Adjustable Rear Springplate

[cgarr]

Quick question, what is a better adjustable spring plate to use for an upgrade, the aftermarket or the porsche adjustable (two big nuts) originals off a newer car? This is for a 69 912

Thanks

Craig

[Rick Lee]

I can't imagine it gets any better than the Sway Aways. Mine can be adjusted by just using one hex wrench. And they look cool too.

[IROC]

I think another advantage of the Sway-A-Ways is that there adjustment range is much greater than the factory's....

I've had the Sway-A-Ways for years and could never go back at this point...

Mike

[Neilk]

Craig,

How often are you going to adjust the ride height?

If you want adjustable spring weights so you can easily level and balance the car after lowering the car, then the Porsche adjustable spring plates are fine and can be found for about $100.

If you are going to change your suspension often, then go with the Sway aways, but they are going to cost you about 3x as much.

[Wil Ferch]

Sway Aways won't allow stock rubber bushings ( if that's important for you)...and some have reported that the torsion bar splines don't fit well...requiring it filed down a bit to fit. Not always...but reports like this keep coming in sproradically.
--Wil Ferch

[IROC]

Good points, Wil. Both are true. In my case, I had to use some emery cloth to remove some material from the splines. Not much effort involved in the big picture. Come to think of it, though, I wasn't using factory torsion bars, so maybe they require more "filing"...

Mike

[911pcars]

Yes, you have to remove a slight amount of material from the OD of a factory torsion bar to fit into a Sway-A-Way spring plate. The SAW bars fit fine (as you might imagine). The harder bushings may tend to squeak as well. However, using the supplied grease and perhaps adding a grease channel and zerk fitting overcomes most noise issues.

Not that you're going to do this that often, but when it comes time to corner balance the chassis, you or your tech will be glad there's an adjustment bolt to adjust ride height/weight. Trust me, the factory setup is not conducive to this operation.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[Rick Lee]

I threw in 29mm Weltmeister rear torsion bars while I was install the Sway Aways and did not have to shave anything. I also put on the Neatrix bushings and, although they were a tight fit, they pressed in with some lube. They don't squeak at all.

[Joe911]

No filing - no sqeeking - no troubles. They worked great for me.

[Randy Webb]

This was discussed 2-3 weeks ago. I prefer the factory spring plates as they have a stronger design. There are no reports of the aftermarket plates breaking BUT consider that the entire rear wt. is held up by those little welded on blocks -- and that what works fine on the road may not work when you go off the road or are in an accident. Also, just because we don't know of any of them breaking ourselves doe not mean that they have not broken. They are a bit easier to adjust though. So pay your money and take your risk.