suspension questions, what to do ??

[froggyporsche]

i have a 1973 "T" that is fairly original, i am the second owner and so would like to keep it close to original but would like to make some improvements and need help. i will be installing turbo-tie-rods very soon so this will improve things but my real question is sway bars, since my car is a "T" i have nothing at the moment, i would like to install some to make some improvements, what do i pick, the 19mm or the 22mm for the front, what about the rear ?? can anyone make suggestions ??
thanks

[froggyporsche]

wow, no opinoins, thanks

[trak ratt]

Ok, try checking some of the early car spec sites. Nothing like seeing what the factory thought were good combinations. The S spec cars were light by today's standards but would be great for street driving.
I'd start off with something like a 15mm front and rear. BTW if you haven't renewed your front and rear bushings and shocks rear you really should before doing anything else. Just makes sense to update the suspension before trying to upgrade.

[tvanbroekhoven]

+1 on the bushings.

There can and will be a lot of play because the old bushings are worn. Changing them will make a huge difference.

[bkreigsr]

On my 73 T, I run 22mm - front, 19 mm - rear, anti sway bars, and 21 mm (effective rate) hollow torsion bars in front, 26 mm (effective rate) hollow bars in rear.
This set-up happens to suit my personal preference for making the car more toss-able on the track, and somewhat civil on the street. This suspension is run in conjunction with a compatable combination of shocks and tires.

Be advised that you must have welded in 'u' tabs on the front (you should already) and a rear bar bracket supports (you don't have yet) welded to the frame. Since there is no anchor bolt on the rear banana of the 'T', you will have to come up with an alternative. There are kits available for the anchor bolt, but I would not use the u-bolt kits (that circle the torsion tube) to anchor the inboard bushings.

Your responses are going to be as varied as there are alternatives, and most likely based on personal preferences rather than emperical data.

Bill K

[froggyporsche]

thanks for the valued input, the bushings were all replaced and i am thinking now is turbo-tie-rods with 22mm in the front 19mm rear.
thanks

[bkreigsr]

Turbo tie rods will do nothing for the handling unless there is a huge amount of slopiness in there now.
They should not be considered as part of the suspension, rather part of the steering components and geometry.
Bill K

[911pcars]

If you go to the archives, most if not all will suggest suspension upgrades as a package:

Shocks
Torsion bars
Anti-sway bars
Alignment/corner balancing
Tires/wheels

These can be performed in stages, but that's the general summary.

Performing just one upgrade, especially using out of the "normal" range specs, creates other issues (e.g. overly harsh ride, inconsistent vehicle behavior, etc.).

For example, installing 22/19 sway bars alone will control body roll, but at a cost of a harsher ride.

Sherwood

[Patrice911]

Depending of what you are doing with the car. If for the street mainly don't go too wild. On my 73T when it was still having the 2.4 the first think I did was the shock and the torsion bar 21fr 26 rr my car had the S suspension/brake so it had the swaybar 15mm fr, rr, that set up was not bad at all for the street and some AX. After that I put the 22 fr and 19 rr swaybar, still have them on the car today. When I put the 3.2 and started to do more and more track event I went with bigger TB and all the other suspension goody's. If I remember I think I still have the 15mm swaybar in the garage attic.

[RWebb]

yes - as per Sherwood, the anti sway bars MUST be matched to the torsion bars

if you repl. torsion bars (or when yo do...) that is the time to repl. the bushings with either Elephant rubber or Elephant polybronze - the latter greatly improve handling "feel"

tires are critical!

get a copy of Bruce Anderson's book and read it.