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Corner weights

Laurence

Unfortunately, I think this is a bit of a Forth Bridge situation. If you try doing it in bits, you end up starting again at some time and it becomes a endless process. Having been in your car, I suspect that both struts and springs need doing. Your car cetrainly felt more "wallowing" than mine.

The question then is whether the bushes are an issue and ultimately, whether the front wishbones are OK. Having spoken to various people about the subject, the wishbones tend to be a function of the amount of track time the car has been subjected to but once you start on the bushes, you are committing yourself to wishbones if they are found to be needed.
 
Did you:

1. Empty the ash tray
2. Remove the condoms from the glovebox
3. Remove the cd
4. Floor mats equally distributed
5. Align the spare wheel and tool kit
6. Calibrate the scales with a Porsche officially certified calibrator part no. 234.98.8887.61209
7. Measure the level of the ground
8. Allow for barometric pressure
9. Slightly heavier on the left with pedals and steering wheel
10. Tyre pressures

......[;)]

2884D4185F9541E4AB2B4D3ED0E37DBE.jpg
 
Simon the front control arms consist of : one large lump of alloy, one ball joint connected via a bolt and the caster eccentric, two bushed ends(connecting to the front crossmember, via the side member) . I would guess that the alloy housing of the bushed ends "could" wear out (the design of the bush should preclude this) resulting in total control arm "wishbone" replacement though I have checked mine and can find no play within the joint(using the standard OPC tech method, don't ask!) . Even the bushes are ok, if old. The other possibilty is they can bend!
I suspect that many people go the route of "wishbone" replacement rather than replacing the bushes. For most service shops the labour costs probably preclude the cost of bush replacement. Far easier to fit the whole assembly. Not being in the trade I don't know how often RS control arms are replaced, though i suspect it's more for worn bushes than almost anything else. It should be remembered that the RS bushes are a "stiffer" compound than the standard bushes and "should" be a little more hard wearing.
I have lot's to consider but one option will be to polybush the control arms. If I have to strip the suspension it would make sense to do this at the same time. I seem to recall ( a very distant memory) that Bilstein do a rebuild service for their struts, this may also be something I will look into also. If anyone has more details of this I would be most grateful.
 
Interesting, Laurence. I thought the main problem with the wishbones was that they do bend. I am not sure that because the RS bushes are stiffer, they should last longer. My initial reaction is that its the other way around but now I am not sure. The only rubber material or similar i know about is silicone sealants and in those cases, as a general rule, the more flexible the longer they last but the less strong they are.I would suspect bushes are the same.

I also suspect that the performance of the bushes will deteriorate, becoming softer, before they appear to be "worn out". In fact, it is only under laod that you would be able to see the problem and that's not really possible to witness.
 
Yes absolutely. I was simply comparing the standard softer bush with the RS bush and considering the general use the cars are put to. If put to full use then no doubt the RS bush would wear quicker. Most bushes I have ever come accross seem to crack or go brittle (age or work harden ?) . Oil seals on 964 Engines being a good case in point. I guess you could argue that in the case of a bush that has become brittle the joint has softened. Indeed the only way to rudementary checks of the control arm bushes is to pry the unloaded bushes, any minor play noted usually means consideably more on the loaded joint.
 
My last wishbone bushes lasted a dispointing 10,000kms, of which about 8,000 on track (over 2 and a half years....)

The polybushes I've got now felt a lot stiffer initially -be interesting to see how they last.....

Laurence -I've still got my old wishbones if you want to re-bush them to save your car being out of action too long!! Happy to do a swap for your old ones.
 
cheers Melv i might take you up on that, though i suspect that I may do this all in one lump. Given your car is on full cup suspension and often runs slicks and is used almost exclusively for track work 10kms is though not exactly stunning may be par for the course. I wonder if your getting used to your polybushes rather than anything else and invariably there will be some bedding in.
Curious about the wishbones? I assume you replaced them because of worn bushes and it was cheaper initially to replace as a unit or were they changed for other reasons?
 

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