Oddjob

Make sure you check what diameter the 968 t-bars are. Your S bars will be 23.5mm. If the 968 bars are from an M030 car, they will be 25.5mm, but I dont recall for sure what a non-M030 968 t-bar will be - Im thinking it will be the same as a 944S2 (24mm). Point is, its not worth the effort to swap t-bars for a very slight/nominal upgraded rear rate. What spring rate do you want to run on the front? Then match/pick what rear t-bar rate you need. Probably better off buying some aftermarket t-bars - I dont think its worth the swap unless you go at least to a 27-28mm rear bar, with ballpark 200-300 lb/in fronts.

I am the one that commented on poor fit and quality of the weltmeister bushings - but most/all others seem not to have that same impression. So, I guess its up to you to decide.

For a street car, with torsion bars, I would not be in a hurry to get rid of the rubber (unless the rubber is rotted/failing/cracking). No reason to go with harder or more solid bushings. If you want to start setting the car up for auto-xing, thats a different story. And then you can consider stiffer or solid bushings. But the benefits of solid bushings will be limited if you only slightly upgrade the car's spring rates and shocks - the stiffer you go with the shocks and springs, then the bushings become more of the limiting factor.

Gator_86_951

I am bumping this to add a few things. My elephant bushings came with a zerk fitting on the outside edge of the spring plate cover bushing. I inserted the bushing with that zerk fitting as close to the ground as I could and there was not a clearance issue. I'll see if I can get pictures some other time.

Also, you will want to make sure you have jb-weld. One of the two of my spring plates didn't fit the bearing races all that well.

Lastly, the zerk fittings they include are metric, which is silly. I don't know where you live, but where I am obtaining a metric m5 x 0.8 is pretty strange. Particularly on a Sunday. I used zerk fittings I had access to that were 1/4" 20 threads per inch. I also had to use two m10 spacer washers on both sides, which is explained in the instructions.

Pretty easy and non-ridiculous install. Make sure to grease up the carrier bushings if you don't replace them as the rubber likes to grab during reinstallation,

Van

Were your zerk fittings angled or straight? Mine were angled (and I had the clearance issue) but I think the straight ones fit without a problem.

(Somehow, over the years, I've collected a good selection of metric taps - but only a few english ones.)

Gator_86_951

Mine where angled. The way it is now unless the lower part of the spring plate arm somehow decides to go past that bottom spacer, the zerk fitting will be just fine.

Van

Interesting, I'd love to see a picture, Gator.

Gator_86_951

Will do when I get a chance. Your bearings were clearly different than mine, so the extra space I had is made by the different bearing flange/zerk fitting deal.

Gator_86_951

Last thing before I forget. My eccentric is stretching A LOT when applying the factory specified torque amount. Not to mention that I managed to create a super lock not on one of the sides, so I am probably going to buy new ones. So, in short, if they are cheap, which I am not sure if they are or aren't, check your eccentrics first because you may not feel comfortable with the amount of torque you can apply before it stretches.

Darwantae951

Bump for a great write-up thread. I'm in the middle of this job and reference Vans pics often.

LS1Porch

I had that same problem with the grease zerks on the elephant racing bushings. What an irritation after all that work!

Nice writeup, wish i had read it before i did mine!

Darwantae951

Were yours the 45deg elbows? They supplied the straight short fittings with mine and while I have yet to install the fittings, it doesn't look like I'll run into any clearance issues.

krystar

the 45 ones won't clear. straight ones will.

LS1Porch

Mine were the 45 degree ones. The straight ones will probably be fine, but that's assuming you can get a grease gun on them.

The bolt on mine broke one of the 45* ones off, so i replaced it with a 90* standard-sized zerk and that clears a little better, too.

VOoDOoGTX

Van your garage looks empty in these pictures haha

Cloud9...68

I'm getting ready to replace all the rubber bushings (spring plates, trailing arm, and torsion tube carrier bushings, and spring plate cover mount) in my 92 968 with solid ones, and have found threads like this one and others on this site very helpful (although my head is spinning a bit :confused). My plan is to turn the car into a mostly-track car, though still marginally drivable (to and from the track, if nothing else) on the street. I may race it eventually, but my immediate goal is to turn it into a much more capable car for track day events and the like. There's a track where I live where I can take my car anytime, so it will see A LOT of track time. I have a few (hopefully) quick questions to fill in a few gaps in my understanding, though:

1) Does the sequence in which you replace the rear suspension bushings matter?
2) Does removing the control arm make the job any easier? I already have the axle half-shafts off (re-packing the CD joints).
3) Van (and others who contributed to this thread) used polybronze spring plate bushings, but I've heard that the recently-offered delrin bushings are also very good, are much less expensive, and don't require the grease fitting. What are the thoughts on this?
4) Recently, I've heard of people replacing their torsion bars with 10-mm bars, which don't provide and spring rate, but are apparently simpler to deal with than a full torsion bar delete, and are compatible with the rules of many racing classes. I know anything having to do with t-bar delete is a loaded question, but what are the thoughts on this approach? Racers Edge seems to be in favor of it. Any downside?
Thanks in advance.