EJnMN

I was told that these are interchangeable... an easy swap. We took the 944 assemblies out easily enough, but we can't get the brackets with the holes for the eccentric and normal bolts over the flange on the steering knuckle to which they mount. It is as if the 951 is for a One mm smaller knuckle.

Is there a magic trick, or order of events, that makes this easier or possible to do? We tried prying the brackets apart a bit... but to no avail... those things are solid! It looks like if we got the spring compressors out, we could come down from the top, and there might be a slightly wider opening at the base of the bracket.

Regardless, we figured it was smarter to ask here than to keep struggling.

Any ideas?

sayporsha

It won't fit, as I recently discovered from personal experience. It's ironic, because you'd think the 86 951 knuckle would be thicker than the older NA at the attachment point. Do some searches - I recently saw a thread where someone listed which models are interchangeable.

aribop

First, you have to mill 1mm off each side of the 1983 steering knuckle for the 951 strut to slide over it.
Second, the holes in the strut will not line up with the holes in the knuckle. If I remember correctly, you will have to elongate the bottom hole of the strut up towards the top of the strut about 10mm.

EJnMN

Bummer. That explains it.

Which is easier... take the inserts and stiffer springs (two yellow dots=med springs) from the 951 towers and put them into the 944 towers, or do the modifications listed above?

Legoland951

The 86 turbo will not have inserts. They are sealed and you cannot remove the cap without destroying them. The best way is to get 86 spindles/hub and convert your n/a to turbo spindles/hub/brakes or just to buy new inserts for your 83 and use the turbo springs.

moorepower

Aren't the yellow dot turbo springs the same rate (21.8 N/m or something) as the n/a springs?

EJnMN

I found a site that said that 2 yellow dots was the medium of the spring rates for the turbo. Could not find what was stock on the 83 NA... If someone has a reference list of all those "dot-codes", that would be very helpful. The ones coming off the NA had 3 light-blue dots.

moorepower

The number of dots on the spring indicates a tolerance group. I guess they test each spring's rate, and all springs within a certain range (the FSM says +/- 4%) get either one, two , or three dots. So theoretically, a spring with two dots would be 4% stiffer than one with one dot, and a three dot would be 4% stiffer than a two dot. I believe this was done to keep a set nearly matched during assembly.

The more telling part is the color of the dots. The different colors indicate different rates and lengths. This is what I found in my FSM. I don't have the Turbo supplement, so I'm not sure if the colors are the same for all of those springs.

Blue :944/924S standard and sport shocks. Rate: 21.8N/mm Length:381mm
Red :944/924S up to '86 with M030. Rate: 24.1N/mm Length:359mm
White/Blue :'87 and up 944 with M030. Rate: 28N/mm Length:329mm
White :944S standard shocks. Rate: 21.8N/mm Length:407mm
Yellow :944S sport shocks. Rate: 21.8N/mm Length:396mm
Purple :944S2 standard shocks. Rate: 23.8N/mm Length:378mm
Turquoise :944S2 sport shocks. Rate: 23.8N/mm Length: 367mm
White/Yellow:944S2 with M030. Rate: 28N/mm Length: 329mm
Beige :944S2 with M031(Turbo running gear tuning). Rate: 28N/mm Length: 348mm