Elephant Racing Low Friction Control Arm Mounts

Rot 911 · 01-11-2005, 12:28 PM

Is anyone using these along with the Polybronze bushings? I am planning on getting the polybronze bushings, but $200 for a set of the mounts along with some washers is a bit expensive. Will I really notice much of a difference from the stock mounts? I've read the information on Chuck's webpage, but wondering if this is just one of those changes that will make a difference on a more track oriented car as opposed to a street car. Here's a picture for those that are wondering what I am talking about:

Jeff Alton · 01-11-2005, 12:52 PM

I put them on my car. But I had a bit of a misalignment causing a slight bind in the movemint of the a-arm. These cured that. If your arms move freely, not sure if you need them.

Jeff

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

I installed them on my car, but I had a broken control arm mount caused by a Weltmeister plastic bushing that dried up and siezed.

Jack Olsen · 01-11-2005, 01:00 PM

I just added a set of these two weeks ago. The polybronze bushings made a big difference, and -- as I understand it -- these allow the polybronzes to travel more freely. I haven't done enough driving to see if the bushings-plus-mounts makes a dramatic difference over the bushings alone, but I think you can hardly go wrong with an Elephant piece.

I'm tracking the car in a week. We'll see how it feels then.

EdT82SC · 01-20-2005, 12:32 PM

So what's the verdict, Jack?

Jack Olsen · 01-20-2005, 01:25 PM

I found out they're still in the box. Because of time constraints, we weren't able to add them, yet.

The poly-bronze bushings get a huge thumbs up, though.

EdT82SC · 01-20-2005, 01:55 PM

That's too bad. I plan on getting the poly-bronze bushings. I am considering the control arm mounts since I'll be in there anyways. Let us know how the new mounts work once you get them installed. I'm still a couple months away from purchasing.

RoninLB · 01-20-2005, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EdT82SC

Let us know how the new mounts work once you get them installed. .

I'm not expecting a very exciting ending to Jack's install.. I'll read it and then say to myself, "that's what I figured".

but then you'd have to be dialed in to believing that Chuck's parts are as researched and enhanced by all means possible.
I think it's a personal prob.

KobaltBlau · 02-28-2005, 09:14 PM

bump

Zeke · 02-28-2005, 09:45 PM

I have them and frankly, it's a set or a combo that go together like milk and cookies. Once you have seen them and installed them, you can't ignore the wisdom of their design and why they are needed. You would put them on all future cars.

KobaltBlau · 02-28-2005, 09:58 PM

you're not pulling my leg, are you Milt? Sounds a little cult-ish

island911 · 02-28-2005, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JackOlsen
-- as I understand it -- these allow the polybronzes to travel more freely. . .

so then, they're kind of a "fix" to the existing polybronze design?

KobaltBlau · 02-28-2005, 10:17 PM

I don't think they are a fix to the polybronze stuff, but a way to make sure that the polybronze have a quality mounting, compared to damaged or just imprecise factory mounts. You can imagine that the factory rubber bushings are not so sensitive to imperfect mounts. The elephants are also adjustable on another axis but I'm not sure I understand that fully.

I guess what I'm wondering is how important they are if you already have nice factory mounts. I'm trying to keep the budget under control, but will be using the polybronze bearings.

jbrinkley · 03-01-2005, 03:07 AM

Zeke said it, once you have them on there and see them, you understand better why you needed them. They serve the purpose they were made for. I had some binding (very little) and these took care of that. Personally I think the mount set is a little spendy. But it's worth it to hear complete silence, and smoothness from the front end.

75-911S · 03-01-2005, 05:39 AM

Kurt V,
What did you end up doing about the polybronze bushings and mounts? And what were your results? My squeeking front end is driving me crazy and I need to do something.

Zeke · 03-01-2005, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KobaltBlau
you're not pulling my leg, are you Milt? Sounds a little cult-ish

I have spent quite a bit of time discussing Chuck's product design with him. I have questioned everything you can imagine. Chuck has provided a clear and logical explanation for everthing he has done to this lay brained backyard mechanic. Trust me, Chuck's suspension improvements are state of the art and each compliments the other in perfect concert. The only requirement going in is to have straight and true a-arms. After that, it doesn't matter if your front pan is a little tweaked or your cross member isn't perfect.

And, with the age of most of the cars and the rubber system originally installed, a slight to better misalignment is likely. Elephant's corrective mounts are just too simple and effective to use to not install unless you happen to hit it perfectly somehow without them.

Plus, if you install them a certain way with regard to the orientation of the spacers that are already on the front mounts, you will add some anti-dive properties to the car. This was a trick the factory used early on according to Chuck. To prove that things are different, you will need slightly longer bolts on the front half of each a-arm for a good thread purchase in the pan. Your bushing holders, stabilizers or protectors (as I would call them) need a spacer of their own when you are finished. That's how much more down angle you will be able to create if you follow what Chuck tells you in the instructions.

This feature alone is reason to install the kit even though you could do this with washers and longer bolts, and not the kit.

I don't work for Chuck or for Pelican and I get no free or discounted parts. I just understand and agree with Chuck's designs. I was skeptical at first, just ask him, LOL.

randywebb · 03-01-2005, 10:50 AM

Is this based on use in a street car?

How did the subjective "feel" change in street driving?

How much is the whole shebang?

How hard is it for a home DIY install?

MuffinMan · 11:30 AM

I am installing the ER polybronze bearings on the front along with the low friction A arm mounting kit. For my particular car, I had to modify them a bit in order to get things to work smoothly. There was just a hair too much clearance on the rear mount between the cross member and the custom mount & washer set. When I torqued the rear mounting bolt, the bottom of the cross member was pulled "up", and caused the mount to point too high relative to the front of the car. I fiddled with it for hours and hours, and eventually ground down a washer to make a very thin spacer. I added this to the spherical washer set from the low friction a arm kit, and I finally found joy with no binding.

On the other side of the car, I had a similar issue and the additional height of the spherical washer set was too thick for my particular car, and I made a custom washer set for the front mount. Every one of these cars is a bit different, though, and I'm sure some won't need any tweaking from the kit at all. The spherical washers are extremely helpful in aligning everything, and I could not have acheived a bindless condition without them.

hahnmgh63 · 03-03-2005, 09:46 PM

My car isn't on the road yet (3.6 conversion in a '74) but I did the Poly/Bronze front & rear with new torsion bars, elephant rear monoballs in the trailing arms and the new A-Arm mounts up front. I can say the front A-Arms definitely move freely compared to before but I can't say how they would be with just the Poly/Bronze and factory mounts. Hopefully the car will be on the road in about a month. MGH

MuffinMan · 03-04-2005, 04:49 AM

MHG - do you have any pictures of your rear monoball installation? I'll be tackling that this weekend, and the more I know up front the less hair I will pull out...maybe