Any tips on how to install plastic A-arm bushings. They seem to be an extremely tight fit. Do I need to press/pound them on?

no, there is not an easy way.....

the proper way is to press them into the "collars", then ream the ID of the bushing to fit onto the a-arm

Chris Foley sells them in the Resource area with zerk fittings pre-installed.

I've already got them pressed into the collars. I just need to get them onto the A-arm.

Two questions:

1. When I ream them out, how much clearance should I leave. That is, if I measure the A-arm to be x-mm in diameter should I ream the bushings to be x-0.2 mm ? Is 0.2mm the right clearance, or should it be more or less?

2. What should I use to ream them out. Do I need to get a machine shop to do this, or can this be done with available tools?

Thanks,

----Bill

Buy the Elephant Racing Poly bronze bushings! easy as pie to install! any one got these on a street car?

Yeah, I do. I installed them about a year ago when I rebuilt the front suspension. I love them. They don't squeek or bind like the plastic weltmeisters that were in there before. The rear still has the weltmeisters, so it squeeks like hell. I'll replace them when I get the chance.

After some research, I was told that squeaking is mostly a result of too much axial or radial pre-load (interference fit). Though it's a little unclear as to what is exactly the right amount, the tech folks at Energy Suspensions say their poly bushings rarely squeak unless too much pre-load is employed.

Andys

I believe that is probably true. The weltmeisters that were in my car were very tight. With the car on a lift and the top strut bolt removed, you could hang on the A-arm and it would barely budge. But they aren't polyurathane either. I have poly bushings in my GTO, and they are fine. The weltmeisters are a hard plastic, with no compliance at all like poly bushings. If you are using real polyurathane bushings on a 914, then they would probably work much better than the plastic ones do. I am real happy with the Elephant bushings, but real poly may work fine, and needle bearings might be even better. Dunno. Just hate the plastic ones.

QUOTE (Grngoat @ Dec 2 2005, 02:58 PM)

I believe that is probably true. The weltmeisters that were in my car were very tight. With the car on a lift and the top strut bolt removed, you could hang on the A-arm and it would barely budge. But they aren't polyurathane either. I have poly bushings in my GTO, and they are fine. The weltmeisters are a hard plastic, with no compliance at all like poly bushings. If you are using real polyurathane bushings on a 914, then they would probably work much better than the plastic ones do. I am real happy with the Elephant bushings, but real poly may work fine, and needle bearings might be even better. Dunno. Just hate the plastic ones.

Both the hard Welt's and the soft Energy bushings are polyurethane. The soft Energy bushings are 90 Shore A scale hardness, and the hard ones (Welt's) are 70 Shore D scale hardness. The "D" scale is much harder than the "A" scale. It very well could be that the harder material is more prone to squeaking, but the same rule of pre-load applies to them. I've installed the (hard) Welt's on my trailing arms, and adjusted the re-load....once I get the car on the ground, all this theory will be put to rest!!

Andys

How much clearance is needed when I ream them out. Is 5mils over a good size, or is this too much slop?

I did three sets on my car...

First one squeaked...so did the second one...

third one...
I made it so that the a-arm was free to move the entire range of motion with zero binding...it was a trial and error method with a dremel, using a sanding wheel...

Then, once they fit, cut a figure 8 inside the bushing using a dremel with a small 1/8 inch carving bit.

the figure 8 intersection should end up in the middle and be the place that you put the zerk fitting...

This is where you will religiously grease the bushing...it over comes an chance of squeaking.

Rich

just get a set of müllers roller bearings ...

i know, i know, i'm not much help here ...
Andy

Polys suck as they dry out after a year.

Elephant bearing are really nice.
Mueller bearings are really nice. They still available??

Even with a great deal of work the Weltmeister material leaves a lot to be desired. One of the big problems with pressed in bushings is the fact that the housings aren't very round to begin with and the bushings become ovalized inside.
Black Delrin is about the best material available for the job. Machineable, self lubricating, good hardness, not brittle. Unless you are a HD DIYer what I offer is better than any other choice IMO. It's comparable to needle bearings in ride but less expensive. The fronts I ream after pressing into the housings and for the rears I ream the housings so the bushings fit perfectly.

Put them in and ream them so that the arm moves freely. Make sure the arm is spotlessly clean, and use some "elephant snot" lubricant on the inside of the bushings.

No squeak.