Click to view attachment Urethane Bushings! Totally worthless. This is the 2nd set I've changed out. The first set I installed on the '73's Trailing Arms. They reminded me what a fool I'd been every time they squeaked and moaned. It was four years before I changed them out to the proper rubber ones. I should have done that in the first week. These came with the '70 and were on the control arms. These were even louder than the rear ones on the '73 were. In a few years Urethane bushings will be the object of scorn in the DAPO threads.

LOL, never had that problem with the Poly Bronze elephant racing bushings. But then my 914-4 had a ton for him joints so a squick was not an issue. It rattled like a coffee can full of nuts rolling down the stairs over every bump. Suspension response was spot on

@76-914

Where did you get rubber bushings?

Bruce, I bought them from 914rubber. I was a little hesitant but thought I'd give them a try. They were every bit as difficult to install-read not cut down or softened- as the OEM replacements. A tight & snug fit. They fit & feel like the real deal. The control arms are stiff and resistant to vertical movement as I'd hoped they would be. Mark may have got these right. Took it for a little spin today and the car rode and handled beautifully. I'm going to hop up to your place for my first road trip. I'll call to make sure you're around.

Very cool Kent. I installed 914Rubber's bushings in my BB. Can't wait to see how they ride....

I completely agree. If you are street driving your 914 the rubber bushings are the way to go. We installed the Elephant Racing rubber bushings in my car and the car rides very very nice. Handles well too. I have driven many 914's and those that had other than rubber always squeaked and were annoying.

On our 74 Super Beetle, the control arms were slightly bent. At the time nobody made replacement arms, bushing or ball joints. The only thing I could do is find best used one I could find.
Of course in Arizona any rubber laying around in the recycling yards had long rotted away. I found some with decent ball joints, cleaned them up painted and installed urethane bushings, the only thing I could find and only in RED! To my surprise they are silent.
Of course a year later there are reproduction control arms being produced again. I will likely buy them as spares. No telling how long the ball joints will last

Totally agree, my front suspension had almost ZERO movement with those bushings, glad I replaced them with the rubber ones

Interesting. You may recall the problem I had with the 914R rubber bushings. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=2888749

Wound up putting in Elephant Racing's rubber bushings instead.

Mine don't squeak at all..... Of course my car does not move. Maybe they are just good for static displays as opposed to actual usable cars.

The bushings i sourced out of Restoration-design Europe are from the same supplier as Elephant Racing uses.
I liked the harder bushings as they install easier.

Restoration designs Canada will be adding them. They should b.v w better priced than the ER bushings.

@bbrock

I do remember. But the control arm bushings they offer installed as tightly as the elephant bushings. Tighter than socks on a Rooster. If they turn out to be inferior it only takes a few hours to change them out. Thought I"d give them a try @ $45 a set.

Oh, you were talking about the front A-arm bushings? Yeah, I installed theirs up there too and they were great. I thought you were talking about the trailing arms. My mistake

Reviving this old thread because it seems like the most appropriate place to share this story:

I bought my car last summer. It's a decent driver, but the front end was moaning and groaning like a sick goat over every bump and around every corner. I figured the original bushings had lost their shape, that I was hearing the result of corrosion or metal on metal, etc. and I finally found time to pull the A-arms to replace the bushings.

Long story short, once I got the arms off, I discovered that a previous owner had replaced the original bushings with Weltmeister (poly-graphite?) ones, and the result was not pretty. Whatever grease had been applied to them was now so full of road dirt that the rear carriers had completely seized to the auxiliary support, while the bushings protested loudly as they rotated around the arm itself. I had to dig out about two inches of compacted grease/mud/gunk just to remove the torsion bars...

On the plus side, the torsion bars are in great shape and I didn't have to burn anything to remove the bushings — they easily pulled off by hand with the help of a flathead screwdriver.

Anyway, I have to agree with the title of this tread! Friends should not let friends subject a street car to these things. I will be replacing with new rubber ones this week!

Gord

Back in the day, Tangerine Racing did the install of the rear poly bushings for me
(with grease slot and zerks) while doing the inner ear brace welding (thanks
Chris this is still working great).

There has never been any noise or binding.

My street car has poly
Installed by me around 1986
Grease slots and zerks

No squeaks

I have a set of the 914 rubber bushings that slide in by hand. I guess I will have to give them a ring.

Restoration Design Canada has trailing arm busings in stock and available for immediate shipment. Both OEM durometer and a stiffer rubber version with 85 shore rubber.

I really like the option to have rubber bushing of higher durometer than OEM. Reduces the compliance of the rear semi-trailing arm (a huge handling benefit) without the compromises involved in going to Urethane, Poly Bronze, or other solutions that will compromise on-road NVH.

One arm built up already and looks great. I accidentally tore one of the bushings during the install for the 2nd arm. RD Canada was great at helping me work though some confusion on part numbers for the 85 shore bushings and got a 2nd set in my hands via 2nd day shipping. I Had hoped to do the 2nd arm this past weekend but other chores prevented it.

As mentioned previously by Bruce, RD busings are way more affordable than ER bushings but don't come with installation tools. RD bushings are sized properly. Either make your own install tools or borrow from Bruce as I did.

Be glad they were still allowing movement at all. I had the weltmeister polys on the front of one of my cars. One side wound up binding so badly that bumps caused the chassis cracked near the control arm attachment and one half of the sway bar mount on the control arm broke completely off.

Replaced them with the solid RSR ceramic bushings. those things are buttery smooth.

Those aren't "Poly". They are Delrin. No comparison.

I tried Weltmeister brand Poly-graphite bushings briefly back in the 1980s. They are nearly impossible to make work well. the material is cast, so it doesn't have accurate dimensions. The plastic doesn't machine or sand well. Instead it melts and smears.
I agree, one should not allow friends to use them.

I somehow missed this posting thanks for the props.
We also make and sell the tools to install these "easier"
$52 for all for bushings and the tools!
https://914rubber.com/front-control-arm-bus...-install-tool-1

We couldn't do it without the support of you guys.
Thanks

Mark