Hi all, I'm knocking out swapping these things. Removal of all the arms was no big deal.

Where I'm struggling a bit is cutting the flanges. It's a bit of a stupid design and I don't want to cut into the arm of course so I'm going very slow. I'm using both a oscillating tool with metal blade and a cut off wheel but it's just slow and tedious.

Anyone have tips on cutting these things without damage. Upper control arm bushings look to be a real pain

I then have a press to push them out.

Also, probably super obvious but all the arms get tightened with car at ride height, yes?

Thanks all

 

Not to be vague but, slow and steady wins the race. There’s no real easy way to knock out those bushings. I had to use a series of old wheel bearings and sockets in the press to get them out. The worst one is the front, lower control arm that has a steep angle but yet no real easy way of pressing it in. I would recommend tightening up the arms when the wheels are on the ground. It’ll all have to get loosened anyways when the alignment gets done.

 

Info we got when I worked at the dealer.

 

Yeah I saw that, but it sure doesn't give much surface area for the arbor plates to support. Guess I just have a day of cutting ahead. Would it have killed them to cast an extra 2mm on each side of these things?

Thanks

 

Completely agree! I think the seemingly unrepairable components are made that way so you’ll be forced into buying said new component.

 

We replaced DOZENS AND DOZENS of the original plastic based bushes.(1998 MY)
They were EASY to remove!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then they issued the upgraded bushes to replace the ones that we already replaced.

I did scuff a few arms with the 'wheel-of-death' but it never affected the suspension.

 

well, i'm wrapping this up and gotta be honest, what a pain. Its tedious, the arms are a bit awkward to clamp/hold, and you have to be very careful with the cutoff wheel. In all reality, i don't think my bushings were in bad shape, one ball joint was a bit loose. Probably could have skipped most of this job. Anyway, whats done is done, but not a fun job by any stretch.

 

spoke too soon, threads on one upper ball joint stud were so screwed up or malformed that the nut just locks up and spins the stud. ugghhh.

Upper arm back out.

I will say the 20mm rod I pieced together for about 40 bucks works great to compress the spring and goes fast with a 30mm ratcheting wrench. I used 3 guide pins and it was easy and felt safe.

I spent a fair bit on tools for this job but at least i'll feel like I accomplished something.

 

A 30mm ratcheting wrench… not seen one that size before. I’ll tell you, don’t feel like you went overboard on the repair’s because I’m assuming you’re keeping the car for a while. It’s piece of mind knowing it’s already done and you shouldn’t have to go back in it for a long time. Now, finding the right shop to do a proper alignment (camber and caster as well) is another chore in itself. Everyone wants to do ‘toe n go’.

 

Luckily I have a Porsche race shop near by that is competent enough. Any clue on how the caster gets adjusted in the front, there doesn't seem to be anyway to rotate the upright? Thanks

 

The castor and camber are adjusted from the fore and aft lower control arms. (eccentric bolts)

 

Plus 1 on Bob's recommendation for front end adjustments.

The rear camber and toe can be adjusted a little bit via another eccentric bolt. If you really wanted to get picky with rear camber, you’d have to fit different thickness shim’s between the output shafts of the differential and the drive axles. Most likely the excessive negative camber would be from the sagging springs and other pseudo worn rear suspension components.

 

Interesting comments on the rear end. I put mine in for alignment the other year & they told me there were no adjustments on the back. I might try again one day even though I'm not aware of any issues.

 

Hooli, the rear lower eccentric bolt is quite deceiving as far as adjustment is concerned because it’s pseudo hidden and subtle at best.

 

Cheers, I'll just have to speak to a few local places until I find one that knows it exists.

 

When I did alignments at the dealer, I always found a 4mm camber spacer on both right and left on the diff output shafts from the factory.

A 6mm shim usually got the camber back in spec if it was too negative so that was the only shim the parts dept would stock.

If we wanted a different size we would need to order it and do the rear wheel alignment at a later date.

They come in sizes 3.5mm to 7.5mm if they are still available.

 

True Bob…. not many people would do such a thing nowadays. I do have a few different thicknesses at the shop though.