Thoughts on replacing rubber rear suspension bushings

[sid86]

Replacing these is done a lot:


But I never read anything about replacing these as well:


Do these wear less than the big ones? Any thoughts on replacing these? The big ones I can do myself (I think), but these second ones... and they are pretty expensive to have them changed ($ labour).

[Trackrash]

Those inner banana arm bushings can be a biach to replace. There are a couple of threads showing it.

That said, they tend to last. I replaced mine a while back, but the original 40 yo bushings were still OK.

I replaced mine with the poly graphites, which did not require the outer metal shell of the bushing to be removed, only the rubber. So the install was easy. The hard part is removing the entire original bush, with the metal outer part, as it is pressed in.

[HaroldMHedge]

I would replace the inner bushings especially if you've upgraded the torsion bars.

When upgrading my SC to 21/27 bars, I instructed my mechanic to replace both bushings but he only replace the spring plate bushing since the inner bushing looked good. In less than a month, I needed to replace the inner bushings because they were worn out.

____________
Harold

1987 911 Carrera Coupe
1982 911SC Ferry Porsche Ed. Coupe

[Tidybuoy]

I replaced my inner rear bushings with Elephant Racing Hard Rubber. It's is not that difficult to do but you definitely have to remove the banana arm to do it. Once you do that, it's really a 1 hour job. Personally, in my opinion, new bushings are always better than old.

My bushings were shot and the old bushings crumbled away as I removed them - see photos below. Also, it's is nearly impossible to tell if the bushings are shot by just looking at them. They have a metal sleeve around them and this squeezes the rubber to the point that it might look better than it is. In my case, I could not tell from under the car if they were bad but the photos tell you they were completely shot.

My handling changed quite a bit and I specifically noticed that the car tracked the road much better and no longer had that "steering from the rear" feeling. You will definitely need an alignment after changing these.

The new bushings have to be pressed in and I did that with a large bolt and very large washers on the ends. Just tighten and the bearing pushes into place.

Old Bushings compared to New:


Pressing in New Bushings Using Bolt/Nut/Washers

[moneymanager]

How old is your car?
Here are the bushings from my 40+ year old 1974.
I replaced them with Elephant sport bearings. Because of flex in the aluminum control/banana arm, there is very little point to spherical bearings here. For me this was a time consuming task as I had little idea what I was doing at the start. But there was nothing terribly challenging along the way. Needless to say the new bearings made a huge difference in handling while eliminating a huge scraping noise I heard from time to time.

[Jdub]

You are so close to being able to replace them now that really, for 30+ year old rubber, you owe it to yourself and your car. Mine were a bit ovalized, looked fine from outside, but ultimately I replaced with OEM rubber and never looked back.

Best part is I don't have to question myself if I should have done it.

Plus, you get to clean up the arms to a nice finish. Minus = fresh alignment, but you knew you had to do that anyways!

[sid86]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the extensive replies.
I will then just have to drink a beer or 2 less on my vacation and just have them replaced (or maybe to it myself)