dletersky

I've got an 89 NA 944 with a 2.7L and a 5-speed manual. Last year the CV joints started clunking, and I replaced both half-shafts with A1 Cardones from Rock Auto.

Within a few weeks the driver's side joint broke, which was replaced under warranty. A few weeks after that the passenger side broke, which was again replaced. Last week I took it out after being put away for the winter, and just driving around the block I shifted to 2nd and heard the familiar crunch. The driver's side CV joint broke at the wheel. I've never disassembled them after they broke, but it seems like the cages themselves are cracking.

I know the Cardone parts are cheap, but I wouldn't expect them to break so quickly and easily, especially when I'm not driving the car hard at all. I'm open to the possibility that I may just have to bite the bullet and get some GKNs, but I was wondering if anything else might be causing this that I should look into first.

odonnell

Someone else on here had A1 Cardone joints fail, IIRC it was just poor cast quality. I'd grab good used OEM parts and rebuild them if I was in your shoes.

f1rocks

Do you have the car lowered?
944 rear suspension does not like to be excessively low. I blew 6 cv joints at CMP one race weekend because the car was too low.

V2Rocket

You need to urethane-fill your blown out banana hammock transmission mount.

The trans is moving too much.

dletersky

The car's not lowered at all. I was wondering about the transmission mount. I haven't noticed any other signs of a bad mount (which would be clunking or poor shifting, I assume?). How can I tell if the transaxle is moving?

V2, I found another thread where you give instructions on how to do this.

https://rennlist.com/forums/944-turb...ion-mount.html

If I inspect the mount, what should I be looking for? Would I likely need to buy a new mount, or is reinforcing the old one enough?

Van

All good points here:

-Use quality parts (when a cheap aftermarket axle is less than 1/2 the price of an individual OEM joint, don't expect magic...)
-Don't set your ride height too low
-Make sure your transmission isn't shifting side to side (also check your engine mounts)

Jason @ Paragon Products

We just lowered the price on the Loebro units and it gets free shipping now:

http://www.paragon-products.com/Pors...332.038.01.htm

Jfrahm

If the Cardone axles are dimensionally correct I'd strongly suspect you have movement back there where you shouldn't. Nowadays you can get little cameras for a few bucks that are great for investigating this sort of thing.

While driving you might only notice extra movement of the shifter and given how far it is from the trans that movement might be subtle.

KevinGross

I agree with Van's advice. Get quality parts from Jason, who's a quality guy!

You do have CV lube in the joints? Sorry, gotta ask.

Jason @ Paragon Products

I've waited 23 years for "One of these"...LOL. Thanks Kevin!

CVR_Rally

That was me. A1 axles are pure junk! Mine failed in one week and that's with just over 100 miles on it.

I ended up getting some great condition used ones from a turbo and have been great for several hundred miles.

Chris

dletersky

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm just trying to get the car in proper shape to sell it, so I think I'll buy a couple of used OEM axles, and while I'm in there I'll take a look at the mount.