Best Bushings for my Application?, Oh noes! the choices! Options

[Brando]

Now, I use my car as a daily deutschebag and weekend autocrosser. Right now my front and rear end feel kind of soft and squishy. My car still has the OE bushings (cheap rubber) from 1975. I've felt the ride of a 911 SC with Weltmeister bushings and it wasn't bad, and also a 911 SC with the poly-bronze bushings from Elephant Foot Racing and that was just like riding in a new 993. BUT I've yet to feel how the ride in a car with Mueller bearings or Neoprene bushings are. Cost wise the Weltmeister bushings or Mueller Bearings seem best, but I'm more concerned with the ride of the car.

For those using different flavors of bushings, what do you reccommend?

[anthony]

We don't have a lot of posts on this board about replacing bushings. Go do a search on the Pelican 911 board and read about the woes people have encountered with aftermarket poly bushings.

Here's two for starters:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....threadid=219840

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....threadid=186891


Here's the rundown of your list (IMO of course):

stock bushings - not really available. They are vulcanized on to the control arm. As far as I know the only way to get stock rubber bushings is to buy new control arms (not sure if 914 ones are even available) or send your control arms to Smart Racing (for $400 they will vulcanize new rubber on to your control arms).


Here is a good link on how rubber works and how poly bushings work:

http://www.elephantracing.com/techtopic/po...anefriction.htm


poly graphite - here's the rub with poly graphite: they will bind because of imprecise fit unless properly installed. There is a variation in the diameter of the control arms and the poly bushings are not an exact fit. The "correct" way to fit them is to lathe them so that they fit your control arms. In short order the grease will squeeze out and they will squeek. IMO, they are a horrible solution. I'd rather stick with 30 year old stock bushings.


Elephant racing / Mueller Bearings - I won't debate the pros and cons of these two sytems because in essence they function in a similar fashion. They both install a bearing surface on to the imprecisely sized control arm and then ride a bearing on top of that. IMO, these are the two best solutions out there. If you are a cheapskate, you might be able to make poly bushings work for you with a lot of work. IMO, the risk of them not working is too great. For the $240 price of the Elephant bushings I'd rather not risk the squeeks, the binding, tearing your control arm mount, or the price of additional alignments if you have to R&R poly bushings.


BTW, I've never heard of neoprene bushings. Do you have a link?