Re-bushing front suspension

[milleplod]

Has anyone re-bushed their front suspension rather than buying complete new arms (or had it done for them)? Any problems getting the old bushes out?

Pete

[ericinboca]

I replaced the bushings and sperical bearings on all four corners of my 986S track car. I was installing solid stuff for track use, but the removal of the bushings would be the same regardless, of course.

Harbor Freight and other places have a tool for this. It looks like a big, heavy duty C clamp and comes with "cups" for the bushing to fall into. It works, but is a little awkward, and can be hard. I could get some bushings and bearings out this way, but got tired of it, and took the arms to a friend's house where he has a 20-ton shop press. With that thing and the "cups" with the kit, it was a cake walk to get the bushings out. I also used the 20 ton press to press in new stuff.

[seafeye]

I replaced the bushings and sperical bearings on all four corners of my 986S track car. I was installing solid stuff for track use, but the removal of the bushings would be the same regardless, of course.

Harbor Freight and other places have a tool for this. It looks like a big, heavy duty C clamp and comes with "cups" for the bushing to fall into. It works, but is a little awkward, and can be hard. I could get some bushings and bearings out this way, but got tired of it, and took the arms to a friend's house where he has a 20-ton shop press. With that thing and the "cups" with the kit, it was a cake walk to get the bushings out. I also used the 20 ton press to press in new stuff.

you might want to try:

Let me know if you find a US supplier...

http://www.porscheshop.co.uk/acatalog/pors...n_upgrades.html

[geoff]

Did you use the replacement bushings from Elephant Racing, or something else?

[ericinboca]

Geoff, are you asking me what I used for solid stuff, or what Pete is going to use? If me, I rebushed with Racers Edge solid bushings and bearings (and solid mounts for the coilovers). You probably know, but this is not something you are likely to want to do to a street car. But for a track car, I HIGHLY recommend it.

[geoff]

Geoff, are you asking me what I used for solid stuff, or what Pete is going to use? If me, I rebushed with Racers Edge solid bushings and bearings (and solid mounts for the coilovers). You probably know, but this is not something you are likely to want to do to a street car. But for a track car, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Thanks Eric. I was originally asking Pete, but curious what anyone else used and how they liked it, since it seems to be only recently that replacement bushings have been available for the 986/996. My car is just a street car, but it's near 60K miles, so besides a very expensive service in the near future, I expect lots of little wear items to really start hitting in the next few years. From what I've read here and elsewhere, some replacements are better than others, and now some experts are alluding to serious problems with some fixes that have been widely discussed over the last couple of years, like fixing Boxster front motor mounts with urethane.

I read stuff here that sounds great, but then when I talk to the people who install and service it, like suspension parts, I get different stories. There was some discussion here about urethane sway bar bushings several months back. When I had my car aligned last month and asked about it (Steve Alarcon races Porsches and does a lot of high end suspension work), he said they are great for a track car but not what I want for a street car. So it's good to know about the solid bushings, more to understand they're not for my application

[milleplod]

I was going to use these - Powerflex

A friend has a workshop with a press, so that'll be the way to go I think.

Pete

[ericinboca]

I was going to use these - Powerflex

A friend has a workshop with a press, so that'll be the way to go I think.

Pete

That's the way to go - the press is awesome.

If the rubber in your current bushings is really old, tired and weak, when you press them out, they may tear off the outer metal sleeve, leaving it in the arm. Just take a flat head screwdriver and get it behind the sleeve and pry part of the sleeve inward. Then you can keep bending a little more and work your way down and created enough room enough room to change it's shape to come out or to cut it. If you scratch up the inner wall of the arm a little - no big deal, but do use some sandpaper, emory cloth, file, something to smooth down any rough edges. I only had this problem on one bushing. Others came out whole.

[ericinboca]

I was going to use these - Powerflex

A friend has a workshop with a press, so that'll be the way to go I think.

Pete

Got another tip for you - I forgot about this.

Freeze your new bushings for 48 - 72 hours. They will shrink. I was surprised by how much my solid bushings contracted.

[milleplod]

Thanks for the tips! :)

After that, its tyres X 4 and a full realignment.

Pete

[mattatk]

What is the handling like with the new bushings?