bobesser

All,

This will be in several installments as I find time to edit pictures and post, so, bear with me.

The tools:


wrenches are 21mm, 19, 18, 16, 13, and 10. Sockets are 19, 16, and 13. You will need a T-40 star tool (like an allen with a star) and you will need a 5mm allen key.

Preparation:

1) Mark the alignment disk so you can get it back there when you are done:


2) loosen the heater pipe by removing the middle screw:




3) Loosen the sway-bar from the body mounts. (see alignment disk pic)

bobesser

Disassembly is fairly straightforward. You will need to use the star bit to hold the end of the ball joints in place while you use a box end wrench to loosen the nuts.

You will have to remove the control arm before you remove the A-arm.

For the alignment bolt on the control arm on the drivers side, you will have to raise the engine a little bit to get enough clearance to get the bolt out. It will take a lot of patience and quite a bit of bolt wiggling to get it out, but, it can be done.

For the forward bolt on the A-arm, you will need to push the heater tube out of the way while you pull the bolt out.

Other than that, it is pretty straightforward, just unbolt all the bolts and nuts.

[sorry no pictures]

Bob

993Porsche

Just trying to understand, why are you replacing the rear lower control arm? Was it bent/required new bushings? Did you replace both sides?


Ken

bobesser

I was replacing the bushings with Elephant Racing 'Sport' bushings. I did both sides and I will do the upper control arms soon.



Elephant bushing on the left. The sport bushings are a lot heavier than factory.

AOW162435

Were you able to press these in/out fairly easy?


Andreas

bobesser

They had everything I needed at the Ft. Meade Auto Skills Center. Very straight forward job.

Bob

Garth S

Bob,
Is replacing the forward 'A' arm "bushing" also part of the upgrade? ( I hesitate to call it a bushing, as it appears more like a pivot point for the load induced corrective rear steering effect).

bobesser

Hey Garth!

I am not replacing the forward pivot point (it feels and acts like a ball joint). By the way, I have your A-arms here next to my desk. They will ship out soon.

Bob

Bill Verburg

Good to know that Elephant has these for the back

I replaced my front A arm bushes w/ Elephant sport rubber bushes, They work great and complement the RS rears that I installed, the Elephant rears are, hopefully, a cheaper alternative to replacing the rears arms w/ the very expensive RS pieces

bobesser

Yes Bill,

The Elephant bushes are like $30 each - 8 total needed. I got all bushings - front and rear delivered for about $640.

Then it was about 5 hours for the lower control arms (learning how to and such). I will tackle the upper arms tomorrow hopefully.

Your rear suspension using RS parts inspired me, but, I couldn't justify $2k for the job. The down side is that I don't have new ball joints all around.

Bob

Bill Verburg

That's a deal!!! It cost me over $2k for all the RS arms. I suggested this to them a while ago but got the impression that it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Glad to see that they are available now. Too late for me, but everyone else can take advantage

I'd also highly recommend solid subframe mounts on lowered cars, that also makes a huge difference. It's a great complent to the RS upright pacjage in front and does the same good things to the rear roll center that the uprights do for the front

bobesser

So, back on task:

You have removed your rear lower control arms and done what ever you had planned.

On reassembly, I learned essentially three things:

1) You MUST install and tighten down the A-arm first. The other control arm interferes with tightening down one bolt

2) When installing the A-arm, start with the articulated joint on the leg. The easiest thing to do is to wiggle the arm so that the articulated joint is past the actual mounting holes as shown here:


Then move it to its correct location
(shown half way)


3) Once you have that part of the A-arm, put the ball joint in place. This will make it hard to put the bushing leg into place. Below you see it comes in at a bit of an angle:


Use a phillips head screw driver to get it part way:


The rest of assembly is [in fact] the reverse of removal. Make sure you line up your white out marks. The more marks you made at the beginning will result in a more accurate reassembly. Some will demand that you go in for an alignment and some will say that if you did it right and kept to your marks, it should be okay.

Bob

Paul902

Dug up this old thread searching for info on replacing the rear control arm bushings. I'm considering going to Elephant Racing sport hardness rear bushings (to go with the RS motor mounts on order).

Q1: How hard is it to get the OE bushings out. Is a shop press required, or would a 6" vise do the trick?

Q2: is it possible to heat the control arms and drop in the Elephant Racing bushing, similar to what I've done for wheel bearings, etc, or does the alloy of the control arm prohibit this. The alternative is to have them pressed in and I don't think I can do that at home.

thanks!

bobesser

I had access to a full shop, so, not 100% sure. You could probably do it with a vice IF you are very clever. Here is the problem:

The construction of the bushing is a metal sleeve on the outside, rubber in the middle and a metal 'axle' in the center. The 'axle' is longer than the sleeve, so, you can't just put a flat press against the bushing and press it into the control arm - this would put a lot of deflection in the rubber. If you have a metal donut of some sort to press against, it will work. Also, you will need the same arrangement on the other side to accomodate the 'axle'.

I have no advice regarding heating.

Basically, you will either have to press them in using a press, or figure out a way to mimic the function of a press at home. I expect a shop could press them in for you pretty quickly and cheaply.

Bob

Paul902

Wow, that was fast! thanks for the tips, Bob.