Sooo...it's come time to refurbish my front suspension. I don't need to do tie rods or sway bar bushings and I'm not going to work on the steering rack yet, so this'll be a "partial" rebuild.
I did some searching but really couldn't find a comprehensive guide to rebuilding the 914 front suspension. Does anyone have a link to something?

I gather what I'll be doing is the torsion bar bushings, the wheel bearings and the ball joints? Are their more bushings and or bearings that I haven't included?

Thanks all!

Turbo tie rods, front strut inserts, new brake soft lines, bleed brakes, check brake pads. Sway bar bushings?

this has every possible item that needs attention in the front suspension.
obviously brakes and steering rack are not suspension items but you get the idea....

http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/d...siondiagram.htm

Thanks for that link. It's quite helpful.

Sooooo, pretty much the (4) control arm bushings, wheel bearings and (2)ball joints.

I wonder what the consensus is on the control arm bushings? Obviously the gee whiz bronze bushings are the tits, but other than that, rubber or poly?

Also, I saw a nice enough ball joint kit at the bird offered by Rennline but no customer comments. Anyone have feedback on that kit?

I'm happy with the rubber bushings from Elephant

Unless you're racing the car, stick with the rubber. There's a reason Porsche used it initially and it's served well for 40+ years.

Yes, I just watched they're video. I trust the included tools made the job quite a bit easier?
I don't suppose you'd loan em out would ya?
Btw, in the video they use a digital angle tool. What did you use to index them?
Thanks!

The iPhone and probably non-Apple smart phones have a app to measure the angle. Be careful you get the correct orientation for the 914; IIRC the video is a 911 part and if you set it up exactly like it's shown it ends going the wrong direction by 90 degrees. Ask me how I know
Luckily the soap had not dried and it was easy to reclock them.
PM me your info if you want to borrow the tools.

Chuckle, I'm still with a dumb phone.
And I'm thinking I'll mebbe just do ball joints as the control arm bushings don't look so bad. Pretty sure my wobble is coming from the ball joints :-/
If I decide to do the bushings though, you can be sure I'll be in touch for the loaners! You're an ace my friend :-)

I'm going to be replacing the control arm bushings and ball joints in my front suspension soon, so I thought I'd tag onto this very-relevant thread.

Has anyone used the URO front bushings? Are they okay? Besides being from URO, that is. Pelican has them for $30/set, which is quite a bit cheaper than the Elephant parts. Or, are the Elephant rubber bushings just so much better than the others that they're worth the extra $$$? I don't really need the Elephant install tools, since I can make my own if needed, and there doesn't seem to be any way to buy the Elephant rubber bushings without the tools.

Many people have said the URO's squeak - a lot. Use at your own risk.
I think 914rubber might be coming out with a set that mimickes oem. I hope so!

Are you sure the rubber bushings squeak? I've heard of urethane bushings squeaking, but not properly-installed rubber ones. I searched this site, and googled the internet, but didn't turn up any complaints about squeaking from the rubber bushings.

Also, I called 914Rubber, and while they might be working on the front bushings, they won't be available anytime soon.

Elephant Racing rubber bushings are great and worth the money. I wouldn't even try URO for such an important application as that.

Figured out my wobble. PO had failed to use a lock plate on the driver side (and I had never noticed it). Ball joint was hand tight.
New ones from the bird on the way.
Jeez, will I ever stop finding the jack wagon stuff my PO did?

No, we will make the better.
Suck it URO

Yes I can imagine the URO stuff is ,remember the first part from them I bought off Pelican,voltage reg for my mk2 Golf GTI,failed after a very short time left me with a flat battery on the side of the road....and no I wasn't close to home.
Anyway back to the subject,just done shock inserts,tierod ball joints and new Weltmieister swaybar link bushes,all else checked out fine.
End was night and day over what I had,really a big difference,no more bump steer and tramlining,PO said the front inserts were good,I got and its not the only thing

Any idea when? I want to re-do my front bushings very soon.

Tooling is underway right now. We have some testing to do, but will be available in less than 8 weeks.
Mark

Well replacing the ball joints didn't fix my high speed wobble, so now I'm looking at the tie rods. While they both seem worn (and since the boots are compromised I'll be replacing and upgrading to the 930 turbo tie rods) I don't feel as if that's the causation. Also, the wheel bearings seem ok with no clunking or rotation noise.
I did however detect something on the drivers side of the steering rack. There's some definite movement and even a slight clunking noise. But could this be the reason for a high speed wobble?
I have a spare rack from a parts car and when I compare, the spare does NOT have the movement and clunking I detect on the rack that's on the car.
Check the vid attached to see what I'm talking about.
Anyone have actual not theoretical experience on this?
https://youtu.be/dKwYfT0yTnA

Check the wheel balance.

I think that's the early hard poly bushings not rubber.

Yes.....I have actual experience.

Looking at your video looks like the spindle end of the tie rod.

Most likely the "yoke" end of the the tie rod rubber looks like petrified bakelite or some such mess, causing the "wobble".

Be careful when driving out any part of the suspension connected to the rack.....you can damage it.

When I put the TT rods on my car I cut the tie rods ends off the spindle just for that reason.

Good Luck.

One other thing....check the steering shaft coupler condition.....you will have to pull the tank....and make sure the unijoints of the steering shaft are tight and not binding.

Hmmm.
Perhaps.
We will know soon enough as the bird is sending me some TT rods and a bump steer.
The rubber grommets didn't look or feel all that bad but I imagine they have long ago lost their ability to behave the way they were originally intended....

Seems fine on inspection.

Well I managed to get the stock rack out today and when I (carefully) placed the rack in a vice to try and replicate the symptom noted in the video, I wasn't able too.
Now I'm perplexed.
As an aside, the replacement (spare) rack I have I've just discovered is a 7820900166 from a 911. Pretty sure this will work ok but thought I'd ask if anyone has experience with swapping out to this 911 rack and if it's upgrade or if it's going to be totally unworkable or what?
I'm no longer convinced the stock rack was/is the culprit for the high speed wobble. Certainly won't hurt to be adding the turbo tie rods, but I'm not thinking that will be resolving the problem. One can hope though...

Hello,
Did you end up figuring out what the wobble was?
I have the same issue and have been thinking on refreshing my whole front suspension, but not sure where to start.

Tie rods and alignment

Lowering your car? Bumpsteer kit. 'Shorting' the process will bite you come alignment time. Do all you can afford the first time rather than piecemeal.

I haven't heard of anyone dissatisfied with the Elephant rubber control arm bushings. Turbo tie rods make a big difference too.

I'd suggest doing everything a the same time and know that it is completely refreshed. Only buy quality components for your

front end. Lemfoerder ball joints, quality TT rods, etc. Don't scrimp here, you'll be rewarded with a great handling car.