944Cup

Box weld those steel arms if u plan to go on track

genikz

Dave, how old were those control arms? Is that a Welt 28mm sway bar?

M758

From the looks of it those are orginal arms since the ball joint is riveted in place. Replacements don't come with ball joints so you just bolt them in.

Also I assume a 28 mm welt sway bar what were the spring rates used as I can see from the mount.

And.. what the hell is that plate inside of the welt mount? The rusty one?

944Cup

Not my car, so couldn't say on the age on the arms. Sway bar was a 28 or 30 an almost certainly added to stress on the arm. Happened at CMP last weekend. Have seen other similar faliures of these arms in the Cup series. There are other good aftermarket arms available which provide another safe alternative for heavy use, such as Charlie arms and Fabcar arms.

Cory M

Also inspect your car regularly, especially before taking it to the track. There is a good chance that arm was cracked for a long time before it finally failed.

FRporscheman

I need to ask a few questions, please forgive my ignorance - I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the racing and aftermarket suspension world.

Does the weltmeister sway bar attach differently than the early or late 944 sway bar? Does it involve drilling a hole in the early a-arm? So is that what the plates & nuts are for? Lastly, did that a-arm fail right at the location of the drilled hole?

V2Rocket

thats strange..my early 944 has the steel arms but it has holes for the swaybar close to the balljoint..??

genikz

Agreed about the age of the control arms, Joe. They look original to me too. For $25 each, I replace them every year.

kennycoulter

i thought the aluminum ones were the faily-types?
my early arms also have 2 small bolt holes closer to the ball joint for the sway bar bushing/housing.

MAGK944

Contrary to popular opinion (or myth), the aluminum ones never fail on track cars unless they are misused. By that I mean wrong geometry, spring rate and sway bar combinations. It's from experience and what I've heard but will welcome anyone proving me wrong.

Cory M

Every year is a little excessive, want to send me your used ones at the end of the year?

FRporscheman

Sway bars mount differently on steel vs aluminum control arms. On the early steel arms, the bar is clamped directly to the arm. On the late aluminum arms, there is a droplink with one bolt.

StoogeMoe

This is what I did with mine. All three sides are welded. I hope this is correct.



I'll find out next weekend at Pocono.

V2Rocket

oh thats pretty cool, the welded plates on each side.

that failed arm seems to have broken right at the mount for the swaybar...with too much force on that bar the mounting plate will act like a metal shear.

good thing theyre probably VW parts

M758

The steel arms do require you to drill a hole in them. It also does appear that the failure was at that point. However that arm is 20 -25+ years old. Steel arms are cheap and replacing this importnat. I have seen cracks in original arms before, but alwys where the arm meets the crossmember. There is a stress concentraion in loop that holds the busing and that cat crack. However it takes only a short time to inspect the arm and since they are so cheap and can be mounted on the left or right side I suggest keeping a spare in your parts box. If it looks cracked replace it.

I have never seen one crack like that. I did however bend on pretty bad back in 2003. I had just replaced my arms a few months earlier and went off track at Willow Springs. I end up running up a berm pretty far off track it it bent the car pretty badly. It look like that except it was bent not broked. I hammer the tie rod straight and put in a spare arm I had in the truck.

So I am still pretty confident that my steel arms are fine. I will inspect them more closely in that area and replace if needed. The thing is that the price is so cheap they can be throw aways of you like.