spring plate bushings - pretty sure this is the cause of my rough ride

[pampadori]

Went on a drive with another 911SC and we hit a cobblestone road. His car, recently restored, handled the cobblestone road without much complaint. My car however, felt like i was off-roading and i was worried my fillings were going to rattle out of my teeth!

Shocks aren't too bad, plenty of dampening felt when i removed them. I did replace them since they were pretty ugly and the finish was worn off the green paint. Next task is to replace the spring plate bushings. I ordered them last week from host but don't expect them until next week (I'm on the other side of the country and Pelican didn't ship them for 7 days).

Just judging by the amount of sag, these things are completely toast. Do you agree? My car is 300k+ miles so who knows when they were last replaced. I'll be looking forward to getting the new parts though so i can restore some comfort!

[David Inc.]

Very toast.

[Antomero]

Toasty toast indeed.

[BK911]

You're replacing inner and outer?
How about trailing arm bushings?
May as well do rubber brake lines while you're there.
Then...

[sean m]

Pampadori,
I'm sure I'm in the same boat. Mine has 246,000 and I "feel" every bump.

I'm subscribed and please post how it goes, how hard, and any other tips.

I have to do this but have never done anything on the suspension and wondering if I need to take it to a shop to complete.

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by BK911

You're replacing inner and outer?
How about trailing arm bushings?
May as well do rubber brake lines while you're there.
Then...

Avoid the temptation, but yes probably at least the trailing arm bushings need to come out. They're a pain with the engine in though.

[FA-18C]

Though I just got my car in JAN, this is on the short list. Mine might be a tad better than the depiction, but I plan to replace the right control arm up front, spring plates and bushings, trailing arm bushings, and sway bar bushings. Then need to reset the torsion bars and get the right height set front and back, camber. toe and corner balance.

When I got the car - front and rear passenger side was 1.4" higher than drivers. New Bilsteins all around and new L front control arm. I suspect some village idiot "aligned" the car and set it up for NASCAR. I lowered the right front and they are now equal, and the rear is less than a 1/4" difference in the rear - but sitting about 1.2" higher than desired. Tracks straight, decent up to 90mph, but know eventually I need to address at least difference in camber. I want to try and do all of this myself, and drive sparingly.

What could possible go wrong...

[thsupernge]

Yes, sub'd please keep us posted as its on my list as well

[Jonny042]

Those definitely need replacing. I used to advocate the use of genuine Porsche spring plate bushings but the last set I did looked like yours after a few years.

I replaced them with Rennline HD bushings. They are reasonably priced and a little stiffer than stock. Which sounds like a recipe for harshness but so are collapsed bushings.

[Classic 911]

Following


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[pampadori]

Parts have arrived! Starting with the passenger side this morning. Got the spring plate off and the bushings are very deformed. Removal was straightforward. Wiggled on things until they popped out of the torsion tube carrier.

I then used a mapp torch to heat the spring plate and loosen the old bushings. Used a flat screwdriver to loosen the rubber from the metal and then used a nylon abrasive wheel to clean up the surface where the new bushings ID will be.
Used the super glue that was supplied with the new bushings from Elephant and man-handled them onto the spring plate. They weren't super easy to get on but some convincing with a rubber mallet was all that was needed. Fully seated and ready for the next step.
This is when I ran into the first hiccup - a crack about an inch long on the chassis where the rear lower spring plate retaining bolt threads.
At that point, lunch hour was over and I'm now back at my desk typing this post. Later today I'll fire up the welder and tend to the crack.

[pampadori]

Got the passenger side installed after my daughters went to sleep. Luckily the baby monitor reaches to the garage so I can keep an ear and eye on them.
Welded the crack with the mig and then hit it with some paint. Easy peasy.
It was certainly more difficult to squeeze the new bushings in than to get the old ones out. I used the longer bolts included with the kit from elephant. Then once I could, I swapped them for the standard bolts. I sprayed the od with silicone spray lube. There is no way the bushings aren't designed to rotate on the od inside of the torsion carrier.
Anyways, no surprises installing them and the spring plate.

I forgot to mention that I measured the angle of the plate prior to removal (but after removing all the bolts connecting it to the control arm) using my smartphone with a level app. I wrote the angle down so I could make sure I wasn't a spline off when I reinstalled everything.

I'll do the drivers side in the next couple of days. Garage time is limited with kids.

[thsupernge]

Sounds great. Pics?

[pampadori]

anything in particular you want a pic of? so far its been a very straight-forward process but glad to get a pic of whatever you might want or have questions on.

[pampadori]

Driver's side also had a crack at the exact same spot. I guess this might be a common issue. Cleaned up the area, welded over the crack and applied some paint. Bolted everything on and put the wheels back on. Toe and camber drastically off, no surprise there.

Eyeballed the toe and camber. Tried to get fancy on the tow settings but ended up agreeing to just go to the alignment shop sometime soon.
It *looks* like i have it set with some toe in and probably around 1.5 -2 degrees neg camber on both.

Question - what are the attributes of have rear toe in? I read something about better traction when accelerating but what will i notice at higher speeds?

[David Inc.]

More stability, reduced turn-in. There are lots of setups out there and I think most call for only a bit of rear toe-in.

[4EverPorsche]

I subscribed to this thread and after 6+months of waiting for the final conclusion I have to ask: Did your ride improve substantially? Did you run into any late re-install issues?
Hope to have this topic revived as I'm sure many of us are wishing to take on this difficult task. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[pampadori]

No issues with the install other than the cracks near the lower bolt location that I mentioned. Ride is still a little rougher than I imagine it should be but I think I still have some neglected bushings in the front that could improve things. It feels better than before but it didn't provide a substantial improvement.
Overall, it's a straight forward repair and is something else to mark off the list.
I have heard some creaking of the bushings on the driver's side when it's really cold out. Don't hear it when it's above 40°f but I think what I'm hearing is the rubber slip on the spring plate or in the chassis.