Clint's 944

^^^ the above picture looks like the rear^^^^

In the picture with the car up on jack-stands, it looks like there might be a spacer on the front hub?

Player0

I'll be honest, I don't really know what a spacer looks like. But I took the wheel off yesterday to look at other things and basically the wheel bolts directly to the hub, which itself is bolted to the disc. There's really nothing in between the hub and the wheel, if that's where a spacer would go. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when I changed the bearings in the hubs last year.

Is it possible that the rims are the wrong offset or something? Is that information printed anywhere?

MAGK944

Agree with Clint here the front wheels seem like they are pushed out by about 1 inch. Theres really only three things that would do that:

1. You have late-offset control arms fitted.
2. You have a spacer behind the wheels.
3. You have rear early offset phonedials in the front.

The offset is cast into the rear of the wheels, will look like "ET??" the ?? will be the offset. I don't think this is your problem though as you seem to have early offset which is correct for your car. If you had late offsets fitted in there the wheels would sit further in. Suppose you could have lates at the front with a spacer but you say there is no spacer there. You can check though, early numbers would be in the 20's late in the 50's, something like ET23 for early and ET52 for late.

To solve this, post up the front and rear offsets on the wheels, front and rear wheel widths and a picture of your front hub and a-arm.

Player0

Its a 951 362 114 00 rim with ET of 23.3. It's a bit dark so I wasn't able to get the part number off the lower control arm.

Player0

Some photos.

Player0

With some internet digging, it looks like this is the early offset control arm (the late offsets have a hole in the middle it seems). The rim is early offset and there's no spacer. So everything looks fine. Its a 7" rim and stock tire size.

My bump stop doesn't look to be in the best shape. Assuming my spring was old and weak and the bump stop wasn't working as well as it should, could a 944 with all the correct parts bottom out and hit the rim? Or does this have to be an offset issue?

Could it be camber?

968 GUY

Weak springs and worn out struts could be strong candidates.

Clint's 944

Whats your alignment like? One of the pictures looks like you could.....(venturing a wild guess here) could have positive camber. Could also be springs and struts......but they would have to be really shot!

Is the ride bouncy in the front? Can you hear the grinding when you go over a speed bump?

Put the wheel back on and lean on the fender...how much does it drop with your body weight?

Check the ball joints. (With the wheel on...jacked up....grab the wheel at 12:00 and 6:00 and try to wiggle back and forth? Any play?)

Take a look in the wheel well near the edge and the wheel well cover ( the cover should tuck in just behind the lip of the fender). Maybe the wheel well cover is hanging and catching the tire? Is the paint worn off the fender lip anywhere?

Check to see if the bump stops are still there.

Player0

I just had the alignment done a month ago and it came away not needing any changes.

The ride has never felt right to me, though I don't know what a proper 944 is supposed to feel like. I wouldn't call the car bouncy, but it doesn't feel as well controlled as other cars I have.

It doesn't make any noises going over speed bumps. It only grinds on the tire when making moderately hard corners. Specific corners with hills or bumps are worse. This basically happens with the wheels crooked and the suspension bottoming out.

BUT, I'm not entirely sure that's the only time it's made the noise now that I'm over thinking it and questioning everything. It's possible that it's made the noise going straight and hitting a dip. But it's possible that it was the muffler hitting the ground or something too. But the wound on the side of the tire looks like something that would have happened when the wheel was straight. But maybe that's an assumption.

There's basically no play in either wheel, I've been keeping a close eye on that since doing my bearings and also from all the ball joint complaints I read. But everything is quite good there.

The wheel well cover is secured and no signs of rubbing, but the fender lip is slightly bent downward in some areas. I think the tire is doing this.

I'm not sure what you mean by lean on the fender.

Player0

Oh, lean on fender, compress spring. Yeah I've tried that before. I can't compress it enough to bottom it out, though I'm a big guy. Maybe if I jumped on it, but I'd crumple something.

The bump stop is there, but looks really deteriorated. Maybe I have a picture.

Player0

strut and stop

Clint's 944

Ok...I'm running out of ideas! The wheels in my avatar are 16x8 on the front with 225 tires. i had no issues of rubbing or even close to rubbing on the factory suspension.

Try this...
Grab you something to lather over the strut rod like moly grease or something. You want something that will stick but will wipe off easily. Take the car for a drive and get it to "grind". Then pop the wheel back off and see how close your strut is to bottoming out by seeing the cleaned part on the rod.

Maybe find a shop that know 944's and have them take a look?

Player0

That's a good idea, I'll try that once I get my turbo back on.

MAGK944

Long shot but might your alignment shop dialed in positive camber instead of negative. Do your tires point in or out at the top?

Hollywood D

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the last one you posted, it looks like the tie rod is bent. Or slightly bowed. I can't tell if it's actually bent or just the camera angle.