[Parenn911]

It’s funny how a rubbing noise can cause such drastic measures; either way gotta do the damn thing . It all started with me hearing a rubbing/moaning noise coming from the front end. At first I thought it was the mice crying out while they were being fried, but after having to pit multiple times at the Oct. DE at Summit, I figured it’s time to get dirty. First thing I did was wheel bearings, tune in later for updates on this project. Although one of the front wheel bearings was toast, after replacing both fronts, the noise was still there. So I suspected rusted torsion bars or shot a-arm bushings. It was snowing; salt on the roads, mice in the front trunk, so I figured now is a great time to tear the suspension all apart . Of course if I am going to replace the front torsion bars, then I have to replace the rears, which means I will need an alignment so why not get elephant racing’s poly bronze a-arm bushings, you know the usual while you’re in there stuff . Help, we don’t need no stinkin’ help, Dorki’s are DIY’ers.

I supported the SC with jackstands on the front cross member and the rear sway bar bushing covers.

First remove the stone guard that covers the steering rack:


Next remove the front tow hooks:


With the tow hooks removed the front of the a-arms/torsion bar tubes are visible:


Remove the ride height adjustment screw using an 11 mm, this will allow you to remove the torsion bar covers:


After removing the torsion bar covers, you have access to the front torsion bars. Ideally you should be able to just yank on them and they should come right out. Underneath the torsion bar covers lie a spongy material that acts as some sort of seal?! Unfortunately as you can see with any high mileage 911 they’re disintegrated. Instead of ordering new ones, I used some thick foam material and cut circles to place between the cross member and t-bar covers.


Remove the nut that holds the ball joint into the front strut. Knock the pin out with a punch and a hammer and the ball joint can be removed.



Remove the bolts that hold the steering rack to the aluminum cross member. Also, don’t forget to disconnect the fuel pump from the cross member.


With the aluminum cross member disconnected and the ball joints loose, the whole front end suspension should just drop down. I like to use a jack to lower it and to reinstall the front end. The a-arms should come right off:

Uh oh front t-bars don’t look too good!


Apparently they weren’t cooperating and put up a good fight, this was primarily because the t-bars were badly rusted. So the only option left to remove the t-bars was violence. Using the ball joint separator tool (pickle fork), we placed another wrench on top of the pickle fork and pounded the crap out of the pickle fork. Note: If you are planning to use this method make sure you have the wrench on top of the pickle fork to get proper leverage on the t-bar.


Yup, my assumptions were correct, the front t-bars were pretty badly rusted.


Ahh, now for the fun part. More fire!! Using a propane torch, light those front bushings on fire, they need to be toasted to come off. Apply even flame in the front and rear of the bushings for 10 minutes continuously using a pry bar to remove the old bushings.



WooHoo, time for some more violence!!! This time I get the pleasure of Dremelling my nuts off! Ideally they should just come right off with an impact wrench with a 4-wheel(SUV) hub bolt removal extension-available at advance auto parts. But as always nothing is ever easy with me, so time to slice. Only use this method if you plan on replacing the ball joints because it requires cutting through them. Using Chris’s Dremel tool I cut through the castle nut that holds the ball joint into the a-arm. Note: Using this method be sure not to hack into the a-arm, make a deep enough cut where you can wedge a chisel or BAFS in there. I used a BAFS and with some more violence, wailing on the screwdriver finally broke the nut free from the a-arm.



The ball joints required excessive force for removal because of the rusty threads:

[Parenn911]

With the front all apart, it’s now time to tear apart the rear. First remove the bolts holding the spring plate cover to the spring plate.


Next remove the bolts that hold the spring plate to the trailing arms.


With all the bolts removed, yank the spring plate off!

With the spring plate removed you can now access the rear torsion bars. To take them out you need to remove the circle cover under the rocker panel to pull the t-bars out.


MMM……eye candy of the new suspension components that will go back in. This pic is Chris’s setup, mine is the same setup except for stiffer t-bars in the rear. I went with 22mm fronts and 30mm in the rear. Also the poly bronze bushings are nice, except for the install. Chris, you said these should just plop right in, ha yeah right. As I said earlier nothing is that easy for me!


Putting the suspension together is the reverse of removal. Just keep track of what bolt goes where. Installation will require another set of hands, otherwise it is an asspain. Fortunately I have a great cuzo who is always down to get his hands dirty with me! SCWDP back up was in full effect, thanks Charlie! You are the illest brother . I also want to thank my cute little helper in the garage, Karma. I can always count on her to sniff something or knock something over, what a brute!


After trying to push new the front bushings in by hand and getting nowhere, we figured its time for some more violence. We even lubed the bushings up with grease, 2 of the 4 bushings went in smoothly. The other two, well, the pictures speak for themselves. After going through two 2x4’s, we determined there has to be a better way. So I gave up, took them to a local machine shop that pressed them in for me for free.



After putting the suspension back in with the new t-bars, it’s time to fine tune some things. This means re-indexing the front and rear t- bars, what this means is after the t-bars are in the car, pull them out and move them over one notch/spline. Eventually you will be able to get both the fronts and rears indexed to the point where the ride height from the ground to the fender will be even on both sides. You can eyeball the fronts, however for the rears you will need to use an angle finder. I got mine from Harbor Freight. Using this link you can calculate the angle degree based on the weight of your 911. http://www.rennlight.com/cgi-bin/spring.cgi

All I can say is I love the new suspension, what a day/night difference. Also no more suspicious noises are coming from the front end.

Ted, Vu, you guys think you’re low! HA!




After setting the rear angle’s I took my SC to Matt DeMaria, where it is currently undergoing an alignment. I sleep better at night knowing she’s in good hands. Matt is a Porsche technical guru and a stand up guy!

Of course not being able to drive my 911 for a month, I was fiending for some redline action . Noah came up to G’burg to help me with a clutch cable replacement and to shoot the sheeit. He was kind enough to bring the silver shark aka ’77 Carrera 3.0L MFI’ed out, and give me a ride! All I can say is that I had wood the whole time listening to that monstrous motor . I secretly inducted Noah into SCWDP, whether he likes it or not . So now it’s time to shame the later 911’s. Any 996’s/993’s/964’s want to challenge a lightweight 3.0L? My money is on Noah’s ride.

Anyhow all is quiet in Ghettofab Motorwerks for now, stay tuned for more updates in this thread on wheel bearings and shocks. Of course I’m no authority when it comes to wrenching on my 911, so you veteran Porschephiles please feel free to add comments or any instructions on updating the suspension that I may have missed. Sorry for the long winded post, I was just trying to pass along some useful information that I have learned from other Dorki’s primarily my brother Mr. Stylianos. Hopefully other 911 owners will find it easier to get a stiffer or smoother ride!

[michael lang]

Pari

Nice post, now I know I will eventually fall into the suspension trap that Chris was talking about. Thanks alot!! Actually very informative thread. I wonder if there is a way that threads like yours can be saved and filed in an "index/reference" type catagory in the main menu of this web site so we can refer back to if we get stuck in the middle of a project. Really nice job of explaining things Pari.



Mike

[Jase007]

Nice write-up Pari. I'm sure will be helpful to others when they take the plunge.

Jase

[}{arlequin]

Great how-to w/ nice detail.
It's probably good for a few top-end hp too... it's gonna be one helluva fast brown streak

[jpnovak]

Nice writeup. Wasn't that fun? I am sure you are glad to have it all finished now.

[cmartin]

Good work Pari

[BillJ]

This was really a great post!

[Noah]

Great post, Pari.

It was fun hanging out last night -- your car is going to be a serious track sleeper this year!

[Mackpipes]

Oh God help me! I'm getting the up-grade itch of Leschanderitis again. Just when I thought I was happy with the Pipes.

Pari, I'm diggin the ride height.