Factory Flawed Bushings - Weltmeister Front Sway bar

[WFO 911]

I purchased & installed a 22mm Weltmeister front sway bar a few months back. The installation seemed to go well, but after getting in my 82 SC Coupe & backing down the driveway i hear this klunk-klunk knocking noise. I pulled it back in and went over everything. Again, i go for a drive & the knocking continues. After tinkering &
re-adjusting the sway bar for the next month, i give up. I spoke with a guy who once worked with Automotion (weltmeister) & he informed me that many of the latest Poly-plastic bushings that the sway bar rides on were coming off the factory floor flawed. So i called Weltmeister & ask them about this & as i suspected they denied, denied, denied. I went ahead & bought a new set of bushings & put them on. Still the knocking continued. Thinking i'm an idiot and must have done something wrong, i take it to a great Porsche shop in Norcal "S-CAR-GO". They take a look at it and said they can fix the problem. Hundreds of dollars later i'm out of the shop and down the road with no knocking. A few hundred miles go by & the knocking starts again. I called the shop & they say they also put new bushings on & packed them tight with greese. The shop said bring it on in a we'll epoxy the bushing in tight,that should fix it (i'm not to hip on this idea) & that this is the third problem they have seen in the last month. My long winded question is....Has anyone else out their had this same problem or have any fixes....? Thanks

[MMBRAZIL]

changed my front bushings for weltmeister and have that exactly same knock....the guy in the shop told me weltmeister squeak like that and there is nothing to do....

[jbailey930]

I have the same problem. 19mm bars. Front right began knocking noticeably last year. Looked at the bushing and it was a 22mm bushing supplied on right front. At the same time the fairly new right front Bilstein insert went bad. Replaced under warranty, tighted up. And again I have a slight tick/knock noticeable at low speed when turning the wheel. I've given up as the bearings are new, insert new and tight and bushing corrected. What is weird is that it is only the right side. Let's see what turns up.
John
79 930

[89911]

Weltmeister are "known" for this problem. It has do to with the tolerances they make the bar vs excess "slop" in the fitment. Since no 2 cars are exactly the same dimensions, they have to allow some play to fit all cars. Don't feel bad, the AJUSA bar I have also does this on the right size. It happens when the load transfers from one side to the other and the entire sway bar slides until an end piece hits the housing. One method to fix is to take as much side to side play out of the setup by using a another nylon washer or custom grinding a larger bushing to the right side. This can be felt by disconnecting the drop link and pulling pushing and checking for play. This is similar to grinding the polyurethane bushing for spring plates. The AJUSA fit was fairly precise and the nuisance is minimal. The small price you pay for performance. The TRG and higher end bars also have their own problems. Some use metal to metal contacts for the sway bar mounts that creak and groan.

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

[This message has been edited by 89911 (edited 06-27-2001).]

[jeff91C2T]

I used to have a 76 911S with the same problem. Going over any bumps (with one wheel) would cause the "clunking" sound. I did manage to get rid of it...sort of.

Try grabbing the drop link and pulling hard side to side. On my car if there was play they would make noise. What I mean is if I could move the sway bar back and forth inside the bushings. Being tight around the diameter didn't seem to have as much effect on the noise as much as side to side movement within the bushings.

If I made sure the drop links were pushed on so as to come into contact with the plastic bushing, pressing them into the chassis bracket, the noise would go away. The noise would always come back after a few months so it's not really a true fix. But the noise was far more irratating then the few minutes spent adjusting. Hope this helps...

[jthwan22]

I put in a zirk fitting so I can add grease any time it starts knocking. I removed the sway bar and drill and taped a hole for the zirk fitting. Using a Dremal tool, I added a channel on the inside of the poly bushing. The idea is to have the grease flow all around the whole circumference when squeezing grease in.

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1984 911 Cabriolet

[jc]

Are you sure the noise is coming from the sway bar bushing and not the A-arm bushings? Mine were hell on wheels, the noise from the Weltmeister A-arm bushings drove me nuts!

Try disconnecting the swaybars and see if the noise is still present.

I discombobulated the A-arm joints and found the bushings were too damn tight on the A-arms, such that I could barely rotate them by hand. I removed and ground out a thin layer inside so that I could easily rotate the bushing with my hand, lubed up with zirc grease and haven't heard from them since. Oh ya, my 88 Carrera handles like a go-cart, ride is awesome.

Cheers,
jeff