As winter approaches im starting to think about what direction i should go in terms of what Front Control arms i should convert my car too. My father has some crazy Racing Aluminum ones on his 951 but my pockets are not as deep as his. I've looked at several sites but cannot decide which is right for me. First off my car is going to be a DD/DE car and im looking to spend a reasonable amount of money meaning i probably wont be able to afford the crazy racing arms but i want to get a quality product of course.

 

I've seen reinforced early style A-arms available. They basically weld in steel plate around the open channel on the outer perimeter of the OEM arms. I'm sure someone in the racing forum knows a source.

 

they are boxed blaszak arms, I have a pair I need to sell. includes castor blocks. PM me if you are interested

 

I just bought new early style ones with new bushings/balljoints and they have been fine. Super cheap too, 25 a pop.

 

a local racer told me on all the 944s he buys to strip and build for SPEC he ditches the aluminum arms and goes for steel for strength and they are so inexpensive.

 

Our PCA club only requires reinforced a-arms if you modify the suspension. Assuming that you will want to mod your suspension for track duty, you can buy new steel a-arms and take them to a welder and get them boxed. This will be the cheapest route. The ball joints are cheap and can be easily replaced every year or two. If this is going to be a DD as you say, then get new OEM rubber bushings to make it more bearable on the road.

 

i think this should end all discussions over control arms..

 

One concern people have is that the early cars/924S has a hollow driver side spindle for the speedometer cable. When you put a lot of stress with highly modified suspension on this piece, it becomes prone to failure. I think race-rubber and larger wheels make this a reality. Something to consider. Some will use the spindle from overseas where the passenger side spindle is hollow and the drivers is solid. Then you gotta get a speedo pick-up somewhere.

 

Oh. The steel control arms are the same as early volkswagen rabbit/golf. You can find them under that application more often. Double check this as I may be wrong on some detail.

 

i believe they are on the corrado.

 

I read they were straight off of a VW Rabbit and when adding a sway bar, lowering springs they become more prone to failure. Many club racers have told me the Steel arms are no good and the best route is spend the money for a good set of Aluminum arms.

I was recommended these by a few people and im wondering if anybody has used these.

http://44cup.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=3238

 

I modified a set of steel arms myself with a MIG wire welder. easy stuff. Should be much stronger in bending. You can get the steel to do it from home depot - as the arms are not heat-treated or anything fancy. Mild steel.

 

Buy a new set of steel ones. Old original ones can crack. However new replacement ones are $25 each without a caste block so just replace them. Also get new ball joints for $11 each.

That is what I do on my 944 spec car. I never had them fail due to the sway bar. I have seen a crack develop where the barrel for the crossmember bushing is. There is a tight bend in there and a stress concentration. A crack can develop there. However rather than rienforce it I just buy a spare arm and keep it in my parts bin. It takes me $30 minues to swap and one arm works for both left and right. Inspection take 2 mintues as well.


Plus I like them since a light off they will bend before anything else. So rather then bend the frame or trear up a suspension mount this part bends. Then you replace it and keep going for cheap.

 

they really are ideal because of strength and cost. i think the next pair i get i will boxweld

 

The older steel Arms look like VW A1 style Arms... Not sure of the size specs between the two...

The Corrado is different... it uses an A2 style control arm with through bolt and bushing style setup for both front and rear mounting points the A1 style have the Knoby and slide into place and only through bolt in one location...

The only thing I like about the late/older style control arms are that the Ball Joint is really easy to change and can be slighty adjusted in and outwards where as the Alloy New style ball joint has to be pressed in and out and has no adjustment...

Any Ideas of the size/length specs between the steel and alloy ones..?

Oh and the only failures ive ever seen from a VW Steel control arm is A: Rust or B: Hit the $hit out of a curb! So in my experiences the VW control arms are one tuff piece of steel now aftermarket ones are cheaper quality... ive banged up a few and so have some buddys of mine in both A1 and A2 VWs and lets just say if you were it a race and just happen to hit something like an out of bounds curb or a wall or something that im betting you could still finish the race without a control arm failure even bent it will still drive as for alloy not so lucky once it simply cracks its not long before it will surely break... Just my 2 cents on the reliability of the VW steel arm...