saint3448

Hi guys -

I recently acquired an SP1/ITS prepped 944, and while going over it I found a suspect suspension issue.

I don't have a ton of automotive experience, so I'm not sure if this is normal or not. - and I have zero experience with setting up race cars.

The car has Carrera coilovers, and if I push/pull on the top of the right rotor (or top of tire if the front end is jacked up), there is a bit of play in the strut. If I do the same on the left front side, all seems solid and normal.

Here's a video:
I did find a loose bolt on the bottom of the strut where it attaches to the knuckle, and that seemed to tighten up the movement a little bit (no idea what I should torque it to though...)

Is this a product of the car being corner balanced when it was setup on the scales, or am I looking at a failed suspension part?

MAGK944

That spring being loose when jacked-up is perfectly normal for coilovers, but not desirable. It will drive ok until you lift a wheel in a turn and that spring becomes unseated. You need to fit a helper spring and a spacer. The helper spring will take up the slack when you jack the car up or if a wheel lifts on the track, the spacer firmly holds the helper spring and main spring together.

There might also be another issue with those coilovers, it looks like the threaded sleeves are kinda loose. They are normally located with large o-rings that prevent the sleeve from moving excessively on the strut tube, yours might be missing or worn out.

Find two large generic o-rings that will fit over the strut tube and allow the threaded sleeve to fit over them, then get yourself a set of helpers and spacers, should be perfect then.

You can just see my helper & spacer in this picture:



The 2.5in helpers & spacers fitted above, if you have 2.25in springs you obviously need 225 versions, I cannot tell from the video.