[968TDG]

On the subject of the Elephant Racing castor blocks (the set I installed was popping and creaking) I called the vendor and they supplied me with two new spherical bearings. This means I had to take the new castor blocks back off and disassemble them to replace the internal bearing. The job wasn't too bad, everything is retained with a spring clip. It's all back together and the noise is gone. I don't know what the issue was with these original bearings, but they were too tight and would make a noise when they rotated. What a pain but now the sound of silence is a beautiful thing.



Phil

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[Cloud9...68]

I looked for the spherical bushings on Elephant's site, but I didn't see them. I looked under the 944 parts listing. Both you and Flash mentioned that they are quiet - that's good to "hear," as I thought spherical bushings tend to be quite noisy. As I make my car more track-worthy (when I'm done fixing all the leaks), I'm planning on removing as much compliance from the suspension as possible, and I imagine that will mean spherical bushings all over the place.

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[968TDG]

They are silent as the grave now, but the noise the bad bearings were making was terrible. The spherical bearings are inside of the castor blocks. It is called a "weather-sealed control arm rear monoball" on Elephant Racing's site and is labeled "B" in the suspension section.

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[Cloud9...68]

Ah, I see; found them. Those do look like some high quality pieces. I'm going to be removing my front suspension soon to remove my oil pan (amazing how much you have to remove to get to that thing; I'm going to convert my cross-member into a three-piece unit to avoid this in the future), so I'll take a good look at my castor blocks. Even if they look decent, though (they're the upgraded ones), I imagine I will go with the Elephant racing units, because I plan to make my car much more track-worthy, so I want to take as much compliance out of the suspension as possible, and these seem to be a must. I'll probably do the front control arm bushings as well, and the ones for the trailing arms. I'm glad to hear these didn't totally destroy the ride quality; I'm sure the stiffer springs I plan to install will take care of that!

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[968TDG]

My pan is leaking more these days as well. I'll be interested to hear how the job goes.

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[Cloud9...68]

Sure; I'll keep everybody updated, as we can all learn from each others' experiences (and misadventrues!). At the moment, I'm stuck waiting for the 12 mm stubby triple square driver from Snap-On, which I need to remove the flywheel. The way I see the sequence of events is as follows:



1) Remove flywheel to allow R & R of rear main seal (mine's leaking pretty badly). I'll replace the flywheel with an 18 lb single-mass one from RS Barn

2) Remove front suspension, engine mounts, cross-brace, etc. to allow access to oil pan. While I have the cross-brace off, I'd like to convert it to a 3-piece unit, to allow future removal of the pan without having to disassemble half the car, or to require a wheel alignment.

2a) Replace oil pan gasket, and while I'm in there, I'll replace the rod bearings, and I'm thinking of adding an RS Barn windage tray/crank scraper

3) Havng all that stuff off should provide easy access to the lower balance shaft seal, which is leaking a little, so I'll replace it as well

4) In the same vein, I'll re-seal the steering rack, and add RS Barn's rack tack (which I think are more solid bushings for the steering rack)

5) Re-seal the power steering pump and replace the high pressure line



My car isn't exactly dripping copious amount of oil or other liquids onto my garage floor (my leaks are more in the form of seepages), but it will be so nice to have a leak-free car. Plus, since I'm planning to start tracking the car again in a big way, fixing these leaks is also a safety issue.

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[bva]

Phil,

is there a diff between the elephant and the racer's edge product (besides price and color)?

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[Scott Collins]

Update: 3/10/11



The Elephant Racing Castor blocks I installed have been making popping and creaking noises for the past month. The noises began immediately I have driven the car every day since, giving them a chance to break in. Not good. I will be replacing the bearings or the entire units.



-Scott

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[Cloud9...68]

Scott,



Sorry about your experience. I've been debating between Elephant Racing and Racer's Edge myself, as I'm planning on replacing all of my bushings (castor block, front A-arm bushing, trailing arm bushing, along with the rear spring plates) with monoball/spherical and polybronze, respectively. I understand RS Barn sells both, so I'll ask Pete which he recommends. But first, I have to finish the project to re-seal my steering rack, which is killing me...

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[Scott Collins]

Hey Cloud,



Thanks. As far as the castor blocks go, I expect a part like that to work correctly the first time. If I have to get under the car a second time to correct something with a brand new component, then I've got to think hard about recommending that product to someone else. I've got a list of other things to do on Claudia II, and I'm going to have to put something off to correct this.



Is there a possibility that I did the install wrong? Maybe - I'm not a mechanic, trained properly. So from that standpoint, I've got to reflect on the steps I took and ask, did I create the problem? But the instructions and actual job were about as simple as it gets, and I was advised by top people, who are trained properly.



I would look at other brands if I were doing it again.



-Scott

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[Cloud9...68]

Scott,



Thanks for the input; you give an honest and helpful assessment.

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[ebarone968]

I had the same situation when I had my blocks changed out. Although it did take a few weeks for the creaking to start. It was the block itself. I don't recall the manufacturer but Pete switched them out for me.

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[Lear35A]

With my front suspension off now, I can see that the rubber in my camber blocks looks pretty worn. I do not plan to track my car, so maybe I will stick to stock replacements. However, I would like to know which suppler of the monoblocks Pete recommends. Who knows, maybe I'll spring for them.

BTW, thanks to Andy's woes I've decided to just clean my steering rack externally. I've got no problems ripping my motor apart, but that ZF rack sounds like a monster. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

"BTW, thanks to Andy's woes I've decided to just clean my steering rack externally. I've got no problems ripping my motor apart, but that ZF rack sounds like a monster. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> "



That's an understatement. I just called a shop that works on VWs. Porsches, and the like, and their "Porsche Specialist" told me he's never re-sealed a ZF rack, and he never would; if one is leaking, he replaces it. Holy crap, what have I gotten myself into? And the worst of it is that with all the parts that have literally fallen out of this thing before I could see where they came from as I've turned it over, my confidence that I can put it back together correctly is not high. This is beginning to make pulling the engine, locking down the Variocam and pulling the head, etc, seem like a cake walk. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

that's why the autozone deal sounds like such a better idea to me

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[Cloud9...68]

If I had known how difficult this job was, I would have bought the Autozone unit. But now I'm too deep into it to turn back, plus, as I said in the thread on the subject, my steering rack's internals seem to be in excellent shape, so I don't want to replace a known good unit for one that may or may not be any good, lifetime warrantee or not.

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[jimmywhisker]

Hi, I am sure that my castor blocks are dead and plan to have a good look over the weekend. My symtoms mirror that of other members.



I can find an OEM enhancement and the Elephant at Paragon and Racers Edge elsewhere. What is everyones current thinking/experience on the best way to go.



Thanks,



Peter

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[JWahlsten]

I have the Elephant Racing version like many of the other guys, and am now happy with them. However, they both had to have the bearings replaced. Not sure what the issues were, but I understand it's corrected now. Pete can tell you exactly what the issue was.

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[jferraro17]

I'm 100% positive I'm exposing myself as knowing very little/nothing about suspensions here.....BUT.....

 

 

Can you change the rear castor blocks with weight on the wheel?  IOW, I am scared to death of being under the car without the front wheel fully supported, usually using a jack just to place the front end up on ramps or wood blocks.

 

So is it even possible?  (realize there is an entire secondary concern about alignment, but I'm talking just an R&R for now) 

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[flash]

not a good idea

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