Steel Arms
07-25-2002, 03:22 AM
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Track Day
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Steel Arms
Hi David,
Can you e-mail to me too. I've already got the
parts. Funny thing though, the front rubber bushings
that I've got appears to be slightly shorter.
Is it suppose to expend went installed & which
side of the bushing should face forwards.
Thanks
Can you e-mail to me too. I've already got the
parts. Funny thing though, the front rubber bushings
that I've got appears to be slightly shorter.
Is it suppose to expend went installed & which
side of the bushing should face forwards.
Thanks
07-25-2002, 05:45 AM
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Here is what dan sent me as an attachment to his e-mail (thanks dan! hope you don't mine me posting it):
- Arms (x2) 171.407.153D
- Ball joints (x2) 171.407.365G
- Bushing, front (x2) 171.407.182D
- Bushing, rear (x2) 477.407.181A
- Bushing clip, rear (x2) 477.407.169
- Bolts, ball joint (x6) M7 x 20
- lock washers (x6) A7
- nuts (x6) M7
The bushing clip may have to be sourced from a dismantler. The bolts and such can be sourced from a hardware store (grade 8 or better) and you can use nylock nuts (I did). You can use the existing hardware for the A-arm mounting to chassis points.
Removal
1. Raise side of car that you will be working on with a floor jack; if you are changing both arms, raise front of car. In either case, secure with properly rated, good quality jack stands. Also utilize the correct jack points (refer to owners manual). Emergency brake on, rear wheels blocked and negative terminal disconnected from battery. (Better safe than dead!)
2. Remove wheel(s).
3. Remove bottom engine cover trays. On cars with a single plastic tray, you will have to remove six to eight M6 bolts with a 10 mm socket and ratchet. On the 944 Turbo and S2, there are auxiliary trays held on with philips head fasteners.
4. Mark with scribe or paint pen the caster eccentric bolt alignment to arm (rear of control arm), and rear control arm bushing assembly alignment to chassis. It may be necessary to replace this bushing assembly; check for wear and rubber deterioration. It is important that this eccentric bolt is marked prior to removal for proper caster alignment. This does not guarantee that the alignment will not change, there will be different tolerances upon assembly (new parts bushings etc.).
5. The following is a list of fasteners that will be removed during this procedure:
a. Sway bar clamp nuts/bolts (2)
b. Sway bar bushing assembly nut/bolt/rubber bushings(2)/washers(2)(center of A-arm).
c. Pinch bolt and nut on bottom of spindle (secures ball joint shaft to spindle).
d. Front control arm nut/bolt (attaches front of control arm to bottom of cross member).
e. Rear control arm bushing mount assembly/bolts(2)/washers(2) (attached to chassis)
f. Eccentric rear control arm bolt/nut/washer (connects control arm to rear control arm bushing mount.
6. Remove bolt/nut from bottom of spindle/strut.
7. Remove bolts(2)/nuts(2) from sway bar clamp bracket.
8. Remove nut/washer/bushing from top of sway bar bushing assembly, tap bolt out from top of a arm, remove lower washer/bushing and bolt. Check these bushings for wear and rubber deterioration, and if in doubt, replace them. If you do this, I
If you are removing the rear bushing mount from the eccentric bolt, make sure the eccentric bolt center is marked in relation to the rear of the arm! You will transfer this mark to the new arm. Remove both nuts from eccentric and mount, remove from arm.
9. With a rubber/plastic mallet tap the outer end of the control arm so that the ball joint spud comes out of the bottom of the spindle/strut assembly.
10. Control arm should now be free. Remove it from the car.
I know I am making a big deal concerning the eccentric and it seems confusing, but it will all come together when you actually see how it works.
11. would replace all the bushings at the same time.
12. Remove front control arm bolt/washer/nut from cross member. This bolt is rather long, the steering tie rod/spindle assembly must be moved in order to slide the bolt out. Don’t worry there is plenty of play here. Tap on bolt to get it started, it may have to be tapped through while moving the arm side to side.
13. Remove rear control arm bushing mount bolts(2)/washers(2)
14. Discard the the lock nuts that you have removed.
If you are not replacing the rear bushing mount assembly it is only necessary to remove the front most nut/washer of the rear part of the control arm. You can then transfer this assembly to the new control arm without moving the eccentric bolt position, relative to the bushing/bearing mount.
15.
Installation
All lock nuts must be replaced. The lock nuts are not reusable! Use anti-seize on the bolts, thus preventing future problems with stuck nuts.
1. Transfer scribe mark from old a-arm to replacement arm. This part is not necessary if you did not replace the rear bushing mount.
2. Attach eccentric bolt/bushing mount to rear of new/rebuilt control arm, depending on what you removed. Align scribe marks of eccentric to arm, replace with new nuts and torque to spec, making sure that marks stay aligned!
3. Place arm in position, fitting front arm bushing in cross member.
4. Align bolt holes and replace bolt/washers/nut.
5. Attach rear bushing mount with bolts/washers to chassis; align to scribe marks, torque to spec.
6. Position ball joint spud so it fits into bottom of spindle assembly, making sure that spud is pushed up all the way. Replace bolt and nut.
7. Attach sway bar bushing mount into control arm, replace with new lock nut.
8. Attach sway bar bushing clip to chassis bracket. The shock may have to be depressed in order to align the bolt holes. I used the jack to depress the control arm/strut. Replace bolts and new lock nuts.
9. Once sway bar mounts are positioned correctly, torque all lock nuts to specs.
10. Replace wheel. Tighten nuts in a star pattern in order to attach wheel properly.
11. Torque all nuts to spec. (see below)
12. Check all work for mistakes, and those extra fasteners; where did they go?
13. Lower car, remove rear tire blocks, and enjoy those new control arms.
14. Test drive car. How does it feel? If you followed this procedure carefully, you will probably not experience any alignment problems. When you replace your tires you can have an alignment shop check the front out and make sure it is in spec. Make sure that you use a reputable shop that is familiar with Porsches, especially 944’s. Just because a shop has a lot of money invested in equipment does not automatically make them qualified to do work on Porsches. This is one of the reasons that I do as much work as possible on my Porsche; very few mechanics will take the time and care that is required to maintain your car properly, like you would.
15. Pat yourself on the back; you did that yourself!
Torque Specifications
Location Thread Tightening Torque
Control arm to cross member, lock nut M12 x 1.5 mm 48 ftlb, 65 Nm
Control arm bearing assembly (caster eccentric) to body, bolt M10 34 ftlb, 46 Nm
Control arm bearing to control arm, lock nut VM12 x 1.5 74 ftlb, 100 Nm
Clamp for stabilizer (sway bar), lock nut M8 17 ftlb, 23 Nm
Stabilizer linkage to control arm, lock nut M10 18 ftlb, 24 Nm
Control arm ball joint to steering knuckle, lock nut M10 37 ftlb, 50 Nm
Light alloy wheel to hub, lug nut M14 96 ftlb, 130 Nm
Note that the torque spec for the control arm bearing assembly to the control arm is for the updated VM12 x 1.5 lock nuts. The older style M12 x 1.5 lock nuts were torqued to 63 ftlb, 85 Nm.
Helpful tips:
If you ordered the arms from us, you will not need the front bushing (171.407.182D) - they come preinstalled to the steel arms. The rear clip must be sourced used from a dismantler - I will be gathering up a bunch of these soon to draw from our own stock, maybe a month out on that though. The M7 bolts and nuts for the ball joints are in reference to the size being 7mm. These can be very hard to find locally, so I recommend folks use either 8mm or 5/16" hardware instead (bolts should be ~20mm or 3/4" thread length) and use nylock or crimped lock nuts.
Installation is fairly straight forward - there are a couple of hints:
- the rear bushing supplied on the arms we carry must be removed, and the correct part installed. The rubber bushing uses a metal collar - this collar is a pressure fit to the rear mounting rod... it should not rotate freely. You must carefully compensate for the appropriate angle that the car will be at rest - to properly set the rear bushing in place... a mistake here may mean you have to cut off or ruin the bushing to relocate - experiences vary.
- the front mounting between the tangs of the aluminum chassis crossmember is a bit off from that of the original unit. This may require the use of at least one thick washer (A12 - 12mm) on either side of the rubber bushing... it's a tight fit, but it does work.
- caster settings are now accomplished only by movement of the rear bushing block - there is no more caster eccentric tab as before.
- an alignment will be needed
- *** IMPORTANT****
- one thing that Skip didn’t mention is that when you do this swap you will have to find a way to re-mount the sway bar. Basically you have 3 choices: buy the older style sway bar mount, stick the drop link for the sway bar through the hole in the control arm, or weld it together. I elected to buy the older style sway bar mount. I also got this from Part Heaven.
- Arms (x2) 171.407.153D
- Ball joints (x2) 171.407.365G
- Bushing, front (x2) 171.407.182D
- Bushing, rear (x2) 477.407.181A
- Bushing clip, rear (x2) 477.407.169
- Bolts, ball joint (x6) M7 x 20
- lock washers (x6) A7
- nuts (x6) M7
The bushing clip may have to be sourced from a dismantler. The bolts and such can be sourced from a hardware store (grade 8 or better) and you can use nylock nuts (I did). You can use the existing hardware for the A-arm mounting to chassis points.
Removal
1. Raise side of car that you will be working on with a floor jack; if you are changing both arms, raise front of car. In either case, secure with properly rated, good quality jack stands. Also utilize the correct jack points (refer to owners manual). Emergency brake on, rear wheels blocked and negative terminal disconnected from battery. (Better safe than dead!)
2. Remove wheel(s).
3. Remove bottom engine cover trays. On cars with a single plastic tray, you will have to remove six to eight M6 bolts with a 10 mm socket and ratchet. On the 944 Turbo and S2, there are auxiliary trays held on with philips head fasteners.
4. Mark with scribe or paint pen the caster eccentric bolt alignment to arm (rear of control arm), and rear control arm bushing assembly alignment to chassis. It may be necessary to replace this bushing assembly; check for wear and rubber deterioration. It is important that this eccentric bolt is marked prior to removal for proper caster alignment. This does not guarantee that the alignment will not change, there will be different tolerances upon assembly (new parts bushings etc.).
5. The following is a list of fasteners that will be removed during this procedure:
a. Sway bar clamp nuts/bolts (2)
b. Sway bar bushing assembly nut/bolt/rubber bushings(2)/washers(2)(center of A-arm).
c. Pinch bolt and nut on bottom of spindle (secures ball joint shaft to spindle).
d. Front control arm nut/bolt (attaches front of control arm to bottom of cross member).
e. Rear control arm bushing mount assembly/bolts(2)/washers(2) (attached to chassis)
f. Eccentric rear control arm bolt/nut/washer (connects control arm to rear control arm bushing mount.
6. Remove bolt/nut from bottom of spindle/strut.
7. Remove bolts(2)/nuts(2) from sway bar clamp bracket.
8. Remove nut/washer/bushing from top of sway bar bushing assembly, tap bolt out from top of a arm, remove lower washer/bushing and bolt. Check these bushings for wear and rubber deterioration, and if in doubt, replace them. If you do this, I
If you are removing the rear bushing mount from the eccentric bolt, make sure the eccentric bolt center is marked in relation to the rear of the arm! You will transfer this mark to the new arm. Remove both nuts from eccentric and mount, remove from arm.
9. With a rubber/plastic mallet tap the outer end of the control arm so that the ball joint spud comes out of the bottom of the spindle/strut assembly.
10. Control arm should now be free. Remove it from the car.
I know I am making a big deal concerning the eccentric and it seems confusing, but it will all come together when you actually see how it works.
11. would replace all the bushings at the same time.
12. Remove front control arm bolt/washer/nut from cross member. This bolt is rather long, the steering tie rod/spindle assembly must be moved in order to slide the bolt out. Don’t worry there is plenty of play here. Tap on bolt to get it started, it may have to be tapped through while moving the arm side to side.
13. Remove rear control arm bushing mount bolts(2)/washers(2)
14. Discard the the lock nuts that you have removed.
If you are not replacing the rear bushing mount assembly it is only necessary to remove the front most nut/washer of the rear part of the control arm. You can then transfer this assembly to the new control arm without moving the eccentric bolt position, relative to the bushing/bearing mount.
15.
Installation
All lock nuts must be replaced. The lock nuts are not reusable! Use anti-seize on the bolts, thus preventing future problems with stuck nuts.
1. Transfer scribe mark from old a-arm to replacement arm. This part is not necessary if you did not replace the rear bushing mount.
2. Attach eccentric bolt/bushing mount to rear of new/rebuilt control arm, depending on what you removed. Align scribe marks of eccentric to arm, replace with new nuts and torque to spec, making sure that marks stay aligned!
3. Place arm in position, fitting front arm bushing in cross member.
4. Align bolt holes and replace bolt/washers/nut.
5. Attach rear bushing mount with bolts/washers to chassis; align to scribe marks, torque to spec.
6. Position ball joint spud so it fits into bottom of spindle assembly, making sure that spud is pushed up all the way. Replace bolt and nut.
7. Attach sway bar bushing mount into control arm, replace with new lock nut.
8. Attach sway bar bushing clip to chassis bracket. The shock may have to be depressed in order to align the bolt holes. I used the jack to depress the control arm/strut. Replace bolts and new lock nuts.
9. Once sway bar mounts are positioned correctly, torque all lock nuts to specs.
10. Replace wheel. Tighten nuts in a star pattern in order to attach wheel properly.
11. Torque all nuts to spec. (see below)
12. Check all work for mistakes, and those extra fasteners; where did they go?
13. Lower car, remove rear tire blocks, and enjoy those new control arms.
14. Test drive car. How does it feel? If you followed this procedure carefully, you will probably not experience any alignment problems. When you replace your tires you can have an alignment shop check the front out and make sure it is in spec. Make sure that you use a reputable shop that is familiar with Porsches, especially 944’s. Just because a shop has a lot of money invested in equipment does not automatically make them qualified to do work on Porsches. This is one of the reasons that I do as much work as possible on my Porsche; very few mechanics will take the time and care that is required to maintain your car properly, like you would.
15. Pat yourself on the back; you did that yourself!
Torque Specifications
Location Thread Tightening Torque
Control arm to cross member, lock nut M12 x 1.5 mm 48 ftlb, 65 Nm
Control arm bearing assembly (caster eccentric) to body, bolt M10 34 ftlb, 46 Nm
Control arm bearing to control arm, lock nut VM12 x 1.5 74 ftlb, 100 Nm
Clamp for stabilizer (sway bar), lock nut M8 17 ftlb, 23 Nm
Stabilizer linkage to control arm, lock nut M10 18 ftlb, 24 Nm
Control arm ball joint to steering knuckle, lock nut M10 37 ftlb, 50 Nm
Light alloy wheel to hub, lug nut M14 96 ftlb, 130 Nm
Note that the torque spec for the control arm bearing assembly to the control arm is for the updated VM12 x 1.5 lock nuts. The older style M12 x 1.5 lock nuts were torqued to 63 ftlb, 85 Nm.
Helpful tips:
If you ordered the arms from us, you will not need the front bushing (171.407.182D) - they come preinstalled to the steel arms. The rear clip must be sourced used from a dismantler - I will be gathering up a bunch of these soon to draw from our own stock, maybe a month out on that though. The M7 bolts and nuts for the ball joints are in reference to the size being 7mm. These can be very hard to find locally, so I recommend folks use either 8mm or 5/16" hardware instead (bolts should be ~20mm or 3/4" thread length) and use nylock or crimped lock nuts.
Installation is fairly straight forward - there are a couple of hints:
- the rear bushing supplied on the arms we carry must be removed, and the correct part installed. The rubber bushing uses a metal collar - this collar is a pressure fit to the rear mounting rod... it should not rotate freely. You must carefully compensate for the appropriate angle that the car will be at rest - to properly set the rear bushing in place... a mistake here may mean you have to cut off or ruin the bushing to relocate - experiences vary.
- the front mounting between the tangs of the aluminum chassis crossmember is a bit off from that of the original unit. This may require the use of at least one thick washer (A12 - 12mm) on either side of the rubber bushing... it's a tight fit, but it does work.
- caster settings are now accomplished only by movement of the rear bushing block - there is no more caster eccentric tab as before.
- an alignment will be needed
- *** IMPORTANT****
- one thing that Skip didn’t mention is that when you do this swap you will have to find a way to re-mount the sway bar. Basically you have 3 choices: buy the older style sway bar mount, stick the drop link for the sway bar through the hole in the control arm, or weld it together. I elected to buy the older style sway bar mount. I also got this from Part Heaven.
