I need to replace the rear wheel bearings, so "while I am in there" I will also tackle the bushings.

Rubber looks to be the OEM choice but is hard to find with the exception of the elephant racing kit that includes the shafts and install tools. $300+ I used the Elephant bushings on the front.

I found poly-graphite to be the least expensive < $20 for a set of 4 bushings only

With Delrin as the middle of the road choice. @ $50 for a set of 4 bushings only

So what is the +/- of each material? Can you throw a few vendors out there?

My car is a daily driver?

Clark

I just put poly bushings on - PITA! They aren't made for the 914, they are just kind of the right size. I spent way too much time honing and fitting.

Worst of all, they are noisy, even with the right grease. I mean, the car hasn't gone 10 feet under it's own power and the squeaking is amazing.

So I'm saving for Elepahant or Rebel Racing bushings - I won't drive the car with that kind of racket going on.

NO POLLY!!!!

Rubber, or Elephant racing.

I love rebel racing's front bushing setup but i am not convinced their rears even exist at this point. I have never seen photographic evidence or heard of anyone who has them. Have tried for a while to get more info from them with no luck. If they do exist though, I would 100% say rebel racing as their front bushings are awesome!

Im in the same boat. My retired race car has hardened bushings that squeak like no other!

I too echo Rubber for a street driver

http://www.paragon-products.com/Porsche-91...nsion-s/198.htm

http://www.pmbperformance.com/914suspension.html

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/r...berbushings.htm

Mine are so GD loud I thought that I had missed a major rust area and that my car was breaking in half. They'll probably be coming out.

+2 on Rubber for Street.

Mine are quite.

I installed 4 zerk fittings.

I have a set of their fronts and just ordered a set of their rears today. I've been trying to reach them to get the rears for months but lucked out today. Clint said they had 3 sets available and I was the second guy to buy a set today. So, unless anyone else called after me they should have 2 sets left available. You can reach Clint at (805)440-9849.

Here's the link to the Rebelracingproducts.com page that shows their rear bushing set for the 914.

http://www.rebelracingproducts.com/SuspSteerpage2.html

I guess i'll call. Need to ask if $199 does a car or a side. They spell it out on the part above for another car, but it is not clear for the 914.

I think what Tangerine does is the best. They use a Delrin bushing that is fit to a new shaft and they make sure it turns free. Then, you can ship the end play. IMHO, it's the only way to go.

No answer yet, you cali boys don't start working too early, do ya? I'll leave a message on the 3rd try.

My method on this project is to rebuild some spare trailing arms purchased from a 74 in the JY. $15 each. Then take an afternoon and install them on my '75. That way I can drive with the loud bearing a bit longer.

Bearings and bushings are now out of the spare arms. One arm had nice looking bushings and one of our experts (on another board) suggested that I not mess with the bushings if they "looked" OK. "you can't find the rubber ones, and it is one tough job" were a few other reasons. The picture below is the pivot shaft out of the arm with "good looking" bushings. And seems to be a good reason to replace 39 year old good looking parts.

Water got under the bushing and has rusted the pivot shaft. Looks like money well spent will be to change the bushings and the arms, ya think? Turns out both of the donor arms have this problem, I bet my '75 does too. IIRC the bushings looked good on it.

Clark

Click to view attachment

for some coments

All I add is thank you for bringing this up. about Ploy bushings,, thank you for not letting me make that mistake..

That is for both sides!

When you grease the rubber bushings doesn't that destroy the rubber over time? And maybe not that long of a time?

I looked at that page on the Rebel Racing website and it looks like they are showing just the pivot shafts without the bushings. Or am I missing something?
Mike

Yeah, the site shows a drawing but I have never seen an actual picture, and every time i have called or emailed they are always "waiting for more" and they apparently never email me back when they actually get them.

If they do deliver please post pictures and feedback. If they are anything like the front setup then i just keep waiting until i can get my hands on a set.

I should have mine on Monday or Tuesday. I'll post pictures once they're n my hands!

I'll look forward to seeing them....

Yes, I did get in touch Friday morning on the secondary phone #. He said they were out and they would be re-stocked shortly. He took my name and number. I asked what "shortly" meant and he said maybe 2 weeks.

And yes on the SET. $199 for both rear pivot arms with 2 bushing each. I did get that confirmation. I'll give them two weeks then I have to get moving, so I'll do something else.

love the hair
Clark

But these are poly bushings right? Not rubber. Will they creak and groan and squeek like everyone is saying poly bushings will do? I'd love to hear from someone that actually has these on their car.
Mike

I am with you on that: pictures vs. a cartoon and a few testimonials (Do they squeak?)!
Pulled from the website:

Rebel S Racing (RSR) Products 914 Rear Bushing Set
Fits: 914 rear trailing arms

With the overwhelming success and popularity of our 911 series bushings, we designed this 914 rear trailing arm bushing
set.

*Super low coefficients of dynamic friction.
*Utilizes modern technology, Thermoplastic PTFE (Teflon) impregnated self lubricating polymer bushing liners.
*Replaces factory rubber bushings.
*Precision shim pack is included for ease of installation and optimal alignment.
*Installation instructions included.
*Provides absolute minimal deflection of rear trailing arm pivot points.
*Holds rear toe settings in place under load
*Guaranteed to last as long as you own your car!
*Proprietary Rebel S Racing (RSR Products) design

Click to view attachment


added my thoughts:

Click to view attachment

I'm pretty sure they have the wrong image there....

These bushings fit around the trailing arm shaft and go inside the control arm like the original rubber bushings do. The material is a composite Teflon impregnated material. I have a front set which is made of the same material. They are silent and never require any lubrication so no need for zirc fittings etc... The fronts fit over a stainless sleeve that is attached the control arm ends and the composite sleeve rides on those stainless sleeves. The stainless sleeves look very similar to what Elephant racing uses. The difference is there is no urethane material riding on the sleeve that requires lubrication. These are two solid pieces that fit precisely over each other. These should last the life of the car once installed.

I think with elephant, it is not the urethane that needs lubrication, it is the surface between the steel bushing and the bronze bushing. the urethane should hold firm to the trailing arm.

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/b...914bushings.htm

With respect to the rear trailing arm bushings, if you had a choice between the Rebel Racing bushings, or the Elephant rubber bushings, which would you choose?
Street car only.

Bump for comments??

Both are good high quality solutions. For me, the Rebel Racing edges out a win because they have no need for lubrication or any maintenance. As for performance I'd say both are great and should last a long time!

Elephant racing rubber bushings worked great for me no lube or maintenance because they are rubber. I think if you ask you can just buy the bushings and not the special tool to press them in. You can PM me.

UPDATE: I conversed with Jonathon and Clint at Rebel Racing and ended up buying their rear Trailing Arm bushing set up. I am in TN and they are in CA, so if they shipped them Friday, I might have them Thursday.

I liked the comments on here,
* folks preferred the rebel product,
* their price for a complete set was about $100 cheaper than some Elephant sellers
* and the BIG one... Jonathon told me that they do not squeak. He claims to have them on front and back of a 911.

Clark

I am interested in seeing these bushing and looking forward to an update. I have been draggin my feet with a set of poly bushings that have been sitting on my work bench for months. Now I might need to rethink, because it I go to the trouble to hone and install and end up with a squeek I'll be pissed! Please update once you get the rebel bushings.

squeaking sucks, that's all I hear on my video camera during AX runs....I can't even hear the motor over the squeeks...I am going to install needle bearings.

So odd.
I did poly's on my rears with zerks and they're quiet as a ghost

2nd UPDATE: I had hoped to have the order by now. Turns out it took them a week to put it in a box and ship it. Actually 8 days cause they didn't get it in the Thursday US mail. They SAID and their site mentions 1 day turn around. oh well.

I do have a tracking # and the box is moving and they did ship 2 day. So I guess I should have them on Monday.

It would be great if you would continue to keep us posted.
Thanks

We are all waiting to see these mythical parts……..

I just tracked them once again and it does not say OUT FOR DELIVERY like UPS does. But it does say that the item left the NASHVILLE PO at 3 am this morning. So I figure it will be in the route driver's truck and might be at my house now.

I sure hope my dog does not chase him away. I have a scared-ee cat mailman. 1 of them is fine, one of them even wears surgical gloves.

Fingers are crossed.

Clark


UPDATE: NOTHING arrived today. What good is the tracking system, I ask?

I finally got time to take some pictures of the Rebel Racing rear control arm bushings. There's a machined metal tube with the secret material inner bushings. The control arm shaft fits down the middle of the machined tube while gliding on the teflon inpregnated bushings.

So, these bushing are mythical no more! They exist! Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Pictures say a thousand words!!! Thanks.
Now to find out if they truly are quiet......

oooh shiny! Interesting one piece design rather than approaching it from either end. Thanks for the pic and thread!

I like the 1 piece design approach! It makes sense. These absolutely are silent and never require lubrication of any kind. I have a set of their front bushings. Smooth as silk and 100% noise/squeak free! These bushings are the shit!

Rebel Racing is a small outfit out of Morrow Bay, CA. The owner is not easy to reach but they recently moved into a new location that has room for machine equipment and everything is done in house. Clint has had some family health issues that have kept him less accessible as well. We all face these challenges at one time or the other. He's a great guy and really knows his stuff! Patience pays off here! The best way to contact them is be emailing them at: sales@rebelracingproducts.com.

USPS tracking tells me that mine are now OUT FOR DELIVERY. So I will see them later today and report. I am still fuzzy on the Lonewolf picture. Parts are missing in his picture, right?

Things did move slowly with these guys, and like some have said, they were out of stock for a short while. But I did use the website email feature and 3 guys have emailed me and given me cell phone numbers to call them on.

Clark

Yes, the threaded shafts that go through the RR metal tubes and within the bushings are missing. I didn't have those shafts handy for the photographs. You can see how these parts are all oriented on the rebelracingproducts.com website in the illustration.

Well my problem is that I guess I am too literal. I see a picture, or a drawing and I make a purchase and I expect to get what I see. I need the damn pivot arms. In posts above you can see that mine are rusted. Their website showed the product with the pivot arm assembled and never stated that IT was not included.

Am I crazy to expect the part to show up as pictured?

Or should I just use the rusted pivot arm?

Clark

I've been selling new pivot shafts for years.
I can't tell you if they'll fit the Rebel bushings (they fit my bushings), but my shafts are made to exacting standards, and are virtually the same diameter as the stock original shafts.

I'd replace them if they badly rusted. You can buy fancy new ones from Tangerine racing and here's the link:

http://tangerineracing.com/suspension.htm

I bought a used set from Eric at PMB Performace that were cleaned up and freshly placted. I would have put them in the picture but I bought them months ago and they're burried in a pile of of boxes of parts for my car. I have not pulled out the old ones yet so I'm not sure what condition mine are in. You can also check with Elephant Racing and see if they will sell just the shafts from their rear control arm bushing kits.

Here's a picture of the Elephant Racing shaft with their kit.
Click to view attachment

Call a local metal plater like (Google is your friend):

http://www.leonardplatingcompany.com/

Have them prep (remove the rust) and "clear" zinc plate yours. They'll probably be done tomorrow afternoon if you get them there in the morning.

Make sure you ask them to remove "all" of the rust before they replate them. Zinc will take over from there and protect them for another 40 years. They don't serve any other purpose than to support the Rebel sleeve (well, that and carry the entire load of the back of the car! ) so, I'd say that a minimal amount of pitting on the old bushing surface shouldn't affect the load rating at all. I'm "guessing" that Rebel wants you to JB that sleeve onto the shafts. Those old pits may serve some purpose in retaining some of the epoxy.

We do a lot of Elephant installs and we'd send our pitted shafts to McMark for his roller bearing installs. His design used a bearing race much like the Rebel product sleeve but, they machined the pitted ends down on the rods and glued their races on there. It made for a very precise fit. That's the piece (the precision fit) that all of these bearing/bushing systems have to overcome. They all do it in slightly different ways.

Hey thanks alot. My decision was between the elephant OEM rubber from you or to try something new.

I can see now that I did not get enough information to make the proper decision. With the instructions left out of the box and no answering the phone, plus no leaving a message on FULL mailboxes; I really can't say how they recommend installing. But JB weld? Just seems hokey to me. That is a tried and tru method?

Hey Eric! The Rebelracingproducts front bushings do require JB Weld for the front control arm bushing sleeves but the rears do not get glued in. I thought they would but Clint said not for the rears.