snoz

I noticed after I bought my car that the passenger tire sat a little further towards the rear of the wheel well than the driver side did. I have been driving it daily for a year and a half now with few problems. Recently I noticed that when I was making a sharp right turn and braking, I could hear the tire rub on the fender slightly. It seemed as if the tire was moving back into the fender well because it only happened while breaking.

While working on the A/C compressor tonight, I think I found the cause. I found a crack in the "frame" tube that the lower control arm bolts to. The crack is almost dead center in between the lower control arm mount points (on the inside of the tube). The crack seems to start in the bottom center of the tube and runs up about ¼ of the way to the top. Also, there is a dent that runs top to bottom very near the crack. There is another dent on the outside of the tube a few inches off center from the crack and dent on the inside. I can see the crack flex open and closed when I move the front end up and down by hand.

I'm guessing that this car must have had a front end smack at some point that was improperly fixed. I had already planned on a fairly major restoration of this car. My question for all is do you think something like this can be repaired properly, or am I screwed? Have any of you seen damage like this? Also, I guess it goes without saying that I shouldn’t be driving the car while it’s like this. Thanks for your input.

-Ethan

Inside rail


Outside rail

AO

That sucks. Did you get a PPI on the car before you bought it? Any mech should have caught that. I'm not sure on the repairabiliy, but I think you should be able to get it welded up. I'd also check to make sure the frame is square. The WSM have the points for measurement and the appropriate values. HTH.

Peter F

Should be possible, there is parts available in the PET.
Not sure if Porsche still offer them though?


What Year is your car?
Took a snapshot for an -85.

/Peter

mark kibort

get some measurements from reference points on the other side and see how far it is off.
certainly looks like the car was in some kind of accident.
you may be alble to just pull that frame rail out and then weld up the damage with some plates
that is really ugly! bummer!

MK

Fabio421

Make sure you reinforce it when you weld it.

soontobered84

Disconnect the battery and probably the car's computers before welding. You definitely don't want to fry your computers

Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net

It can fixed. I had a similar problem a bit further forward. I was lucky that David Lloyd has just introduced me to Tass (Dave Tassinari). I disassembed and cut the bad part out. We then measured, using the manuals, and Tass shaped a few pieces of metal to fit, then welded them in place. No problem since. So, I think you need to find a willing metal fabricator

This is in my race car, so resale is not a concern. The car has been aligned a number of times (related to suspension changes) and nothing has moved. While the car is lightened, I have pushed it hard and it has held fine.

Have it fixed properly though. If you need a piece of frame rail, I have an '86 tub that I might be willing to cut a piece from

Jim bailey - 928 International

Might be a good time to change out the aluminum carrier lower ball joints as well before the wheel decides to fall off... The frame rail can be patched it is not practical to actually fix it.

Peter F

Good catch Jim,
definetly something to add to the to do list on this car.
Not worth the risk driving around with those.

/Peter

snoz

Thanks for all the information and moral support. I did not do a very thorough PPI on this car before I bought it. I pretty much saw it, fell in love, realized it would need restoration, and bought it. I never planned on driving it every day. My daily driver failed shortly after I bought the shark, and daily driving became a necessity. I'm just happy I found the crack before it found me. I hate to think what that would do to the car (and me) if it had failed while I was driving. My shark is now safely in the garage as I bought a new daily driver yesterday.

I've spent some time looking at the damage, and I'm sure it was wrecked previously. It appears that the dent on the outer side of the tube was puttied in and covered with undercoat. I’m certain the person I bought it from never knew about the damage. I think it was pulled straight, but the dents in the tube remained. This let it flex and eventually crack. I doubt it was visibly cracked when I bought it. Amazingly, the car has always tracked straight as an arrow. It must have been aligned by someone who really knew their stuff after that improper repair.

As I planned when I bought it, I’m going to pull the engine and go through it. I had planned to add a super charger after the rebuild, but that money will be better spent on getting the frame and suspension straight and safe. I have been stressing about the lower ball joints ever since I started driving it daily. The super charger can come later. After I get the engine out, I will take some better pictures and find a top-notch frame shop to do the repairs.

It’s really strange, after a year and a half in a 928, to go back to driving an average vehicle. The Tacoma I bought just doesn’t corner quite as well . I came close to finding that out the hard way the first few times I drove it. I’ll have to get over being used to doubling the posted speed for corners.

Again, thanks for your help. I will find a shop that can straighten and reinforce the frame tube, and whatever else needs fixing. More pictures to come.


-Ethan

snoz

Sorry to dredge up a really old post, but I resolved my cracked frame issue finally. I bought an 86' S the other day. Poof. Problem solved.

Erik N

That's how my father solves problems... just get a new one!

THIS...

Mrmerlin

thread is old and....

LUCKYJACKASS

useless...

Fogey1

... without ...