Installing Elephant Racing PolyBronze Bushings, have a question: Something doesn't look right... Options

[Steve]

wow. what's the story behind those? too cool.

k

Hey guys. the struts are a set of Bilsteins that Bret sent me. The spindles were raised and de-cambered (should that be cambered) to give more camber. An RSR coil over kit was installed and new inserts if I remember correctly. There is also a Rebel bump steer kit installed on the struts. Very nice set up with easy adjust-ability. Very similar to what i put on my 73 911. The A-arms were powder coated and had Elephant Poly Bronze bushings installed. Very cool stuff.

jonathan
hwgunner

Sorry for the hijack, but i heard a rumor that with this kit you have to strengthen the body at the top where the strut bolts up. Is this true or is this a straight bolt on with no mods?

[rhodyguy]

iirc the instructions warn you NOT to torque everything down until the whole process is complete to avoid the pinching issue. i missed the at first on one side and had to open it up slightly with a pry bar. with the conical washers you leave them slightly loose and shake the front end to settle things in. if the washers haven't rotated to where they need to be you can build in a bind. when installing the poly/bronze you need to visualize where you need the zerk fitting to be. clocked just enough for access but not pointing down to the point where they are in the direct line of fire.

[John]

I know it's an old thread, but the OP did present a question that was not answered.

The "self aligning" "Kit" is supposed to arrive with new housings for the A-Arm rear bushing carrier. These have shorter ears and allow concave/convex alignment washers to be installed both on the front mount as well as the rear mounts bolt onto the chassis.

[Maltese Falcon]

For those who are interested, this is what is going in the car...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) nice setup , wonder if some Ohlin's or JRZ's would slip in there too !

[Jeff Hail]

For those who are interested, this is what is going in the car...

Should have had GPR add the shear reinforcement. A lot of leverage gets placed on the long bolt for the bump steer kit. Seen a few bolts snapped over the years without the reinforcement. It can also oval the hole on the steering arm over time.

[bfrymire]

Hello Jeff,

under what conditions cause this problem? I do an occasional autocross, and pull around 1.2G. I do not do track days, and drive very conservative on the street.

Just curious. Hard to go back and add this, at this time.

-- brett

[Jeff Hail]

Hello Jeff,

under what conditions cause this problem? I do an occasional autocross, and pull around 1.2G. I do not do track days, and drive very conservative on the street.

Just curious. Hard to go back and add this, at this time.

-- brett

I've seen a bunch of failures on street cars. Seems pot holes take a toll. A few on race cars. The issue that has been raised is without the shear reinforcement you have a straight shank bolt in a tapered hole to begin with. The leverage on the bolt is limited by the clamping strength of the sandwiched spacers which in my mind is a failure waiting to happen. Bad ju ju.

If the bolt swings suddenly to one side and then stops abruptly sweet dreams.

Double check the hardware. They do make tapered studs/bolts where it goes into the steering arm. Make sure yours is tapered. If it is your somewhat ok but I still do not feel comfortable without the shear reinforcement arm added. Looks like you have the ones Clint sells which are tapered. Same is the AFCO style. Remember the harder the bolt the less it bends before it breaks.

[bfrymire]

Jeff,

You are correct, this is the one from Clint and it is tapered. And I completely understand the problem with putting a straight bolt in a tapered hole. I would have been on the phone right away, if I had seen that!

-- brett