simsy

Hi

I know a lot of questions and answers come up on these puppies but here's one I haven't found yet...

Has anyone ever done just Walrod bushings rather than at the same time as other suspension modifications?

If so, are you still convinced of the importance of the upgrade?

I ask because of a discussion with my garage.

My garage (I won't name names but they are definitely reputable) doesn't have experience with them but really questions doing them during an installation of PSS10s on a '98 993 Carrera 2S with 65 k miles.

They've suggested that raves about them come not realizing that other modifications done at the same time (for example PSS10s) are actually resulting in the big changes rather than Walrods.

He'll of course do them if I insist but he's so insistent they're a waste that I'm quite torn.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Simsy

NP993

I did them without any other mods. Cured the classic steering wheel wobble you get with worn stock bushings, which at this point probably most 993's have. This was a few years and at least 40K miles ago. Still working flawlessly. Can't understand, given how inexpensive they are, why your shop wouldn't want to include them as part of a suspension refresh.

AOW162435

+1


Andreas

Garth S

Lift car, and slide a pry bar between the LCR pivot bolt and its attachment to the subframe: with a little side force on the bar, one can check for undesired lateral ( inboard) movement ..... also, on the front bushing, the two oval slots will indicate any existing cracks when compressed as described above ...

That should sell one on a set of Chris' bushings ...

IXLR8

Simsy,

Anything new will make your present worn out components shine, no matter what the component is. Raving about the improvement puzzles me as in...well of course it drives better if your previous bushing were totally worn out and allowed front end wobble. No rocket science there. You can install Elephant Racing bushings in "stock" or "sport" hardness or any other brand and get that new car feeling again.

BTW, if your dealer wants bushings identical to OEM, the Elephant Racing ones are the ones to get.

e9stibi

+2 for two 993 I own. The wobble is cured.

FisterD

We have installed many sets of Walrod bushings without other suspension parts with great success. I just did them on my wife's cab as she told me her steering wheel was shaking. She is very happy now. My car will be next as I too am getting a bit of the shakes.
With the design of the Walrod bushing's grooves to hold the super-slick grease, we have not seen any problems. I think someone has posted over 30k miles and 3 years so far with no issues.
There are other bushings available, such as from Elephant Racing, but they are over twice the price.
Also, if you ever have to replace them again in the future, say another 10 years from now, the Walrod bushings will be much easier to remove.
The Walrod bushings just make good sense.

Falcondrivr

I did walrod bushings without any other changes, other than alignment (required.) the car feels more stable and much smoother in the corners...

Neil Perry

Hi
I fitted PSS10's to my car and it was great.
I also installed the Elephant Bushes (Sports Bushes) after that, allthough the original bushes where fine and did not need replacing, but I wanted the sports bushes, there was a difference in the steering, a more positive feel.
The car had 40,300 Klms on it when I replaced the bushes.

It is worth replacing them, then the issue Walrod vs Elephant.

Good Luck..................

shldrdoc993

I did the walrod bushings in conjunction with new RS motor mounts last spring. Huge improvement. Worth every penny. I had already done pss10 and M030 sways two years before. My car has only 25k

IXLR8

Neil, what did they look like from a physical quality point of view?

Did you install them? If so, how did they press in...easily?

As for the sport hardness, I take it only more road vibration makes it to the car.

These are often overlooked and I'm glad there is a supplier of OEM/stock style bushings. Maintenance-free just like the ones that came on the car originally.

FisterD

We sell them and even OEM too. The Walrod bushings have an excellent track record as well. Again, as far as we have seen, the Walrod bushings have not required any maintenance yet. Who's to say, maybe at 50k they will need a shot of grease. I'll let you know when I get there.

Neil Perry

Hi Alex,
What did they look like?
You are asking what the new Elephant Bushes look like, look like the standard bushes.

Yes, I did install them myself. It was very easy to press them in, I used a mates press.
Although I beleive you could use a large bench vise.
But the install was very easy.

There is no noticable extra vibration in the steering wheel just a more positive feel, more accurate. Slightly harder feel but confident.
I would not use bushes that need grease, as the grease is going to squeeze out, it will squeeze out, plastic/poly bushes use a friction method of operation and the grease stops the noise for a while. Where the rubber bushes are bonded to the metal bushes and there can be no noise squeek created.
This is just my thoughts, many will disagree, ask another engineer....

IXLR8

That was the first question I asked when I was gathering general information on control arm bushings for a future install; what slides against what.

Another positive report, thanks!

MarkD

No one has ever reported noise with Chris' bushings
that day may come, but after many years, it hasn't yet.

at the risk of being redundant, the design of the bushing combined with the type of grease provided is apparently working extremely well. Many have reported thousands of miles and years without trouble.
Highest being > 30k miles over many years

if one desires OE or OE style replacements:
- control arm assembly is available $$$
- Elephant bushings $$

we (FDM) sell all of the above but Walrod bushings are by far the most popular
why? hard to beat the price and performance

it's great that we have so many choices for a range of 911s (964/993) spanning less than 10 years!