends can be difficult but you wouldn't know it using one of these.

[seafeye]

NAPA has those. For less than $20

[Cory M]

Originally Posted by brshap

No experience on a 911 but I bought this tool for some work on my FJ40 and it works phenomenally well. I've read separating tie rod ends can be difficult but you wouldn't know it using one of these.

I borrowed one from Autozone for use on a Miata after trying a variety of pickle forks and BFHammers. Worked so well I ended up buying the tool and have used it several times since.

[hunter92040]

Let me know if you need another set of hands. I’ll be happy to help, just PM me.

[juanbenae]

the fact you recognize what you might need is a good indicator of future success.


sounds like you are doing both front and rear? will you go back to rubber bushings or a polybronze like elephant offers?

how do you use the car?

[jjeffries]

Your original list of tools...more like $200 or less, IMO.
Best advise: search here on PP for a thread by Craig_D....really, the definitive suspension overhaul thread.
There's a great guy near you who makes special parts for rare Porsches ... He also makes a beautiful stainless version of the factory ball joint ring nut tool for less than $70. I will have to remember his name....Jimmy (lastname?). Harbor Freight sells a good knock off of the non-destructive Porsche/VW balljoint separator for $10-ish. Don't use the pickpe fork
I'm in final reassembly mode on a suspension rebuild on my 82 SC. Satisfying work. By doing it yourself you can be a perfectionist with all the other stuff you're near. I went with Rebel Racing bushings...spendy but i had a couple of bucks burning a hole in my pocket and a great friend who cut me a deal to lessen the pain.
Warning: Once you do more reading, you may want to buy better quality parts, be they Elephant, Rebel or Genuine Porsche.
Enjoy the ride! John/CT

[tperazzo]

Originally Posted by da Vinci Dan

Personally, I choose projects I believe will be as enjoyable as driving the car. This is the true compromise... and money to an extent. Learning so I can help others in my geographic community is the best part for me.

If you have the time, space and think you will enjoy it, go for it. The tools are an investment either way: If you like the work and learn how to do it, do it again on your car or help someone else on theirs. If you learn you hate it... well you know more about yourself now... give the tools away or sell them / loan them.

When I think about the most fun I have had with any of my Porsches, it has been time spent in the garage with friends and a few beers. Well, and a few epic drives.

Soap box: I appreciate all the work many have contributed to YouTube. However, it tends to be somewhat isolating.

You're welcome to help out in my YT garage anytime with a name like Da Vinci Dan! Lot of miles between unfortunately.

[Driven97]

First off, I'm not a huge fan of fixing something that ain't broke. If you have ball joint or tie rod play, or a clunking front end with clearly deformed bushings, go for it. But no real reason to replace something just because you think you should. Also note disassembly of the front end will require an alignment after as well, plus a corner balance if you're particular or really bad at estimating equal.

I've done the front A-arm bushings on my car three times now (OE->poly->delrin->rubber) and it's not difficult work. By far the hardest part is getting the front swaybar back in. I've swapped one ball joint that developed some play, too, using an $16 Ford socket recommended here on Pelican that worked fine.

You don't need a digital angle gauge for the front, but if you did, your phone + a free protractor app works great.

Option B:
If you've got a friend with a decent tool collection, why not head over there with your removed A-arms and a six pack?

Option C:
If not, find an old school mom & pop mechanic shop. They'll have a press and know how to swap bushings / ball joints, and if you wave cash in front of them they'll probably do it for <$100. Just tell them it's for a VW Beetle and you won't get a Porsche surcharge.

[calidude]

Thanks for the outpouring of ideas and suggestions fellas. I’m going to tackle the work and will reach out to those who offered to help out.
I plan to use the car for street driving and spirited drives on the weekends so my aim is to replace all the 30 year old rubber bushings and other worn parts.

[calidude]

Parts, except I forgot a set of front sway bar bushings.

Do I need the ball joint lock plates, cotter key and threaded pin and nut or are the old ones reusable?