Mark944na86

I'm replacing my rubber front inner sway bushings. They have been badly affected by oil from a front engine oil leak I hope to fix in a few weeks when I do my belts.

I've ordered delrin replacements, partly because I assumed the delrin would hold up better to oil contamination.

But then it occurred to me that I really didn't _know_ delrin would be unaffected by oil contamination, I was just assuming that.

So: Is delrin unaffected by oil contamination?

-Mark

adrial

My delrin front swaybar bushings wore to a larger ID because the oil attracts dirt which increases the rate of wear dramatically.

The delrin itself I think is largely unaffected by oil contamination.

Mark944na86

What did you do? Just clean the dirt off and tighten the bushing brackets?

Potomac-Greg

I want to do the same, but cannot find Delrin bushings to fit the base front stabilizer bar (21.5mm). Seems wacky to upgrade the front bar just to get the bushings!

smlporsche

I'm assuming you tried Racers Edge and Paragon...

Reimu

I was planning to do the same thing... such cheaters we are.

Potomac-Greg

I went back and checked, and I may have been wrong all along. I need to figure out exactly which front bar diameter I have. Using Pelican's catalog, it refers to the '88 944 as having either a 21.5mm or a 26.8mm bar. I guess I could break out the caliper and measure the bar.

Lorax

delrin won't absorb oil like your stock crappy rubber.

Mark944na86

I prefer to think of it as judicious fallback planning and risk managment.

After all, I am going to _try_ to fix the oils leaks.

I'm just not 100% confident I'm going to get it right (first time I'll have done the job.)

-Mark

Techno Duck

In my personal experience, what soaks those bushings is power steering fluid and the inadvertent messy oil change due to the filter location.

Try tightening the clamps on the two hoses leading to the power steering tank. Its either those hoses expand or the clamps loosen / stretch (or maybe a combination of all).. but if the frame rail under the tank is wet, fluid is seeping out, running down the frame rail and killing your bushings. I either tighten the clamps, or if im feeling really frisky use two clamps on the hoses...either that replace the hoses . But this has always solved the destroyed bushing issue on all of the 944's ive owned so far. I did end up putting delrin bushings on my 951 however. If you do go with these, i recommend putting aluminum shaft collars on the sway bar to hold the bushings in place so they dont slide around.

You can see what i mean by shaft collars in this picture. You can get them from McMaster Carr.

944CS

you can put grease on the outside of the bushings to catch the dirt before it collects in there

Mark944na86

Thanks for all the tips and advice, guys.

Techno duck: Those collars look interesting. What would be a part # for 26.8 collars (I assume you have the standard 26.8 turbo front sways?)

-Mark

Techno Duck

Mark, i have a 30mm front on the car now.

Goto McMaster.com and lookup shaft collars. Choose the two-piece clamp on selection. They make 25 or 30mm inner diameter sizes..so you will probably have to find the inch equivalent to 26.8mm (probably will be roughly 1 1/16''). Make sure you get an aluminum or stainless steel one.

whalebird

I have considered delrin, but I would like to find some eurathane bushings. A brief google revealed nothing. Any ideas?