ricks993

1995 993
Planning to tighten up my 18 year old suspension, I already have done the tie rods and looking at the remaining problem areas.
1st on the list is the control arm bushings there are two options that elephant racing offers. Front and rear control arm bushings are available in rubber and Monoball bushings. Can anyone recommend one over the other? Does the Monoball transmit more noise / vibration?

2nd is Rear track arm bushings; Are these important to replace? How difficult are these bushing to replace

3rd are the Rear side panel bushings; Are these important to replace, (available in sport and stock hardness) anyone recommend one over the other

Resident Sicko

I would stick to the front lower control arm bushings and thicker sway bars assuming your shocks (dampers) are in good condition.
Take one step at a time to find the right "feel". I did everything at one time and admit the suspension is tight..too tight for rough roads, but great on smooth and curvy. May be too much for some as I often lift a wheel when pulling out of a parking lot.

gonzilla

That's when you know it's starting to get good!

Bill Verburg

If you haven't updated the shocks yet, that is where I would start, everything else will evolve from there

all the stock rubber bushes contribute to sloppiness in the suspension, they all need to be replaced, but what you replace them w/ depends on the way you use the car and local roads

for street use and even for fairly serious track use along w/ the street use
I'd highly recommend that all the bushes be replaced w/ Elephant sport hardness bushes, if you need new ball joints at the ends of the arm you could also use RS arms which come w/ the same bushes and will also have new ball joints at the other end of the arms.

the rear side mount bushes can be replaced w/ solid or sport hardness rubber, which to use will depend on the setup and use of the car, for a really low track oriented car go w/ flat solid side mounts, they are fine for street use. For a stock ride height car use the sport rubber ones.

monoballs can be used at the shock tops w/o too much issue but on the horizontal arms I'd only use them for a dedicated track car, the exception being the rear toe arms which should have monoball ends and locks if the car is tracked more than occasionally.

Martin S.

Here is what you need:
Rear:
-PSS10, or some other coil over kit with stiffer springs, maybe 750 - 800
-Top hats for the rear shocks
-ERP camber, toe and kinematic toe links
-Solid Rear Sub-frame kit with "tilt"
-Rear ball joints
-993 RS 20mm sway bars,
-Tarrett Engineering drop links

Front:
-PSS10, or some other coil over kit with stiffer springs, maybe 550 - 600
-ERP Camber Plates
-Strut tower connector
-GT2 uprights
-GT2 toe liks
-New ball joints...should come with GT2 up rights
-Front A-arm monoball Bearing insert kit
-Walrod bushings
-993RS front sway bar, 23mm
-Tarrett Engineering Drop Links
-New rear wheel bearings

This little adventure is probably close to $10,000, + labor. Your 18 year old suspension should work well..very well.

Bill Verburg

Hmm, if PSSx are sold w/ the correct valving for the springs that come w/ the kit how can that valving be correct for springs 2 - 3xs as strong, while on the subject of valving which of the many available adjustments is correct

ERP links sure look nice and are multi-adjustable but they do have monoballs that are not particularly street friendly and by the way who's going to do the adjusting? Better be someone that really knows what they are doing

so why the tilt kit? The flat kit does not alter the caster the way a tilt does, do you really want that? I can understand on the 600hp GT2 why that might be a choice but on a street/de car?

Tarrett drop links, fine, but they have 2 styles straight and angled, which depend on the ride height and sway bar chosen

GT2 used RS wheel carriers(aka uprights) the GT2 also used the flat style RS outer toelink but w/ a long mono-ball inner link, you don't want the long inner link on a n/b car, they do sell the RS style flat outer w/ correct mono-ball inner, that is what you need if you have the RS wheel carriers which you only need if you lower the car to RS height or lower.


front ball joints are separate purchases from the wheel carriers, in back the ball joints are part of each horizontal arm assembly

ricks993

The po replaced stock shocks with Bilsteins, I was told the springs were replaced but I am not sure, they look stock, car also has a shock tower support. Everything else is stock. The car will not be tracked but I would still like it to be at a level better than when the car was new.
So I was planning on replacing all bushings as I listed, maybe the springs and top shock mounts.

Bill Verburg

Then just replace all the horizontal arm bushes w/ Elephant Sport, forget about the rear side bushes, forget the shock mounts and springs too, forget any of the RS/Tarret stuff you don't need it

Martin S.

Well said...I was hoping that Bill would straighten out my post...he actually knows of what he speaks, me? I am a bit of a hack, but my 993 works well. I am lucky to have several suspension set up guys nearby, that set up race and street cars.

My 993:
PSS 9s, soon to go to bigger springs with a re-valve,
Walrod front bushings
Tarrett drop links front and rear
ERP camber plates front, hats rear
Strut tower connector
993RS sways front and rear, 23mm front, 22mm rear
ERP toe, and camber links, soon to add ERP kinematic toe link.
993 RS tranny mount, 993 RS engine mounts

Ironically, my car performed damn well with the following:
MO30 RoW Struts and shocks
M030 RoW springs
M030 Sway bars and drop links, added 21mm turbo rear bar drilled with an extra adjustment hole
Front strut tower connector

Martin S.

Noiw this is a web site worth visiting: http://www.elephantracing.com

They have some incredible suspension parts for a 993, and other models too.

Great illustrations.

NP993

I would go in this order:

1. PSS10's
2. Solid rear subframe mounts
3. Sway bars

There's just no point in doing what are essentially track mods to a street car riding on mostly stock suspension.

IXLR8

But have you driven a 993 when it was new or are you thinking what you have now is how the car handled when new? You might just have worn suspension components that need replacing with same.

My 993 feels tight with all OEM components, but it is a car with lower miles than most. How many miles are on your 993?

Oh and by the way, the Elephant Racing bushings (stock and sport hardness) are made by the same company that make them for Porsche...so a reliable source told me.

chaoscreature

You may already be way past this, but have you had a GOOD shop perform an alignment based on your specific driving style? You might want to start there and ask the tech to check your bushings before ordering a ton of expensive parts. A good alignment can make a world of difference.

ricks993

Yes, after inspection I have the recommendations from a great Porsche specialist. I am now looking for some other’s point of view If I am going to freshen up the suspension then I might as well do some other things.
1) For my non track use car, should I replace the springs then I might as well replace the shock mounts with monoball mounts
2) On rear suspension do I replace the side panel bushings

Cupcar

I have a question. Does it bother anyone that the Elephant bushings are same design for the track and kinematic link as normal, but incorrect in design for the toe and camber link?

The suspension is designed to have elasotomer controlled motion in the Track and Kinematic links to achieve what Porsche calls a "Kinematic Effect" that steers the rear of the car away from oversteer.

For the Carrera RS, Porsche uses a harder durometer elastomer to limit the Kinematic Effect and make the car handle more like a swing axle 911- more oversteer.

Note below the Toe and Camber links have a thinner band of rubber around the central mandrel than the Kinematic and Track links do. This allows a greater potential motion in the track and kinematic links for the Kinematic Effect, could this be a problem installing these thicker rubber bushes in the toe and camber locations?

The RS bushings are much harder and denser than normal C2, we know that, but we don't know if the toe and camber links are perhaps the same hard rubber with a thinner rubber annulus, or if the thinner rubber annulus trumps the additional hardness in limiting motion.

Maybe RS hard bushes are just a good idea held up against old bushes in all locations, but I would like to see Elephant source correct bushes for both locations, not just the Kinematic and Track link.

RS Replacement-----------------Stock Kinematic and Track---------------Toe and Camber