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NBRettie18 · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 6:52 am Post subject: Sway Bar Bushings Won't Stay Put

Ever since i replaced the sway bar bushings because one of them expanded or something and ripped, they have been falling out of place because the metal surrounding it doesn't hold around it tight enough. They are bolted in all the way but the metal is still loose around them and because of this they fall out like this

I was wondering if any body has had this problem or not. I ordered them from i think auto parts wherehouse or something im not sure but i will get the link later i have to do something right now. thanks
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1987 924S - MO30 30/19 - Yellows all around

Paul · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 9:18 am Post subject:

Most likely the wrong size or material.
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Now, do you have the two arms of that bracket on opposite sides of the piece it bolts to? Maybe both arms are supposed to be on the same side. . .that would tighten it around that bushing.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

NBRettie18 · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject:

Yea I realized that they might be the wrong size bushings i will buy more from somewhere else if that is the case but just trying to for sure determine it is.

Rasta do you mean that the metal brackets that are supposed to be around the bushings are opposite, being that one is correct and one is not so that it is trying to hold the bar in two different positions or what? I'm not exactly clear about that.
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1987 924S - MO30 30/19 - Yellows all around

NBRettie18 · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject:

Also I wanted to eventually get new better sway bars and i was wondering where you got yours or if anyone new a good place to get them, I've seen them at Performance Products and Paragon. Are those as a good as any or are they any cheaper anywhere?
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1987 924S - MO30 30/19 - Yellows all around

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

That does not appear to be an original Porsche factory swaybar bracket.

And from the looks of the photo, the bushing you bought is the wrong size. It appears to be too small.

No wonder it keeps falling out.

dgz924s · Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 592 Location: Kansas

Which bar are you dealing with? Looks like a front bracket is not even mounted to the body. Rasta means are the 2 flat tabs which the bolts go through needs to be sandwiched around the mounting surface if I read him correctly.

What it appears to me however and Gohim as well is the wrong mounts/bushings. You may have a bastardized sway bar set up. May have had a larger bar on the car then when the PO sold it he kept the larger bar but did not swap mounting hardware. This makes the most sense to me because sellers remove 99% of the upgrades and return to stock and keep the stuff for another 944 etc. Or they know the price is higher for a larger bar and sell it for more cash.
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Dal Glassinger

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

What I mean is that the bracket that loops around the bar and bushing has two ends, yes? Those two ends could either sandwich around the vertical bracket they bolt to, or they could both bolt up on the same side of that bracket. The latter arrangement would decrease the circumference of the round part of the silver bracket, and might hold the bushing tighter. . .
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

WolfeMacleod · Joined: 07 Jul 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Seattle, WA

I think I can offer a bit of knowledge here.

The bracket looks original, as I have the same one on my car. Sort of.

I recently had the same problem, where I tore the bushing under the power steering junk. Bushing failure caused by power steering leak.

When I went to replace them, I found that someone down the line had replaced them with different parts, off a Turbo car. Larger bushing, larger bracket. When I got the correct bushing, I realized it would not fit in the larger bracket. This appears to be your problem.
I purchased two new (and correct, I might add) brackets from my dealership. Same style bracket, only smaller.

The lips on the bushing surround the outer edges of the bracket.

If this is not the "typical" front swaybar setup, I'd like to see other pictures. It has been the same on any 924S I've seen.

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

FWIW, you're not the only one this has happened to. A fellow had the same trouble at an autocross in a 944. He was using a big front swaybar (maybe a factory 30mm or so) and the bushings slid out. Not sure of the remedy but it's an interesting issue.
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1980 931S
15psi boost, MS-II, EDIS, 951 IC, custom intake, Ford 5.0L throttle body, Forge BOV, WB o2, G31 w/LSD, 964 wheels, 968 rear sway, Bilsteins, 200# Welt. springs. A laptop, and a partridge in a pear tree.
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet

NBRettie18 · Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 3:24 pm Post subject:

yea im gonna try what rasta said and see if it makes it tight enough. I was also thinking about buying these Sway Bar Bushings. Will they fit my 87 924S, cause it just says 924, 944, 968
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1987 924S - MO30 30/19 - Yellows all around

dgz924s · Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 592 Location: Kansas

Yes but you need to measure the bar 1st.
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Dal Glassinger

genikz88 · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 64

I bought a used Weltmeister rear sway for my 924S and the guy I bought it from put two hose clamps on the bar on the inner edge of each bushing to keep them in place. It seems to work, as they haven't moved on me yet and I track and Auto-X the car. Granted my bushings are the correct size for the bar and brackets.
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Chris
'88 924S

NBRettie18 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:17 am Post subject:

Alright well i tried what rasta said to do and it did make them a bit tighter but not all that much so i put a zip tie on each side of the bushing hopefully that will hold it in place untili get some new bushings, I think i will buy those delrin ones from paragon which leads me to my next question, what is the best way to measure the sway bar i have some string wrapped around it and then measure the distance or what?
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1987 924S - MO30 30/19 - Yellows all around