Can't find Front Sway bar Bushing

[Jaybird12]

Does anyone know where I might find a set of bushings to fit the Weltmeister front adjustable sway bar through body style 22mm? I've tried our host to no avail and Automotion (to utter frustration) but I can't seem to find a set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pors1968]

Are you sure is 22mm through body .that pretty big

[cgarr]

Can't find them in 22mm size or can't find any?

[Jaybird12]

Originally Posted by cgarr

Can't find them in 22mm size or can't find any?

I can't find that size. There are lots of Porsche factory bushings available (tapered style that mounts from the back of the plate) but none of the Weltmeister style. (Cylindrical shape)

[combatic]

It is a pretty simple part, you might try a local machinist...they could knock that part out lickity split. I don't know what material the bushing is though. I am guessing it my might be delrin?

(I am only commenting because I am about to hang used Weltmeister sways on my car and may have to do this as well due to wear)

[mspirito]

There is the above suggestion to have the bushings for the weltmeister re-made due to lack of availability. I was wondering if anyone has done this, and which materiel they are made from?

[Jaybird12]

I ended up having a local machine shop fab them from oil lite bushing material. To have two sets made up it cost me about $70. He thought the original ones were a graphite type material.

[Scott S]

I am pretty sure I have the specific Automotion/Welmeister part number in my file at home. I will check tonight and get back to you.

I had the same experience with automotion. They were absolutely clueless. Once I found the part number, then they were able to see it on their side, and place the order.

[Walt Fricke]

22mm is the normal size to put in this location. You do it for track or Autox use, and put a 22mm one on the rear also.

The Weltmeister bushing is polyurethane. But Delrin will work, and was the old racing standard.

My track only car came to me with a 19mm front bar. In fact, maybe it was actually a 3/4" bar (not much difference). So I went to a good hardware store and found an Oilite bushing with a 3/4" ID and an OD which fit the housing. Same with rear. 19mm plenty for a 2,000 lb car. Pure luck, I suppose, but they have been good for over 15 years. Oil impregnation seems to prevent squeaking.

Machining an Oilite would, therefore, be an option. Look up what is available, see if there is one with an ID or an OD (pure luck if both) which will work. The OD can be turned down if needed, and the ID opened up.

Or Delrin.

Perhaps the ultimate bearing would be a spherical one, but you'd have to have custom housings made, and maybe custom bars to get a good tight fit, and so on.

[Walt Fricke]

To me the main benefit of spherical bearings is not their low friction rotation, but the fact that they will self-align two mounts about 4 feet apart.

However, in the front of both my track cars I have dealt with this by taking advantage of the length and strength of the bar. When the bar doesn't line up with side B, I pull it back and bend the sheet metal with the bar as a lever, and try again. A couple of tries at most will do it. Chances are good that you won't have to repeat this on Side B, but you can easily do that. Once in line, the bar will keep things that way.

A great machinist, now sadly passed away, taught me, when making spherical bearings to hold my front A arms, that the a shaft ought not be free to rotate within the ID of a spherical bearing. You want to be able to clamp the shaft to the spherical bearing. I'm not sure just how you would do that effectively with a sway bar, but it would be worth working on.

[Scott S]

Jason -
Here are the part numbers for the Welt bushings:

19mm: P913243
22mm: PZC-SB-1100D

[mspirito]

Thanks