Front Control Arm Bushings - Which ones?

[mowog63]

I'm looking at the available control arm bushings from Pelican and see:
- ER - $225
- Powerflex - $75
- Uro - $31

I've watched the dueling videos from ER and Uro on YouTube....

Are the ER bushings seven (7) times better than the Uro bushings and three (3) times better than the Powerflex bushings?

What are people using and what is the prevailing wisdom on which set to use?

Thanks,
Erik.

[Smoove1010]

I too watched the videos, I bought the premise, and spent the money. At some point in these projects I tend to add up the labor that I put in and I always come to the realization that the extra cost for premium parts is often small in comparison to the time invested.

The ER bushings appear to be high quality items and the installation tools made the job very simple.

I've got less than 500 miles on the car since refreshing the front suspension but the improvement in ride and handling was significant. I'm doing the rear bushings now and went with ER again.

Good luck,
GK

[3literpwr]

I'm about to install the Powerflex parts in my '87. I have run them in my BMW and Mini before with good results. I also have a set of the URO's laying around and the quality looks good. I'm sure the Elephant ones are good as well, but 7 times? ER's pricing seems a bit steep on rubber items.

[Flieger]

ER's pricing is high, but the product is leagues better than urethane if you want a comfortable street car. And I have heard bad things about URO but don't have any experience with their bushings. For a long time all the replacement rubber bushings other than ER were too large and did not hold tight to the A-arm like they are supposed to (they twist when the arm moves).

That said, I have the Rebel Racing ones on my weekend canyon cruiser and am very happy with them.

[Jdub]

I went with Poly when I rebuilt my front suspension - I put zerks in as well and use a non-perishing grease supplied by the manufacturer. Neatrix on the backend, stock bushings for banana arms, etc.

I would go with Chuck's product without question if I were to do it again.

[Driven97]

I have the inexpensive urethane ones and would recommend against them. Lots of noise.

[Trackrash]

Not sure what Uro is, but Neatrix makes a rubber replacement bushing for about $40. I have seen it in the Aut0mot!on catalog. Not sure if our host has it. A friend of mine installed them with good luck.

Several years ago I installed Weltmeister polygraphite front bushings. There were no rubber replacements available at that time.

I have had no squeaks or noise. HOWEVER, the ride is noticeably harsher. I would not recommend them for a street car.
edit: I used the Weltmeister Magic lube and it still works with no squeaking after seven years.

[chris_seven]

I don't like PU Bushes on Front Control Arms and having to re-grease is a pain.

Once the grease washes out the friction of the PU is way too high and will affect static ride height.

The URO 'Slip-In' bushes are just wrong.

When you fit the bush there is no radial compression which has a significant impact on the static and dynamic modulus of the material which will affect stiffness and hence alignment of the arm.

They are easy to fit but don't align the front very well.

The description offered by ER about the need to fit the bush with significant force is absolutely correct.

The ER Bush does, however have a slightly larger ID than the Original part used by Porsche and hence has just slightly less compression than the stock part.

Bushes are available from Porsche with Part Number 914.341.422.00 at around $15-$16 each

They are listed as a Rubber Stop and shown as the front bush for the 1965 Control Arm but this is also an error.

The 1965 Car used a bush that was similar but longer by around 10mm longer (The replacement bush does work but isn't 100% correct)

The current bush is 35mm long and fits into the outer housing and then presses into place over the control arm.

As it presses into place it stretches to around 50-55mm long and fills the housing.

They are a PITA to fit but we have made tooling.

We have used them for 7 years now with good success and have fitted more than 50 sets.

I have never used the ER Parts but would assume that they are very good.

[DRACO A5OG]

Rebel Racing, but you need to be patient

[TheSt|G]

Your options are basically:

ER-Overpriced, but a very nice product
RR-May arrive at some point, nice product
Poly-NVH fun, coupled with possibilities of cracking
WM-bZZZZZZZ BANG BANG Bzzzzzzzz


URO-Not an option. Absolute China trash that doesn't even belong on a Geo Metro.

[Trackrash]

So these are no good?
even though our host does not sell these and blocks his competitors url, here is the url ,you can type it in with some editing.
http://www.aut0m0tion.com/neatrix-front-a-arm-rubber-bushings-for-porsche.html

[RSTarga]

I used the ER rubber bushings about 3 years ago. They are equal to or better than the the factory bushings. I used power flex on my 964. Both good but the 964 application is less critical than the 911 torsion bar application. Uro and Neatrix are not a good solution. Go with the ER product,

[Shaun @ Tru6]

This is something I've been considering myself. If they were easily changed out, I would go with the Neatrix; as a rule, I never buy URO.

Yes, ER are overpriced and expensive for what they are. Chuck has done a really good job of creating some innovative and elegant engineering worth the price but is able to apply the Porsche tax to things like this. Capitalism I guess. The real argument for the ER is they are one-time installs over the life of the car and you will never have to worry about them. After 1 year, 2, even 4-5 years, who wants to disassemble their front suspension and replace UROs?

Rebel Racing is the best alternative for aftermarket, but if you want to keep your car stock, I'd go with ER.

[$ Short]

+1 for Rebel Racing. We have full sets on 2 cars now.

[NY65912]

I went ER. ASAIK, their compound is "flow resistant". Please stay away from URO!

[azhodge]

I put uro bushings on my front control arms and rear spring plates. its a street car, I have no complaints.

[jamesjedi]

I have installed rebel racing bushings. It has been a very difficult install. I have had a hard time getting arms to drop under their own weight. Not to mention expensive. If I were to do it again I may have just bought the rubber performance bushings from elephant racing. After all, how much is truly gained by these, I am not sure.

[sugarwood]

Trackrash's link shows bushings for $37/set of 4. OEM are about $60/set of 4.
This is a lot lower than the ER price listed in the OP.

I have a feeling a stock OEM street suspension refresh is cheaper than a performance upgrade.

[Jtt84911]

Adding my 2 cents.....also wondered about spending that much more $ for the ER rubber replacements before pulling the trigger a few years ago....and glad I did.

Once you have completed all the work to remove the A·arms and TB's and have everything nice and clean....do you really want to put in anything not equal or better...than the ones installed in the Porsche factory 30 years ago???

NO you do not!! ER Installation tool works great and their installation video shows you everything you need to know do the work correctly. Buy them - put it all back together with the mind set..... it will be another 30 years from now before you or anyone else has to think about front A-arm bushings.

JT

[yogi]

Originally Posted by chris_seven

Bushes are available from Porsche with Part Number 914.341.422.00 at around $15-$16 each

They are listed as a Rubber Stop and shown as the front bush for the 1965 Control Arm but this is also an error.

The 1965 Car used a bush that was similar but longer by around 10mm longer (The replacement bush does work but isn't 100% correct)

The current bush is 35mm long and fits into the outer housing and then presses into place over the control arm.

As it presses into place it stretches to around 50-55mm long and fills the housing.

They are a PITA to fit but we have made tooling.

We have used them for 7 years now with good success and have fitted more than 50 sets.

I want to make sure I understand you correctly. Can these bushings be used as replacements in cars for the 80's? Thanks