Front 25.5 bar with solid bushings - installed!

[p-talk]

Well, I finally got the front 25.5mm front bar installed with the Racer's Edge solid inner bushings last week. Verdict - Barry like! I've had them on for over a week, and have had absolutely no noise so far. The bar and bushings are huge improvement over the 24mm hollow bar I had on there (admittedly with shredded bushings! ).

So here's the "learn from me" moment: the hoop brackets (that hold the inner bushings) MUST be from the later cars - the early hoops are too small to accept the bushings. Maybe my 24mm hoops would have fit, but I had a set of clean, zinc-coated early hoops that I tried to install - no workie! A quick order to Pelican for a pair of new hoops solved that problem.

So, my suspension upgrades are complete (for now). I'd like to score some front Konis, but don't have the cash as I've got a drivability issue to chase down now. Plus, the front Boges are doing well right now.

I only have a few pics, as it was dark when I installed the bar:

front bar in the vise being primed after I wore out a wire brush on it !


The set of Racer's Edge solid bushings, with new power-coated sway brackets, triangulation brackets and the zinc-coated early hoops.

[Aufgeladen944]

How much dollars was this?

And on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you give it?

[cauzomb]

The bushings and braces probly help quite a bit in the behaviour of the swaybar between the two controll arms.. Faster leveling effect compared to the stock rubbers. The solid bushings transfer a bit more bump stress and vibrations to the hangers, but that shouldn't matter with the extra braces.

I've read that the stock hollow 24mm is stiffer and lighter than the same diameter stock solid.

I got my hollow 24mm found on a car at the wrecker, along with manual rack/pinion..

Was cheap and feels better than what I had on my 83

[Tidybuoy]

Just curious, did you have any trouble installing the additional stiffening brackets (the ones in your photos that don't have the hoops).

I bought a set of those and I couldn't get them to fit my car & I tried every possible angle to install - the holes would not line up to the car's chasis.

[cauzomb]

Check your lower ball joints.. Mine were toast, couldn't tell when shaking the tires with the car on the ground or jacked up.. they looked ok from the outside.. Only noticed when the alignment guy had the car on the 4 pads and started moving the front end around, then I saw both lower balljoints moving around in the sockets. the ball joint caused a strange sensation on the inside tire around corners, it felt like the tire was dancing around, also caused some random bump steer.

[cauzomb]

Tidybuoy; the brackets mount via the two 13mm swaybar bushing hoop bolt holes, and the front engine/suspension crossmember 19mm bolt

[cauzomb]

Do you have a pic showing the late hoops next to the early hoops?

[p-talk]

$40 for the Racer's Edge bushings. I got the front sway nearly free with my 18mm rear bar, and it is ALSO a hollow bar - the Porsche 25.5mm hollow bar. But the front bar was pretty rust/crusty, and required a lot of manual labor with a wire brush in my drill. I can't really say how the new bar compares to the old bar since the old bushings were toast, but combined with my rear 18mm bar and rear Konis the car REALLY handles nice now.

Can't remember how much the triangulation brackets were, maybe $25 or so? Installation wasn't TOO bad, but I did the install A) on ramps so there would still be load on the suspension, and B) one "spot" at a time so I could jack up the car side to side to help things line up (not a flat work space).

Originally Posted by Aufgeladen944

How much dollars was this?

And on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you give it?

[p-talk]

Sorry, no I don't. But they look exactly the same except the new ones are larger. The bushings did not fit in the early hoops.

Originally Posted by cauzomb

Do you have a pic showing the late hoops next to the early hoops?

[p-talk]

Here's the link to the new hoops from Pelican, pretty cheap at $12 each for brand new parts:

Pelican Parts - Product Information: 944-343-731-02-M100

Originally Posted by cauzomb

Do you have a pic showing the late hoops next to the early hoops?

[J1NX3D]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Just curious, did you have any trouble installing the additional stiffening brackets (the ones in your photos that don't have the hoops).

I bought a set of those and I couldn't get them to fit my car & I tried every possible angle to install - the holes would not line up to the car's chasis.

i had those triangulating brackets made for me a few months ago. they were a tight fit and they weren't symetrical. When I changed to a bigger front bar not long after they were easy to take off an a mega pain to get back in again.

i also had problems with the getting the hoops back on over the new bushings. it took a lot of effort but they went back on. maybe i had the early hoops? i went from a 20mm bar to 26.8mm.

[p-talk]

Yeah, I agree that the triangulating brackets made it MUCH more of a pain to get everything together. I kind of figured out my "trick", which was just jacking up either side of the car just a bit (while the front was on ramps) to help things line up.

Since I was using solid bushings, there was no "squish" room - thus making the early/small hoops impossible (I tried! ). With rubber bushing you may be able to make it fit, but it'd be tight. But that larger bar makes a big difference, doesn't it?

Originally Posted by mAd924

i had those triangulating brackets made for me a few months ago. they were a tight fit and they weren't symetrical. When I changed to a bigger front bar not long after they were easy to take off an a mega pain to get back in again.

i also had problems with the getting the hoops back on over the new bushings. it took a lot of effort but they went back on. maybe i had the early hoops? i went from a 20mm bar to 26.8mm.

[J1NX3D]

thanks for reminding me, thats how i did it, my car was on axle stands and i used my cars scissorjack on the hoops to compress them enough to line up the bolt holes of the hoops and brace, got a bolt in and threaded a nut on and then it was good to go. the jack made it much easier.

yes, the bar made a huge difference i had none at the back either so the 18mm back there works great too.

[p-talk]

Wow, that rear bar must have been a huge difference - going from nothing to 18mm!

Originally Posted by mAd924

thanks for reminding me, thats how i did it, my car was on axle stands and i used my cars scissorjack on the hoops to compress them enough to line up the bolt holes of the hoops and brace, got a bolt in and threaded a nut on and then it was good to go. the jack made it much easier.

yes, the bar made a huge difference i had none at the back either so the 18mm back there works great too.

[smokin_944]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Just curious, did you have any trouble installing the additional stiffening brackets (the ones in your photos that don't have the hoops).

I bought a set of those and I couldn't get them to fit my car & I tried every possible angle to install - the holes would not line up to the car's chasis.

Shades of déja vu!! I mistakenly purchased a set of triangulation brackets for my Series 1 car from an idependent and found out all brackets are not the same. I found a difference in the length of the single hole angle. It was 1/4 inch longer when compared to the KLA brace. The KLA brace fit, the other did not...

[p-talk]

Interesting. My triangulation brackets were also no-name, and they did seem a bit tight going on. It seemed like the single-hole side (the one that bolts to the subframe) was a little on the long side.

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Shades of déja vu!! I mistakenly purchased a set of triangulation brackets for my Series 1 car from an idependent and found out all brackets are not the same. I found a difference in the length of the single hole angle. It was 1/4 inch longer when compared to the KLA brace. The KLA brace fit, the other did not...

[cauzomb]

I've seen some with that single hole side slotted out to the end, like a fork.

[p-talk]

That would make sense. Then you wouldn't have to pull the subframe bolt out all the way.

Originally Posted by cauzomb

I've seen some with that single hole side slotted out to the end, like a fork.