Consensus on Welt Torsion Bushing
03-19-2006, 04:28 AM
#1
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Consensus on Welt Torsion Bushing
I'm swapping torsion bars soon and I'm doing my research on bushing to do while I'm in there. I've read some negative, and some positiove about the Weltmeister Torsion Tube mount and spring plate bushings. So, how do you guys like em. I don't want to buy the delrin since thier kinda spendy compared to the welts.
Any other bushings or ANYTHING to replace while I'm doing this job?
Eyal
Any other bushings or ANYTHING to replace while I'm doing this job?
Eyal
03-19-2006, 02:49 PM
#3
Hey Eyal,
I am in the process of doing the swap now. I felt that the Welt bushings were not up to par with the RE delrin, based on first hand experiences from users of both. The Welts may be fine for street, but for track duty, I chose the RE delrin. Another alternative is the ER polybronze, but if you think the RE delrin are expensive, the ER are ~~70% higher cost.
Proponents of the ER bushings cite friction coefficient of delrin bushings as their deciding factor. Seems to me that if the delrin bushings are fit correctly, friction becomes a non-issue. I am working on the fit right now, it is tedious, but not difficult. Admittedly, the ER polybronze bushings do seem like a top quality alternative.
I have not heard anyone singing praises about the Welt bushings for track use, so I decided to stay away from them. This is a time consuming process, and I would rather pay the extra $120 now than have to do this process all over again anytime soon. For street use however, the Welts would probably be sufficient, not sure what your primary use is.
"While you're in there": replace any lock nuts. IIRC, the only lock nuts are on the trailing arm to torsion tube mount, and on the spring plate cover to chassis mount.
A helpful hint: I had trouble prying the spring plate bushings out of their mount to the chassis. The torsion tube has brackets containing the parking brake cable assembly right in the middle of the tube, and these brackets were hitting an aluminum bracket used to strengthen the chassis above the torque tube. I removed the 4 bolts holding this bracket on, took the bracket out, and the torsion tube dropped much easier.
If you don't already have one, get a brake hone tool to clean up and prep the inside surfaces of the torsion tube and spring plate covers. I got mine at Advance Auto for $10, plus $4 for additional hones. You need the tool that spreads to at least 3". Cut the large stones off with a dremel, and put the small replacement stones on.
Oh, and brake cleaner cleans up the spring plates and spring plate covers very nicely! I just can't see putting anything back on dirty.
I am in the process of doing the swap now. I felt that the Welt bushings were not up to par with the RE delrin, based on first hand experiences from users of both. The Welts may be fine for street, but for track duty, I chose the RE delrin. Another alternative is the ER polybronze, but if you think the RE delrin are expensive, the ER are ~~70% higher cost.
Proponents of the ER bushings cite friction coefficient of delrin bushings as their deciding factor. Seems to me that if the delrin bushings are fit correctly, friction becomes a non-issue. I am working on the fit right now, it is tedious, but not difficult. Admittedly, the ER polybronze bushings do seem like a top quality alternative.
I have not heard anyone singing praises about the Welt bushings for track use, so I decided to stay away from them. This is a time consuming process, and I would rather pay the extra $120 now than have to do this process all over again anytime soon. For street use however, the Welts would probably be sufficient, not sure what your primary use is.
"While you're in there": replace any lock nuts. IIRC, the only lock nuts are on the trailing arm to torsion tube mount, and on the spring plate cover to chassis mount.
A helpful hint: I had trouble prying the spring plate bushings out of their mount to the chassis. The torsion tube has brackets containing the parking brake cable assembly right in the middle of the tube, and these brackets were hitting an aluminum bracket used to strengthen the chassis above the torque tube. I removed the 4 bolts holding this bracket on, took the bracket out, and the torsion tube dropped much easier.
If you don't already have one, get a brake hone tool to clean up and prep the inside surfaces of the torsion tube and spring plate covers. I got mine at Advance Auto for $10, plus $4 for additional hones. You need the tool that spreads to at least 3". Cut the large stones off with a dremel, and put the small replacement stones on.
Oh, and brake cleaner cleans up the spring plates and spring plate covers very nicely! I just can't see putting anything back on dirty.
03-19-2006, 06:12 PM
#4
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This is another alternative....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Race-...spagenameZWDVW
And the Kokeln being the nicest and pricest.....
http://kokeln.com/products/951_8689/...spension.shtml
I talked to Mike Lindsey at Lindsey Racing, he told me that the Kokeln is a really nice piece, but need alot of time and patience as you need to do a lot of grinding. Does any one else have experience with either of these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Race-...spagenameZWDVW
And the Kokeln being the nicest and pricest.....
http://kokeln.com/products/951_8689/...spension.shtml
I talked to Mike Lindsey at Lindsey Racing, he told me that the Kokeln is a really nice piece, but need alot of time and patience as you need to do a lot of grinding. Does any one else have experience with either of these?
03-19-2006, 06:17 PM
#5
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Yes, beautiful peices of suspension, but its a budget build. I won't be a good enough driver to take advantage of this stuff for a long time, and it would be nearly impossible for me to justify their prices.
03-19-2006, 06:59 PM
#7
I just bought the Racers Edge full rear kit from Paragon. I'm putting in new torsion bars and thought it would be good to replace the bushings while I was at it. I've also got new shocks, brakes, lines, rotors, front control arms (Blasazk Precision), front M030 struts and springs. I can't wait to see what the difference will be from how the car used to feel.
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03-19-2006, 07:07 PM
#8
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I'm pretty excited to find out how it all feels when I do it. I'm buying a full setup from a rennlister, and its pretty damn stiff for a car that won't be trailered.
03-19-2006, 10:31 PM
#10
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Well I'm picking up the setup in a couple weeks or so. Shocks are Koni yellows, revalved slightly stiffer, shortened 1". Springs are adj perches and 400 pd springs in front, 30mm torsion bars in rear. that will empty the suspension fund for a while, so stuff like sways etc (aside from these bushings) will have to remain stock until some good deal on a pair of welt sways comes up.
