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Upgrading suspension on a 69.
Hi
I have just bought a -69 coupe thats gotten a -74 RSRich "facelift". Suspension is bone stock and in need of a serious upgrade. I have been thinking of replacing the steel trailingarms with later aluminum, is that a good investment? I also found a later aluminum front cross member, is there any advantage to that more than weight?
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Magnus 911 Silver Targa -77, 3.2 -84 with custom ITBs and EFI. 911T Coupe -69, 3.6, G50, "RSR", track day. 924 -79 Rat Rod EFI/Turbo 375whp@1.85bar. 931 -79 under total restoration. |
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Columbus, OH
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I would replace the bars and bushings first, before I did any switching to aluminum. You can put bigger bars in, and there are several options for bushings. Get you shocks revalved, or buy new ones to match the bars. Then worry about switching to aluminum.
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Doug 79 SC Targa w/ ITBs, 2004 Cayenne Turbo |
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Magnus, the aluminum trailing arm upgrade is sort of over-rated and the geometry is not precisely the same. The Al front crossmember weighs less but that's about it.
Your time and capital would be better spent investing in a set of lowered spindle front struts and a bump steer kit, 22/28 torsion bars, smart racing 31/27mm antiroll bars, custom valved bilsteins and a complete refresh of the front and rear bearings "while you are in there" along with brake lines.
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'66 911 #304065 Irischgruen ‘96 993 Carrera 2 Polarsilber '81 R65 Ex-'71 911 PCA C-Stock Club Racer #806 (Sold 5/15/13) Ex-'88 Carrera (Sold 3/29/02) Ex-'91 Carrera 2 Cabriolet (Sold 8/20/04) Ex-'89 944 Turbo S (Sold 8/21/20) |
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On my list of things to buy are PolyBronze bushings, proper anit rollbars, and 22mm front t-bars (I have 29mm rears on the shelf) and new shocks.
I think I need new front struts, because the PO has welded on new mounts for bigger calipers and that makes me uneasy... RSR struts with raised spindles would be nice ![]() I was thinking that the alu-trailingarms had bigger bearings and that might be good when having a widebody with 11" rims.
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Magnus 911 Silver Targa -77, 3.2 -84 with custom ITBs and EFI. 911T Coupe -69, 3.6, G50, "RSR", track day. 924 -79 Rat Rod EFI/Turbo 375whp@1.85bar. 931 -79 under total restoration. |
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Max Sluiter
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1971 911S, 2.7RS spec MFI engine, suspension mods, lightened Suspension by Rebel Racing, Serviced by TLG Auto, Brakes by PMB Performance |
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How do those front bushings compare to the elephant or other setups?
Just curious for my 914 (same setup in the front as a '69 911). Edit: Nevermind, I just read that really long thread posted earlier ![]()
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'73 2.0 914 (2.8 /6 conversion in progress) '64 356SC '65 Ducati Falcon 80 ‘19 Audi SQ5 Last edited by JmuRiz; 09-24-2010 at 12:50 PM.. |
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Max Sluiter
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Clint also raises spindles, re-valves Bilsteins, has anti-sway bars, etc. One stop shopping.
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1971 911S, 2.7RS spec MFI engine, suspension mods, lightened Suspension by Rebel Racing, Serviced by TLG Auto, Brakes by PMB Performance |
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I'm with 304065 (lucky guy) about the rear aluminum trailing arms. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't put them on my car. It was a hassle with really no gain. The bigger bearings really aren't necessary. Generally the advice about the suspension is pretty good. I'd pay attention to it.
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Marv Evans '69 911E |
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Ok, I forget about the aluminum arms and save that money.
I see that the rear shocks are sold 65-71 and 72-89. Whats the difference between 71 and 72??? We put the later shocks on a friends 68 and that was fine.
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Magnus 911 Silver Targa -77, 3.2 -84 with custom ITBs and EFI. 911T Coupe -69, 3.6, G50, "RSR", track day. 924 -79 Rat Rod EFI/Turbo 375whp@1.85bar. 931 -79 under total restoration. |
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Trailing arms are different 65-71 (and from 65-68 and 69-71) from 72-73 in two ways that I know of. The mounting hole for the shock bottom is larger on later arms and the mounting boss itself is larger which changes the shock geometry. I made the mistake of giving a friend a nice pair of 69 arms that he tried to mount on a 73 and the shock wanted to go through the axle. THis was after he drilled out the shock mount hole.
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Tru6 Restoration & Design |
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the Al arms are not just lighter, they are also stiffer
I agree with doing other thing "first" - I'd get the front all taken care of and then do the rear - when doing the rear you "might as well" put in Al arms - your choice, your car, your driving style, on roads you select |
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