front a arm bushings, update: URO bushings installed thanks PMB Options

[silver74insocal]

ive searched and cant find any feed back on these (other then 2 less then favorable reviews on the bird site)

the price is right but is it worth the hassle? mine are pretty mushroomed so i think anything is better then what ive got...but i am on a budget (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
any feed back on these would be great (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) Dave

[r_towle]

I went from stock old worn out bushings to two sets of plastic bushings...plastic just sucks. I went through two sets.
Yes they were not the special compound...
All that means is they will last longer.
They still squeak.
I did honing and zerk fittings...they still sucked.
I ended up going all the way to the linear bearings. Frustrated.
I love the bearing BTW...awesome setup.
Those are sweet, expensive and you feel the bugs you run over at night...

If I had to do it again (and I dont on this car) I would go for the new rubber ones....you need some give in the suspension or you end up re-tightening ever single nut and bolt on your car several times per year...
I do, and that is ok because I drive it to and from the events....and I am the 80/20 rule leaning more towards competitive events.

Rubber has give...nothing else on the market today has any give.
I tuned my sons suspension with really stiff struts, springs, shocks and sway bars...but with the rubber bushings.
I loved how his car felt versus the bearings I have.
I do like my car in competition better than his, but I could easily learn to drive the rubber bushing car to its peak....

My next car will have rubber...no need to change a decent design.
You can get really stiff springs and struts...and learn how to deal with the rubber.
When I did it, we had plastic or bearings...nothing in between, and no rubber was available.
I most likely would have chosen the bronze setup from elephant if it was available versus plastic or bearings.

I think the bearings are top of the line competition only setup.
Bronze is second to that....again competition setup.
Plastic is third for competition and plan to replace them every year or two...and that is ok considering they are cheap.

For street, rubber is king, or leave the ones you ahve on there and drive it...they are not always so bad that you really need to replace them...at least until you know why you are doing it...or you can feel the difference in competition.
Mine were falling apart due to fatigue.

Rich

[dion9146]

My next car will have rubber...no need to change a decent design.
You can get really stiff springs and struts...and learn how to deal with the rubber.
When I did it, we had plastic or bearings...nothing in between, and no rubber was available.

For street, rubber is king, or leave the ones you ahve on there and drive it...they are not always so bad that you really need to replace them...at least until you know why you are doing it...or you can feel the difference in competition.
Mine were falling apart due to fatigue.

Rich

Great post Rich. I know every square inch of a 914, and have done just about everything you could imagine on these cars....except.....the bushings. This has been on my bucket list for a couple of years now. As far as I know, the bushings on my car were installed in Germany, and I'd like to replace them with rubber for all of the reasons you suggested. However, is there a method for determining just how bad the bushings might be with removing the suspension?

I can't complain at all regarding my car's handling, but I've also gotten used to it over the past 5 years, so I may not know what I'm missing if you know what I mean.

Dion