onebad928s

I'm looking for a full polyurethane bushing kit for a 83 928.I called Energy Suspension and they have nothing for Porsche's but if you own a Ferrari they do(go figure).Any ideas of companies that deal with full kits just not each piece separate.

Lou
83 928 5speed

drnick

try racebred autos. i have a complete front and rear set in my 1986 s2 (euro of course) from them. definitely improves feel and handling, nice and tight. a worthwhile upgrade to help return the handling to where it should be - not too cheap though!

BC

drnick -

You mean this link right?

http://www.racebredauto.com/


I really need to talk to you. I was all ready last night to start taking those bushings out of the rear suspension arms. My 89S4 only has 75k, but everything else is apart, so I was all ready to do it.

Well I broke a damn vice trying to get just the first bushing out of the left rear arm. How the hell do you do this? I am really interested in finding out. At about 11pm last night I simply decided that spending the money for those piece on the rear (still getting the fronts from him and one of the big three for the uppers) was just not worth the littl ebit of extra stiffness.

I'm serious - some of those bushings (like the one by the weisach pin) are pretty much impossible to get out.

GlenL

I had all of the bushings, except for the front "T" thing, replaced on my car this spring. The real difficult one was the inner bushing on the lower A-arm. The official Porsche part doesn't look like it will work and it barely does. Since I had to cut the bolt there to get the arm out, and messed up the bushing, I had to go for it. Or actually had the machine shop go for it. There's a Porsche/VW tool to help with the pressing, but didn't have that. The new bushings are not evenly pushed in but extend out enough to work.

At least I know the rear is in good shape and I won't be tempted into doing that again.

dr nick: I've seen the front in poly, but what did you get for the rears? How'd it go?

BC

MORE INFO! MORE INFO!

Thanks Glen. So you had a shop do it....

I'm thinking the easiest way is to simply have those things hacked out, without damaging the arm itself.

PatrickB

I am in the process of changing out my rear bushings as well. I've removed all the bushings so far (the hard part). Just need to install the new ones.

To get them out you will ideally need a press - it takes a heck of a lot of force to remove the old ones. I used my 20-ton H-frame press to remove most of them, along with makeshift tools that I've "manufactured" to hold the control arms along with the standard press plates. You can get a press for under $200 at Harbor Freight. Also, a bearing splitter makes a great holding tool for the weissach mounts (at the front of lower control arm)

I did take a couple out with an air hammer (because it was easier than making yet another tool to hold the arm), but you have to be very careful about not ruining the control arm in the process - you'd be amazed how fast they come out using this method. Also, burning them out is another option, but it takes a long time and is quite smelly - get them started with a propane torch or similar and wait, and wait, and wait.... However, I wouldn't suggest using this method on the upper arms since the heat could possibly get high enough to melt the aluminum.

Patrick

drnick

three methods were suggested to me; a press, hacksaw and fire, i found a shop to do this. they had a lot of difficulty espscialy with the bush near the weisach pin, the front lower bushings are apparently quite difficult to fit also, REALLY tight! nice end result though.

brendan, if your car has done only 75k then you may not need to replace the rear bushes. i found that replacing the fronts made a huge difference in my car with 160k on the clock. ive only just had the rear done now nearly three months after the front and there isnt much difference as a result.

BC

This was part of my throught process GlenL.

I think I could use the 300+ dollars for the rear somewhere else.

I'm still up in the air on this.

Drnick could you expand on the "isn't much difference" for the rear?

Solidifying the rear bushings would probably give some more directional stability to the rear end, though I am unsure how much.

GlenL

Well, that's not my handle, but I'll go anyways...

In the end, I believe this was one of the bigger wastes of $$$ and effort that I've engaged it. (Although I got most of the bushings cheap on my favortie auction site.) With an older, high mile car, it's nice to know that the bushings are good and the adjusters turn correctly. Also lubed the connections a bit. BUT, for the work involved, the real performance increase was not noticable.

drnick

glen,

i have only just had the rear bushes replaced and today had the car aligned - long story as to why its taken over four months to have the car completely rebushed and dont even ask about todays alignement... steering wheel is crooked and front fender mashed..

thought i would supply some feedback though, the shop couldnt reduce the negative camber on the rear beyond a certain point, i cant remember how much that is exactly as i was still shocked to see the big dent in my car!

this was only ever going to be a temporary alignement as i have a lot of driving to do this weekend and couldnt wait to have it seen to someplace i know will do the business. my guess is that the new bushings have changed the range of the camber ajustment, but i will reserve final judgement untill i have my expert mechanic look at it, probably in a few more months. racebred autos has a pic of the rear bushes on its website. as for the front fender...

BC

How did these bushings work out for you Nick? Any new info?

BTW - anyone have any pointers on getting the front uppers off?

rob rossitto

fire, fire, fire - fire is cool...your shop must have used a wall for an alignment tool...curbs are best, but sometimes if you can hit the wall at the right angle, you can eventally get the wheel up on the wall too....

what kind of shop was this??? yikkes... grime on the steering wheel is bad enough, but what you got was just plain nasty....