Lead Foot 944

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted here. However, I need the opinion of my fellow 944 enthusiasts.

Last week after replacing the front and rear bushings on the front Steel Control arms with Poly type, The dealer refused to do an alignment on my 84'.
The dealer said that the front control arm bushings have to much play and it makes no sense to do the alignment. Yes, I agree with the theory here, however I feel they would not do the alignment only because they were not OEM bushings. They raised the car and took a pry-bar to move the control arm on the bushing, and yes there was some play. No they did not try to sell me OEM bushings, they simply said we wont do it. I responded with please take my $300.00 and do the 4 wheel alignment and I will figure it out from there. NO they said. So then I asked them to do the rear alignment only and they refused. IDK know what has happened recently but last time I went to the Dealer for anything I had to show my wallet before I was allowed thru the door.

The Poly I installed are these:
Prothane 22-201

I have the following Question if anyone would be so kind to take a moment and provide their opinion.

1. Does anybody have experience with installing Aftermarket control arm bushings and what am I missing?

I am leaning towards purchasing OEM steel arms with the bushings pressed in already and scrapping the Poly idea........

Thank you everyone,

Damian

tempest411

I agree with the shop that refused to do the alignment. Those bushings must be very poor quality if they have play like that. There are better quality options out there, though they of course cost more. I'd recommend stock type Lemforder arms and bushings. The arms and front bushings are pretty reasonable, but the rear bushings always seem to cost a bit for decent quality ones. Stay away from the cheap Chinese arms out there that come ready assembled with bushings. They won't last.

thomasmryan

I ran the black powerflex for a 1000 us miles or so in the front position of the LCA. they seemed firm enough. do note, they wont sell the purple compound for that position because they are too soft.

I ponied up for new OEM arms but elephant sells a normal bonded rubber bush for that spot.

GTSilver944

I just spent quite a bit of time chasing down front end play in my 944. It had those very bushings. Much improved after replacing them with Powerflex black and delrin. Alternatively, fresh rubber bushing would have been 1000x better if low NVH was desired. The early steel arms are affordable. It won't cost much for a shop to press on rubber bushings for you.

The Prothane bushings you linked are garbage and cause unsafe dynamic alignment changes. Not all poly is created equal.

Literally, I was ready to sell the car after 15 years of ownership as it was no longer fun to drive. Those bushings are abysmal.

ddombrowski

The shop did you a favor by not taking your money. I've installed poly bushings on many different cars- there should be no flex whatsoever. You're trading off comfort for less movement in the suspension. I have no experience with the prothane bushings, but I've never had a bad result from powerflex. Though these days I am tempted to just buy the bar of delrin and make my own.

Tiger03447

I also have the prothane ? bushings in my new steel arms for my '83. If there is a better alternative to the Prothane, I'm all ears. The arms haven't been installed yet. Where could I purchase the Powerflex bushings? I'd like to use something better than the rubber bushings, but I'll use them if necessary. Thanks for any info.