Dryslick13

I just got a rebuilt control arm from Vertex for my 86 944. It appears to have the ball joint pressed into the arm and has the end of the arm pushed in (bent)to hold it in place? Was wondering if this will fatigue the aluminum and make it unsafe? Has putty on the bottom of the b/j so not sure if they use any kind of retaining ring like stock setup. My cores are no good to put in a b/j kit (I don't think). They have had damage at the top of the arms where the ball pin comes out the top. Might have to suck it up and buy new arms or find some good rebuildable arms. Ended up finding a right side arm on clearance with no core for $199. It was rebuilt by Dynamic European Technologies. Appears to have a OEM style replacement ball joint. Think that one is good to go. Too bad they (AutoMotion) only had those for the right side.

Dryslick13

Forgot to mention, that I have read several threads about the Vertex arms. Posts were both neg and pos, so I'm hoping that I might be OK for a while. They do have a 24 month warranty on them at least.

Potomac-Greg

Take a picture of it, if you can.

Dryslick13

Here are a couple of pics. One of my old arm and one of the Vertex arm with the dent in the end of it. It is only dented at the bottom.

Dryslick13

Does the old one look like junk? Or is it fixable? How safe does the Vertex arm look? Good to use for average street use?

RDL

That looks like one of the newer version non-rebuildable arms.

Travis - sflraver

The vertex arm is a machine out rebuild. They machine out the pocket and insert a Febi (VW style) ball joint. The flat grey part you see is the epoxy they use to seal it. The dent should not matter because of where its at. That arm should be ok for street but just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get loose on you.

The old one needs to be rebuilt. You can see where the ball pocket is just starting to get a rolled edge from pin contact due to no bushing material left. It is most noticeable at the 1 O'Clock position in your picture where the ball / pocket meets. It is still a great candidate for a conventional rebuild. Give me a ring tomorrow and I can set you up with a half kit to rebuild that one arm if you like.

Travis

Dryslick13

Thanks for the info Travis! I should have called you in the 1st place! I did order some small parts from you the other week. Quick shipping. I will probably rebuild the right side I have at some point, but need to send the left one in to get the core charge back. One thing I forgot to mention is that my car has been lowered about 1.5" all around. It has Weltmiester SP250 springs on it. Didn't know if that would make a difference on the ball joints?