A Arm bushings?

[KCinBR]

I am soon going to refresh the front suspension on my 88 Carrara.
This will include ball joints, turbo tierods, sway bar bushings and A arm bushings.

This car is street driven only so I dont need any racing type a arm bushings but... the rubber ones are only available from 2 places "URO" an E.R.. The URO one are cheaper than the ER ones. I've look at the ER videos about the bushings and the question is ....are the ER bushings worth the extra $$, AND for $40 more I can get the poly bronze bushings.

looking to hear from those who have experience with these products.
Also am I missing anything in the suspension, keeping in mind that this is a street only car.

Thanks yall.......

[Scooter]

We just completed an overhaul on my friend's '80 SC with ER rubber bushings. Here are my thoughts:

1) If you want a relatively maintenance-free suspension, I would go with rubber rather than poly-bronze.

2) I think the ER product is very well made and fit very well.

3) Good shocks are a must, so replace/revalve if necessary; also replace your rubber at the top of the strut.

4) Check your wheel bearings at the same time.

5) Pull your torsion bars to at least check for wear and don't forget the little foam seals when putting it back together.

6) Add bump stops if your car is lowered.

7) Plan on spending extra time to clean things up and check everything out for damage/wear.

8) Order everything in advance and keep everything organized, including nuts and bolts that have been removed.

9) Get a good shop with Porsche knowledge to align the car.

10) Enjoy working on your car!

[NutmegCarrera]

I just finished a similar project.
Was convinced (originally) to go with ER rubber, but was quickly swayed (no pun intended) to go with poly bronze, for not much add'nl cost.

My impressions:
Front bushings arent hard to remove. A little heat, and a pry bar to spin off the outer bushing housings, and they were a snap.
Looking at the amount of deflection in the rubber prior to removing - why would I ever put another set on that will do the same thing?

Install and mounting of the Poly Bronze was quick, smooth and easy.

As for the spring plate bushings, different story. After nearly ripping my hand apart with a utility knife, I found a vendor that deals with rubber coating. He was able to quickly and easily get rid of the old bushings, and clean up the spring plates very quickly. *Better living through chemistry! I was able to use a high-end epoxy that we use for adhering polyurethane lagging to our equipment, and the install of ER rubbers went well (on the rear).

I'll post some pics and feedback once the car is back on the road. We're getting pretty close, now.

[mike635]

Just another data point - I replaced my bushings with a set of non ER rubber bushings last year and it went ok.

I was impressed with the video and engineering analysis with the ER parts but just couldn't justify paying so much more for them (and the installation tools) Might regret my decision in a couple of years but so far so good. Street use only with my SC so YMMV...

mike

[RWebb]

why ball joints - what is wrong with them?

[pksystems]

I'm looking at the Polybronze, or the Rebel Racing ones...... The Rebel ones look very similar to polybronze, but say maintenance free. Similar price if you add on the ER rear low friction mounts

[brads911sc]

Id stick with Polybronze.

[KCinBR]

Thanks for the input, I guess I forgot to mention thet things that have already been done:
1. replaced Front wheel bearings
2. Replaced rubber at top of strut
3. replaced boge strut inserts with Koni's front and rear

And for me the cleaning and painting of the parts is a must, I get really crazy with that type of thing.

I did not know about the foam seals on the torsion bars, I'll add that to my Pelican project list.

Still srtuggling with decisioin of ER rubber or polybronze, what difference will I notice for street/mountain driving?

[porschenut]

If you're considering rubber, why no mention of Neatrix? Neatrix now makes factory replacement rubber bushings for the A arms as well as the spring plates. I've got new rubber on all 4 corners and couldn't be happier.

[dtxscott]

Sub'd

[RWebb]

"decisioin of ER rubber or polybronze, what difference will I notice for street/mountain driving"

- search for pb + my user name for my comparison analysis & pics of my test street

[Trackrash]

I did mine a couple of years ago. I chose to use the plastic polyurethane bushings. I will admit it did make the front ride a little more harshly. On the positive side they give a more positive feel when cornering. They do not squeak, the suspension moves freely and I don't have to regularly grease them.

[Flieger]

I am installing Rebel Racing A-arm bearings. No friction, no maintainance.

[KCinBR]

Originally Posted by RWebb

"decisioin of ER rubber or polybronze, what difference will I notice for street/mountain driving"

- search for pb + my user name for my comparison analysis & pics of my test street

I looked but could not find your analysis can you provide a link.

Also about the ball joints, I figured that the car was 22 yeaars old woth 122k miles it would need all these parts, soooo I took a wuick look last night and visually the ball joints even the rubber parts look good and so so the a arm bushings.
What I'm trying to do is tighten up the front end, the car does wander over the road, it's kinda loose and I want to tighten everything up.

[deathpunk dan]

I am just buttoning up a complete front end refresh that included elephant racing rubber strut top and A arm bushings.

Getting old bushings out is easy. You need a vice, a torch, and a big ol slotted screwdriver.

Getting the new ones on and in place was a bit more difficult if only because my pipe clamp is an ace hardware piece o crap. I bent 3/4" galv pipe pretty quickly.

Make sure you align the mounts at the correct angle. If you are not painting or powder coating the arms, you can mark the brackets with chalk or a sharpie to make sure they're at the correct angles.

I did not buy polybronze because our roads aren't great. I'm sure the performance is better with pb. It will be difficult to evaluate the difference between the old and new bushings because I'm replacing so many other items at the same time.

Good luck

[RWebb]

in general, the Elph. Polybronze bushings allow much improved ability to "feel the road" - this is w/o putting anything at the top of the strut except new rubber -- no monoballs, etc.

on very very bumpy bad roads, some might feel that the PB's make car more quickly track the road discontinuities - I would not say it feels more "nervous" tho as control is not impaired at all.

After my testing, I would not hesitate to tell any sports car driver - of any age - to get them.

If you are really old, have an unusually vocal wife, cannot stand the idea of greasing them once in a while or are otherwise just ready to give up on the 1964-88 "true" 911s and get some with less sporting feel (but maybe a higher level of sporting competency, e.g. a Boxster) then new rubber might be the solution for you. If I did get rubber I would get them from Elephant and not one of the easier to install makers (Neatrix), tho I have not personally tested those.

[hessel1974]

Anybody has any experience with the A arm bushing set our host sells. ( the 21 USD for the set ones) Seems very cheap.....

Thx Hessel

[Techne]

Originally Posted by KCinBR

I looked but could not find your analysis can you provide a link.

Also about the ball joints, I figured that the car was 22 yeaars old woth 122k miles it would need all these parts, soooo I took a wuick look last night and visually the ball joints even the rubber parts look good and so so the a arm bushings.
What I'm trying to do is tighten up the front end, the car does wander over the road, it's kinda loose and I want to tighten everything up.

I think the recommended replacement on ball joints is 60K, so I support your instinct to replace them. They aren't that expensive.

I did new tie turbo rods and ball joints on my all-stock still original (gasp) 140K mile '84 this winter, and it really tightened up the front end. It took out the rubbery-ness and wobble, particularly higher speed cornering, and according to my passenger (i.e. wife) the car feels a lot more stable overall.

[don gilbert]

when i first did my suspension, I used the weltmiester plastic, (before I had heard of elephant or pelican parts) swapped out to the bronze about 6 months later, what a difference, no squeaks, good ride, easy to service, plus it so cool, race car stuff for the street!! Plastic sucks

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Techne

I think the recommended replacement on ball joints is 60K...

- do you recall where you heard that?