Tripl7

I don't get down that way too often and haven't been lately. Got a buddy in Garden City I go see then we cruise up to Woodward if it's active. Usually the Kroger is where everyone seems to migrate to until the lovely police kick everyone out.

I don't think I've seen you, just a black 944 on the side where there's parking on Woodward. Never stopped to check it out.

Karl_W944

Yeah, ROPD have been real jerks about the whole car enthusiast situation; I tend to park and stay around Birmingham as a result, as they don't really care that much.

You're probably talking about the black one parked in front of a restaurant at night across from the Art Van yes? I see it frequently as well.

There's a lot heading north on Woodward just after the Fedex on the right side, you'll almost always find me there on weekends.

Tripl7

That might be the one I've seen. Next time Im down there I will have to keep an eye out for you.

Karl_W944

So in recent news, I've had a local Porsche/Euro shop look at my suspension, and the front suspension is basically destroyed I've been told.

Front struts are completely blown, the control arm bushings are completely worn, torn, or collapsed on both sides, the wheel bearings have excessive play in the front, these are the worst of my problems right now it seems.

I can either muster $2k(I don't have that) to have them do the parts and labor including an alignment, or attempt this on my own. How bad or difficult of a job would it be to try to tackle these in my garage?

Karl_W944

Well my only option is to do the repairs myself. Being on a tight budget, which shocks would you all recommend? Sachs, KYB, or Bilsteins? I'm not looking for a track car, but anything that would be an improvement over the handling of the OEM ones or close, or the same, just going for best quality on a tight budget I guess?

Tiger03447

I bought many of the front end items for my early car on E-bay..they might not be "Porsche" but they seem to be excellent replacement parts..I replaced all the bushings with polyurethane, as well as the ones on the rack. The light steel A-ARMS cost about 40 for the pair. My car used a different tie rod end, so the ones I had to get fit a 911. Bought them at AutoZone, where I work. Everything fits and looks good. So far....So all in all, with the exception of the cost of powdercoating all these components, I guess I put about mmm 200.00 in parts into mine..Not hard, just time consuming. Don't know what to tell you about the shocks..I personally favor Konis...but that's just me..Hope this helps some..

Tripl7

Depending on what you need to replace, if your swaying towards some used parts I have the whole front end from my 84 removed. I have no need for it, was for a project put on hold indefinitely. PM me if that's something your interested in, I wouldn't mind a drive down to help a local 944 owner

Karl_W944

PM SENT!!

BoulderGeek

That's some cool community spirit, right there.

Tripl7

When you live in Michigan where garbage roads & salt is your enemy 6 months out of the year, we have to stick together!

Plus, I only know a few Porsche owners in my area, most of them are not on any forums not sure why when we have one of the most awesome forums on the web!

Karl_W944

Thanks to to Tripl7, I now have struts and springs that are in better condition than my current ones!

The next thing on my list of things to get are control arm bushings, and I'm not sure which ones to get and where to get them from? Again, I'm just looking for something that is the same as stock quality-wise for a good price; any handling improvements are a plus. But it seems that they're out of stock for most sites. And then there's some things about removing the liner and I don't understand that at all. Suffice to say, the only ones I can find in stock are the Weltmiester PB-1019 and PB-1020, for the front and rear bushings respectively. Will those be good enough for fun street driving?

I was told the control arms and ball joints were still in good shape, so I'm leaning towards not replacing them for now. At least not until I can afford brand new struts and such.

I'll know more and have some kinda plan of action on Monday hopefully.

SloMo228

I don't have any experience with Weltmeister's bushings, but I have done urethane bushing swaps on past cars. The problem with urethane is that it needs to be greased, and the grease tends to squeeze out pretty quickly. So they tend to be pretty squeaky, which can be obnoxious on a street car.

Honestly, while you're in there, I'd suggest replacing the ball joints too. They're cheap and easy to do on an early car, and it's just good insurance.

The control arm itself doesn't really wear out unless it's damaged in a crash or hard racing with large ARBs.

Also, doing the work yourself isn't too bad. Suspension work is not complicated, it's just swapping parts. The hardest part is probably going to be getting everything apart - expect a good amount of corrosion. Just make sure everything is properly torqued when you put it back together.

After you get it all back together, you can do an eyeball alignment to get it close enough to drive it to the shop and have them do it to spec, or you can budget an afternoon and do a string alignment. There are lots of good DIY articles online about how to do an alignment at home with simple tools. It's not hard, just time consuming.

thomasmryan

I try to go after the worst offenders first then narrow it down as the budget allows.

Replacing the shocks yielded the greatest improvement. The inner tie rods where spent so new assemblies tightened up the steering nicely. I put black powerflex in the front bushing of the lca but stock bushings are similarly priced. If you get a 45-55 mph shimmy, look at your castor blocks. The passenger side may get soft with power steering leaks..oil... It is best to be leak free before you replace the rubber stuff.

Karl_W944

I cleaned up the struts as best as I could and primed them for painting tomorrow. They look so much better so far! I'm ordering new C-arm bushings and ball joints tomorrow morning and putting a rush on them to get here before Friday at the latest.

Another thing, the shop noted that the paint on the insides of the wheels was beginning to flake off. Should that concern me much currently?

thomasmryan

Stick on weights need a clean surface...

It would be nice to have the upper spring perch with a lower profile....hmmmm a half an inch or so. It looks like it would clear the top hat of the strut if you did it right.