Trailing arm bushings, Install procedure for 914 Rubber bushings Options

[Morph914]

I purchased these along with my a arm bushings. I am about to install the a arm bushings and have a clear understanding of how to install those, but not the trailing arm bushings. I have watched a video on the trailing arm bushings install, but the type of bushing he was using is unknown unless I missed something. Do 914 Rubber trailing arm bushings get installed with grease? Are these rubber or teflon?

Thanks for any input,
John

[mepstein]

Boiling water only gets to 212 no matter how long you boil it so theres a point that it's technique and not just heat. Cuddy_K has a good video.

The guys at our shop use a rattle gun to zip it in. Less time losing heat than using a wrench.

[bbrock]

Boiling water only gets to 212 no matter how long you boil it so theres a point that it's technique and not just heat. Cuddy_K has a good video.

The guys at our shop use a rattle gun to zip it in. Less time losing heat than using a wrench.

Well, not quite. If you live where I live, it will boil at 200F, which is why I boil it a little longer just to make sure it is at a full boil and max heat. But yeah, it isn't going to get any hotter than the boiling point for your elevation.

[bdstone914]

@bbrock
@Cuddy
@mepstein

Well, not quite. If you live where I live, it will boil at 200F, which is why I boil it a little longer just to make sure it is at a full boil and max heat. But yeah, it isn't going to get any hotter than the boiling point for your elevation.
[/quote]

Marks point that boiling longer dose not raise the temp. The key to installing A arm bushings is heat, lube and alignment of the tools. I have installed senveral sets including Elephant, 914 Rubber and Uro.
Uro are to soft and easily distort while installing allowing the bushing to catch on a shoulder and tear as shown.
This can happen with any rubber bushing. Care must be used to see that they are puling on straight.
I found that the rubber needs to be at least 140-160F to pull on easily.
Tips:

1. Have all tools and setup ready to quickly install the bushings while still hot.

2. Heat all the bushings with the bearing brackets.

3. I also heat the A arm ends by placing the end in a 4 qt. pot of boiling water.

4 A heat gun can also he used on A arms. Bolw through the center to heat the whole arm. Or if you have a sunny day leave the arm in hot sun.
If you have spray on paint you may damage the paint with a heat gun.

5. Powder coating the A arms and bearing brackets affects the installation. The added thickness of the powder coating causes the bushing to have to stretch longer and thinner. I found the 914 tool for the rear to have too long of a snout not allowing the bushing to be pulled on all the way. The longer snout bottoms out on the tool before it is all the way on. I modified the tool to work better.

6. Watch the angle of the bearing bracket as it pulls on. If it starts to go off - STOP. That is when they gouge. I have done this with several brands. The Uro were the most prone to gouging as they were so soft they do not pull through evenly. I scored two Uro in a row. Grabbed another Uro bushing and it was noticely harder than the first Uro bushings. Hmmmm. Uro claims to have a Sport hardness which sounds like a correction for the too soft originals. I stopped using Uro rubber bushings.
The 914 Rubber and Elephant are close on hardness. I have not tried Porsche just cause they are $20 each. A friend installed the Porsche and they used grease.
In any case work quickly and pay close tension to how the bushing pulls on.
I prefer to have a helper and he hold the other end while I use a deep well socket on Air ratchet to quickly pull on. The air pressure controls the speed.

Bruce