*eurospeed951*

Ok, I have an 88 951. The ball joints,tie rod ends and most of the suspension bushings are shot. I know there are differences between years, but I have no idea what they are. What is the best replacement, rebuild, or upgrade option? Thanks

*eurospeed951*

So I guess I can have them rebuilt for like 150 or get upgrades for like 2k. Hmmm

Travis - sflraver

pre 86 a arms were steel and the ball joints are easy to replace.

86 they went to an aluminum a arm with a ball joint that is more costly to replace

87+ went with the same aluminum a arm but they made it longer. The extra lenth called for longer tie rods and a diffrent strut top. Also because of the added lenth the 87+ rims had a diffrent offset to avoid fender rub.

also they steel arms had a diffrent setup for a front sway bar that was diffrent from the 86 and 87+ arms. I just fixed a set of steel arms so they would take the 86 sway bar and installed them today on my 86. It required a hole drilled in the arm and some sleaves to hold the rubber pieces in place. While I was there I also welded some extra pieces to the arms so they would be a bit stiffer. That is the main diffrence between the steel and aluminum arms, the fact the the steel ones will flex much more.

Hope this helps some.

also I have a set of 87+ arms with good ball joints I am not useing right now if you are intrested in them.

*eurospeed951*

I might be. How much and what is the condition? Thanks for the info!

Travis - sflraver

one is a rebuild with less than 1000 miles on it and the other was used but in great condition when I got it. The boots are good with no rips and no play in the joints. I'd need $175 for them (thats what I got them for about a month ago) If you need them just drop me an email. I have UPS pickup every day so they can go out as soon as you want.

Luis de Prat

I just had this done on my 90 944S2 cab. I decided to have the ball joints replaced on the original control arms, which it turns out IS possible, with a Turbo Cup balljoint rebuild kit from SSI Auto.

Check out their site at the following link:

<a href="http://www.ssiauto.com/" target="_blank">http://www.ssiauto.com/</a>

Click on "performance," then on "Porsche," and you'll see a photo of the kit, which also costs much less than rebuilt arms.

I just put 5,700 miles on my S2 with the new balljoints, and the handling is great.

Good luck with it.

Tabor

[quote]Originally posted by sflraver:
<strong>pre 86 a arms were steel and the ball joints are easy to replace.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I just wanted to note that the change to aluminum a-arms was made mid model year in 1985. The cars with oval dashes and aluminum a-arms are called 1985.5 cars.