Front suspension oddness help needed

[jeffkay1967]

I am new to the 914 front end system... My car is a '73 914 with no sway bar. The previous, devious owner has done many things wrongs so this may be one!

On one side of front if I jack up I can pull up on the tire/wheel about 2.5 inches into the strut damper before anything resists. So I am wondering if the PO assembled it without pre-loading the torsion bar? Or maybe the bar is broke? I have yet to open anything. The adjuster screw is sitting at about 2/3 the way up.

If I sit on that fender the dampening seems adequate and it rides okay on the road but I assume it would clunk if going over a pothole, etc. Due to that flopping around at the bottom. Please advise things to check. Thanks, Jeff

[TheCabinetmaker]

Id think that both sides should be the same, since only one side has this problem, I would suggest it is a failing strut. If the torsion bar where broke, I would think you would not be saying that the car "rides okay." At anyrate you will need to pull things apart to diagnose. You may find you need to replace the ball joints, and tierods too. Even the rubber torsion bar bushing can fail and need replacement. I recently had a rear trailing arm dangle on me when the car was lifted, needed new bushings, did both sides to keep the car even keeled.

if you need new strut, change both as you want the front struts to be uniform.

A added front sway bar can really help the car handle, but get the struts sorted out first. When you install the sway bar, it is really a can of worms project as the gas tank needs to come out, which means you might as well replace the fuel hoses, and since the wiper motor and dash fan also have to come out, you might as well service the wiper (lube) and the fan (clean out leaves from fanbox, clear drain hoses, Lube fan bearings, and install fine mesh screen under cowl louvers to keep debries out of fanbox). You may also find you need to do touch up paint and rust removal from spilled brake fluid under the gas tank. It can be one of those projects that gets big cause there are many things you might as well do while your in there!

If you need new tierod ends, consider the turbo tie rod upgrade, if you need new bushings consider the Poly Bronze ones made by Elephant Racing. A fatter than stock sway bar is nice, and a rear sway bar is not needed in a stock weighted car, in fact I have found rear bars to harm handling on a lowered car with stiffer rear springs.