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I figured instead of making a new thread every time I need help or advice with something, I'm just going to use one continuous thread to follow everything I do with my car starting from now to forever, and share my experience with you all; as I'm sure some interesting things will happen.
The car in question is my '84 944 I bought as my first "bought myself/project/Porsche" car, after two years of searching on Halloween, 2014.
I got it with a little over 118k miles on the odometer and payed $3200 for it.
It's now been 7 months since then, and I'm loving every second of it!! The car and I have come a long way since last fall. I did my first spark plug and oil change, and coolant/radiator flush on this car, and learned how to do the timing and balance shaft belts, and cam tower gasket with the help of my nearby friend and member Mazda. Cleaned her up and she looks 30 years younger!!
Now I still have some things I need to take care of, I'll be changing my brake pads soon, once I get those annoying wheel locks off as they won't budge. But the first thing I'd like to address is my suspension.
Michigan isn't known for it's "good" roads, and driving over them, I hear a clunking sound, as if the front wheels are wobbling on bumpy and uneven roads like a truck. I know I need new struts and shocks all around, but I feel as though it's something else as well. I'll have to check lift the wheels and check them for play later, but what could it be? Wheel bearings perhaps? What other suspects should I look at, please advise.
The front ball joints and the tie rod ends are pretty easy to change out...power steering or manual will make a difference to the inner tie rods, but not too much on the outers...that should tighten up the front end..new control arms aren't that expensive and you may want to go back in with polyurethane bushings..on the lower control arm and sway bar..IMHO.
I got 3 of them to come off with the key a couple months ago. Now none of them save for one want to come off. PB Blaster seemed to not do much to help me out. I just trying to avoid drilling them off should it ever reach that point.
Originally Posted by V996
CV joints in good condition?
Not sure yet, I'll be under the car after work this afternoon.
The front ball joints and the tie rod ends are pretty easy to change out...power steering or manual will make a difference to the inner tie rods, but not too much on the outers...that should tighten up the front end..new control arms aren't that expensive and you may want to go back in with polyurethane bushings..on the lower control arm and sway bar..IMHO.
Kind of unrelated, but if you're doing suspension overhaul you should check the wheel bearings too. Consider replacing the hollow LF spindle with a solid one.
Michigan isn't known for it's "good" roads, and driving over them, I hear a clunking sound, as if the front wheels are wobbling on bumpy and uneven roads like a truck. I know I need new struts and shocks all around, but I feel as though it's something else as well. I'll have to check lift the wheels and check them for play later, but what could it be? Wheel bearings perhaps? What other suspects should I look at, please advise.
There are only a few things that could cause clunking in the front, and with an early car, you're fortunate in that replacement parts for the front suspension are relatively inexpensive. Here's what could be causing the problem:
And finally, or rather first, check for loose bolts. I have heard of people needing to replace the lower strut mount bolts, especially the eccentric bolt that controls your camber adjustment. If that one's loose, you'd definitely be experiencing knocking and weird handling. If your alignment is out of whack that would also cause funky handling, though not any knocking just on its own.
I jacked up the side that made the most noise to my ear, the driver's side. I checked the wheel for play, and it's not wobbling at all. When I spin the wheel, however, there is a small amount of a metal -on-metal like grinding noise I hear.
I'm still rather inexperienced with this car, so I'm not completely sure where things are and what they look like; I can post pics though if it helps any.
EDIT: There's a grinding sound coming from all 4 wheels when I spin them. Wheel bearings I reckon?
06-06-2015, 12:54 PM
Karl's 944 Thread
