'78 SC Elephant Racing Suspension Rebuild

[Kraftwerk]

@ evan9eleven,
Extending the zerks ! Of course, good idea! Mine had slightly rotated and a zerk could not attach this is a good fix you did, I might have to do the same.

[Craig_D]

Just checking in. I'm still loving my suspension, especially on a nice crisp Fall drive in Colorado!

Cheers!

- Craig_D

[PabloX]

At the risk of asking a stupid question, how necessary is it to remove the rotor and take out the strut if I only want to replace the ball joint? It looks like it shouldn't be necessary, except maybe for access.

I want to replace the ball joint and bushings as a winter project, but my front brakes and bearings are only 2000 miles old (yes, i should have planned better).

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by PabloX

At the risk of asking a stupid question, how necessary is it to remove the rotor and take out the strut if I only want to replace the ball joint? It looks like it shouldn't be necessary, except maybe for access.

I want to replace the ball joint and bushings as a winter project, but my front brakes and bearings are only 2000 miles old (yes, i should have planned better).

For the bilstein strut, you probably won't enjoy getting the roll pin out but you can absolutely replace the ball joint with everything in place.

[sundevil64]

Not necessary, bit it makes access to the pin/bolt easier.

I just pulled both control arms to put on rebel racing bushings and change ball joints. Left the strut assembly, including caliper and rotor intact.

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by David Inc.

For the bilstein strut, you probably won't enjoy getting the roll pin out but you can absolutely replace the ball joint with everything in place.

Originally Posted by sundevil64

Not necessary, bit it makes access to the pin/bolt easier.

I just pulled both control arms to put on rebel racing bushings and change ball joints. Left the strut assembly, including caliper and rotor intact.

Thanks guys. My goal here is primarily to replace the control arm bushings and ball joints. So I'm going to attempt to do that without removing the struts, brakes, etc.

I just started this morning and removed the cover plate and and sway bar in the middle. I was inclined to try to get the sway bar completely out first, before removing the control arms, but that doesn't look possible (or at least easy). It seems it's easier to remove the control arms and take the whole thing down as a unit.

Correct assumptions? I'm trying not to screw anything up here.

EDIT: I removed the pan and got the wedge bolts out easily (well, the right side required some persuasion). The left side ball joint came right out of the bottom of the strut, but the left side is being a complete b*tch. Any advice here is welcome.

[Craig_D]

Hey guys! As Spring starts to unfurl in the northern hemisphere, it's time for me to check, clean and lube my suspension again.

I have a bit of a squeak in the inner bushings of the lower rear control arms (banana arm) that I have to clean/lube first, and then grease the ER polybronze spring plate bushings with the zerk fittings, and then test her out.

What are you guys looking to do to get your suspensions ready for the coming season?

- Craig_D

[911 Rod]

Complete tear down other that the torsion bars.

I took the rear torsion bar covers off so I could clean my polybronze bushing. Only takes a few minutes and then you can do it right.

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Complete tear down other that the torsion bars.

I took the rear torsion bar covers off so I could clean my polybronze bushing. Only takes a few minutes and then you can do it right.

That's a great idea! It's been a while for me, so having a look inside sounds about right.

How did yours look?

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Complete tear down other that the torsion bars.

I took the rear torsion bar covers off so I could clean my polybronze bushing. Only takes a few minutes and then you can do it right.

How do you clean it? I've got them also and a suspension once-over will be on my spring to-do list.

[911 Rod]

Mine looked like new after cleaning.
Take the 4 bolts off of the torsion bar cover and go at it with brake clean. Put your grease gun on the zerk to make sure it's not plugged up. Grease up both sides and re-install.
The inner bushing I just cleaned as much grease as I could behind the spring plate.
Amazing how this grease gravitates onto the wheel well.

[Otter74]

Ah, I see. Wasn't sure if you had meant more than that. I've never taken the torsion bar covers off to clean them, but I grease them once a year with an oil change.

[911 Rod]

Not a big job to take the covers off.

[Craig_D]

That's great, thanks for posting those pics.

I had a few from earlier in this thread to just show the (in my case) black bushing covers to remove for cleaning.

Here's my cover plate, on the car when I did this upgrade:




Assembly shot:




And how she sits currently, just because. haha

[Qcurtis88]

Looking for some help!

Dropped in a set of 19mm raised struts with the ER bump kit. Removed 3 of the rubber inserts. Put the car down on the ground and its stiffer than an F1 car. Zero travel. Played with the ride height to see if that was it (even though that defeats the purpose) and no dice.

My next thought is maybe the tie rod bolts on the bump steer are too tight? Could this be it?

OR

The angle of the tie rod/spacers is off causing it to bind up when compressed. Note that the suspension moves smoothly from fill droop to about 75% compressed. The last 25% or so (ride height range) is when it binds up and sticks.

Any help is appreciated!

[911 Rod]

Disconnect the tie rods and see what you get.

[nickelplated5s]

Add a bigger bump steer bushing. Other option is larger ID rubber bushings of smaller OD metal. I know everyone says 19mm for the spindle but some go higher. It's all about the geometry.

[Craig_D]

Hey Quin, if you look at my earlier post, my tie rods have one spacer on the bottom, and three on top. Maybe swap those around and see if that helps:

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/726309-78-sc-elephant-racing-suspension-rebuild-12.html#post7251125

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/726309-78-sc-elephant-racing-suspension-rebuild-12.html#post7250666

[safe]

Easy, adjust spacers until the tierod i horizontal at ride height.
I highly doubt that the tie rods is why you car feels stiff.

[Craig_D]

Yeah, that's probably true.

You might want to disconnect the torsion bar and tie rod so that you can move the strut assembly through its entire range of motion to see if it's binding somehow. I don't think it could be the bump stop, but that's also a thought..

Edit: I forgot about the front sway bar, which isn't an easy thing to detach..