WOW - Bronze Elephant Suspension Bearings!

[eurocarrera]

Would you take a look at these things!! I visited with Chuck of Elephant Racing the other day (I drove down as I only live about 20 miles away), and I picked these beauties up. Chuck says that they are 2nd generation, and I was able to purchase one of the first sets that he had made. Some new features are:

* Races that get placed on the A-Arm to prevent it from wearing. Metal shims are used (see picture in lower right hand corner) to hold the race in place and keep it from moving. Chuck says that he did this as all A-Arms may not be the same size, and with different thickness bushings supplied, you can dial in the right size so the race sits tight and doesn’t spin. I liked this idea since it means to me I can replace just the race now (if it ever goes bad), without replacing the entire A-Arm.

*Plastic sleeves on the outside of the brass bearing. I was told that these help better with the fit into the A-Arm holder. You just apply a little water to help them slide into place, and then either step on them, or put them in a vise to squeeze them together.

Chuck told me that these advances came about due to some concern about vibration; Well, I have had the bushings on the car for about 3 days now, and I can honestly say that I haven’t felt any vibration at all (0-100 Mph). I think he has done a hell of a job on these things, and I can certainly say that they are a zillion (as my son says) times better than those nylon Weltmeister bushings I was “just” about to put back into the car.

I was in the middle of grinding down the hard Weltmeister bushings (the creaks and groans were killing me) and replacing a broken steering rack sub-frame (which could have been due to the hard plastic bushings not moving AT ALL. I had left Chuck a message about his bushings, but I guess he was away at the R-Gruppe event down in Monterey.

Thanks for call back Chuck – these things are great, and NOT ONE SQUEAK!

[bell]

me likey

[RoninLB]

great post

[Neilk]

Wow, those are impressive. I am going to get those when I redo my front suspension. I hope they are the same price as the last ones.

[jyl]

Are these strictly track items? Do they create too much harshness and noise for a tolerable street ride?

[BGCarrera32]

Wow...he even includes instructions...something that lacks in so many product purchases and I find it absoulutely baffling...

[eurocarrera]

John L., I think that they would be great for the track, but I think that anyone with old rubber bushings or hard plastic bushings would want to switch to these because of the limitations of the original design. I don't understand why it is thought that these may transfer more noise into the cabin when they are really just a pivot point, and the shock and torsion bar really take care of the aforementioned vibration (that's their job - not the bushings).

Most suppliers no longer carry the stock replacement rubber bushings, and the only way that I have heard that you can get them is to purchase them integrated into a new or refurbished A-Arm. And if you are able to source the originals, then you "may" eventually run into the issue of the bushings "flowing" or changing shape which could alter expensive alignment work.

[eurocarrera]

By the way, when I say "original design", I mean Porsche's not Chucks. Thanks

[BGCarrera32]

You'll never source the originals because they are vulcanized onto the arm at the factory...

[pbs911]

In a sick way I really want to tear down my freshly rebuilt front suspension (1 year) and install these.

[Chuck Moreland]

Wow Bill. I need to get you to do my marketing photos! Those look great.

Bill has a set of the generation 2 bearings. He's been something of a "Beta" tester on these, one of a handful of sets that have been quitely in test for a number of weeks as the design is finalized.

I'll share all the details on this new design soon. Bill has touched on some of the key changes.

To the questions above -

The product will be well suited to both street and track. As Bill noted, there is no vibration problem and no noise.

The price will be going up a bit (still tbd) over gen 1 due to more parts and labor to produce than the originals. Not to worry, they'll be worth it!

Full production parts are scheduled to be shipping 1st of June.

The duck has a sqeaky front end. I need some!!!!!

[old_skul]

$?

[TYPE 901/05]

How about the Short Wheel Base cars? We want some too. You engineers must only consider your target (largest wallet) market before you consider the smaller market (smaller wallet) early car owners. Dang, where is the sense in that. Didn't anyone tell you that the early p car owners are usually multiple p car owners.

Throw that one into the stat mix.

Shawn.

[Dave Ploss]

I installed the Gen 1 bearings this winter on my 87 911. It is just a street car and I love the feel of the suspension. No problems with harshness at all.

Dave

[AES]

What kind of bushings do they use?

[nick-moss]

How about the Short Wheel Base cars?

Chuck?

[studeb]

Originally posted by AES
What kind of bushings do they use?

They used the same style of bushings, just the dimensions are different. i think its just the inner diameter that is different. There is a write up somewhere on the web about adapting weltmeister bushings to a SWB car.

[Chuck Moreland]

I'll take a look at the SWB cars. If they are all the same, I'll make bearings for them too. But it will be a couple of months at least.