vt951

Maybe the legal risk could be mediated by selling them "for off road use only"? I think all racers realize that stuff tends to break when you race. If you make them out of mild steel, there is much less risk of catastrophic failure. They will bend rather than shatter like chromoly.

vt951

My brother in law has a chassis fabrication shop (mostly for dirt track / modifieds, etc.) He also teaches welding, fabrication, and suspension at a high performance motorsports technical school. We were just talking last weekend about how expensive the 944 control arms are in relation to how cheap and easy they would be to fabricate (for him anyway). He is interested in starting to make them, as well as roll bars, for the 944 community at much lower prices. I am taking my car to his shop in a couple weeks to start measuring. We had planned on starting with the roll bar since I need one now, but if there is enough interest I could see if he wants to start with the control arms. Also, my car is an '86, so if we want early and late control arms to be offered, we might need to borrow someone's late offset car for a day sometime. He's located in northwestern Ohio, near Lima.

TurboTim

Our arms use the stock caster block.

We build our arms for early and late offset.We dont use adaptors to use one arm for both early and late offset.

We actually have two different arms that we build so we can use a true 3/4" heim joint.I know some peopele were concerned about the heim joint being used as a ball joint like our arms and the Lindsey arms but......our arms have been track tested for many years now. We can also modify our pins to have more mass where the pin goes through the spindle.It will actually be a good design change so we can incorporate that into future arms.

Chads996

Thank you all for the great responses. There have been many people interested in fabricating these. I am working to grab a spare set of OE control arms. This process will be a careful one to undertake. It will take time to find the properly durable and safe cost effective solution.

Thanks.

C.

harrisonrick

Now that is good news. Someone get this guy a late offset control arm...STAT!

Put me down for one set.

vt951

So, are you planning to offer these for sale, or just making them for yourself?

Chads996

I won't know until I design up a solution and test it. If it works...maybe. Or maybe I sell the solution to a Rennlist vendor. Time will tell the tale.

C.

vt951

Cool, there's one already! Let us get our ducks in a row and I will keep you posted as this progresses. I need to find out what he will charge for them, and will let you know. I think we'll all be very pleased with the price.

What do you guys think about a design that incorporates the rennbay track/performance ball joint kit and uses the stock 944 or 968 caster block?

Thanks for your interest!

vt951

That's cool. Just warning you, my brother in law is really fast and good... You might want to just wait a little while to see what we come up with.

Chads996

Cool stuff. For all - think Mild steel. After having a great conversation this morning, I agree that Mild steel is the better material choice over Chrome Moly.

Stay tuned. More to come.

C.

Chads996

Sure. By all means. Feel free. This issue has been known for years. Someone simply needs to grab the opportunity to not only make a buck or two, but help out the 944 Racers and Community.

Please keep us posted on your progress. Measure twice and cut once.

C.

harrisonrick

Yes and yes on the 968 CBs....then I can use the new ones I have waiting to be installed over the winter!

Keep me posted on the price...if good, its really a no brainer to get new control arms + ball joints from Travis. Mine are original.

2BWise

If I had the tools and facilities I would have finally gotten to work on the list of parts I want to make. Some of which I have preliminary designs. On the list is control arms.

There are several questions I've got for those that do currently make them and maybe SFR is capable of answering.
- Why rod ends at the upright? Why not use sphericals? Easy to replace and more reliable (higher loading capability)
-Why use pins? Wouldn't it be as easy to thread the upright and use a 19mm bolt. Makes removable much easier

TurboTim

Ok...So I am not understanding this.....there is a viable solution for a good price and yet people are wating for something to come out down the road that might or might not work with no pricing as of yet? Hmmm............I dont get it.How much cheaper you think it is going to get? I can tell you the price for the heims and pin is $250(we use the best there is).The materials (which include the appropriate threaded bosses for the heims) are $85.The delrin bushings are $20.The powder coating is $75 and the machining and welding is surely worth something.

Ok .How about this:
$900 a set shipped for mild steel arms with upgraded pins?This price will not be beat by anyone who is going to use the same qaulity materials we are using.

TurboTim

[QUOTE=2BWise;6048411]If I had the tools and facilities I would have finally gotten to work on the list of parts I want to make. Some of which I have preliminary designs. On the list is control arms.

There are several questions I've got for those that do currently make them and maybe SFR is capable of answering.
- Why rod ends at the upright? Why not use sphericals? Easy to replace and more reliable (higher loading capability)



The pieces we did come up with will not allow a camber adjustment since they would be fixed to the arm via welding of the cup


-Why use pins? Wouldn't it be as easy to thread the upright and use a 19mm bolt. Makes removable much easier


Because these chrome-moly hiems are used on trucks in the Baja 1000 and are desinged for off road use.They will not break on your track car.We have seen trucks fly over 100 feet through the air as high as 30 feet off the ground and not break these.