Front suspension parts questions

[914GT]

I disassembled my front suspension this afternoon, the only thing left to remove is the auxiliary support and rack and pinion. I'm putting together the shopping list of parts needed for rebuilding. Two things I need and they don't appear to be in the PP catalog. One strut had a piece of the 'rubber spring', the other side had nothing. I assume this prevents the shock from bottoming out. Where can I get these or do I really need them?

Also the bushings on the eyebolts on the ends of the steering rack are bad. What's a good replacement for these?

[mike mueller]

The shock snubbers should come with brand new shocks.
You might be able to go to a 4x4 truck shop or dune buggy shop to get new ones.

Replace the worn steering parts with a turbo-tie rod kit.



Turbo Tie Rod Kit

[Tidybuoy]

I just replaced my front-end bushings today. I used poly eurathane bushings that I got from Pelican.

Getting the old ones out required a torch. I just heated them up a bit & then pried away with a screw driver until they came out. The new ones went in very easily & I used lots of bushing grease.

A few months ago, I replaced the tie rod ends with the turbo type & I also replaced the ball joints on the bottom of the strut. I also upgraded the brakes to the BMW 320i.

The car rides like it was new!

[Jim Smolka]

Depends what your goal is for the car. Street, track, combination.

Turbo tie rods are a very good idea.
Though a little $, bearings instead of bushings are a good idea (check out grassroots motor sports).
For race, mono balls as well as camber kits. Coil overs are great for a race car too.
If your car has been lowered, bump stear and tie rod linkage kit

Also, do you what to go five lug? Good time to upgrade.

Struts depend on application. Koni sports are always a nice joice
Torsion bars. Again, stock, race etc.
Sway bar. Noice joices here.
Good idea to replace the ball joints too

Since it is a good idea to have the car aligned and corner balanced after all this work, it may save some $ if you have everything done at one time.

As you can see, you can spend a couple hundred or spend several thousand.

[914GT]

So these turbo tie rods eliminate the fork and eyebolt rubber bushing? My existing tie rod joints are still tight, I was planning to re-use them for now after putting some zerks on and pump some fresh grease in. I guess I can add another $130 to the list, what the hell it's only money. The rest of the old rubber is coming out even thought the A-arm bushings still appear good shape and very tight. Thing is, I don't know when or if they were replaced so might as well do it right.

No five lug yet - too much additional money right now. I just finished my 320i calipers, powdercoated yellow and look good through the Rivieras.

By the way, I was a bad boy and deviated from the tech article on the BMW conversion. First of all, I did not take them to a machine shop for milling. I used a 10" sanding disk on my table saw! I used this to knock most of the metal off to about .6" or so, then a large flat bastard file to finish both pads down flat to .585", checked at right angles. Didn't take maybe 30 min. each side. Calipers bolt up true and aligned with C/L of rotor. The other thing, I re-used the old brake line tubing. Was not a big deal carefully reshaping them with a tubing bender. They fit perfectly. No evidence of fatigue or stress cracking, got them nice and clean first so you can see the surface of the metal and they fit tight into the bender, then make very gradual adjustments.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

You should be able to get new rubber bushings for the tie-rods. Should be cheaper than the turbo ones. And, quite frankly, the TTRs may not offer much improvement over stock ones that are in good shape.

If it isn't in the catalog, just call 888/280-7799 and ask about it.

--DD

[mike mueller]

A-arm bushings still appear good shape and very tight

"Very tight" is not a good thing...what is happening is that the shocks and springs/torsion bars, have to fight the resistance of the stiffer rubber.

New rubber bushings (not available seperatly) would be better than the old stiffer rubber.

Next would be poly bushings (yes, these are very hard, but instead of the rubber twisting, the a-arm pivots inside of the bushing)

Top of the line (IMHO ) would be needle bearings, but these are not for everyone (cost is high and they need to be looked at every few years depending on use)

[914GT]

Dave - thanks. By the way, I've got a big parts order to place before long. I may be coming out to LA on Labor Day weekend. Would it be possible to place my order, then arrange to pick up at El Segundo to save shipping costs?

Mike, I see your point. I've got the torsion bar out on one side so I'd expect the bushings to be the only resistance to rotating the arm. but it is pretty tight. It would seem that these things should loosen up with age and not go the opposite direction. So old bushings actually stiffen-up the travel and of course go off-center? I wonder about advantages of needle bearings. Yeah, seems it should be better, but in reality I wonder if the advantage of the freer motion is only washed out by the normal dampening effect of the shock. In other words, any resistance of the bushings is added to that of the shock. I'd think a rule of thumb would be to have bushing resistance to be at no more than 1/10 of the shock resistance. In my case, the shock inserts are so worn out that the only dampening going on was probably in the old bushings!

What I can understand being an advantage of needle bearings is maintaining precise suspension geometry under extreme racing conditions. But for a street car I don't think I an justify their expense. (I'm still trying to justify expense of about everything right now - I keep telling myself what a fun little car this will be when it's ever done).

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

BTW, for info on one needle-bearing setup, click the link in Mueller's signature.

As for your order, you'll have to take that up with the guys in the office. If you were going to be coming by during normal business hours on a normal weekday, there wouldn't be a problem. They get people ordering items to be picked up all the time. But I'm not sure if anyone will be there over the Labor Day weekend.

...And I can't just ask--I telecommute for Pelican and am six hours' drive away from the office!

--DD

[914GT]

Dave -
Checked out Mike's bearings and they are really nice. Do they use needle bearings as standard stuff on the really exotic sports cars? Like what kind of price range car would you find something like this?

So they wouldn't open the office up on the weekend just for me? What kind of crappy service is that anyway I'll see if I can work out a plan to come by during regular hours, or I'll call to find the shipping rate. Maybe a big order won't be all that bad. Thanks much.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

AFAIK, you won't find metal suspension joints like this on anything but an all-out race car. Though I think the new Carrera GT that is coming out shortly will have at least some suspension joints with no rubber in them.

Bearings and metal bushings tend to require more maintenance than most car makers will trust car owners to perform. ("I just paid how much for a car I have to take apart and re-grease every other year????")

As for the office hours, try calling and asking. There are sometimes people there over the weekend, getting more work done. And even if nobody was planning on it, you never know what asking nicely will get for you until you try it...

--DD