ledee416

I have been warned that I must get rid of aluminum ball joints at all costs.

is this one of them? :

ROG100

Put a magnet on it to be sure!!

IcemanG17

since its corrosion looks exactly the same as the aluminum A arm I would say yes....but the magnet test is the best

LT Texan

Absolutely yes!

jpitman2

The alloy ones are visibly thicker than steel ones, so i would agree it looks like an alloy. I still have mine on the shelf.
jp 83 Euro S AT 54k

LT Texan

Dude. It's alum

ledee416

ok..so what is the deal with the aluminum ones? are they prone to failure or something? I assume all the replacements for sale online are no longer alum?

77tony

"Search" is your friend. Just order new (steel) ones from Roger (www.928sRus) Judging by your pics, looks like it's time for new ones. 77tony

Landseer

They fail while driving.
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...t-failure.html


And as Tony suggested, spend some quality time searching the 928 forum. Put search terms in quotes.

Dave928S

The original housings are OK ... until the ball joint within starts to get loose (it's a press fit). Once they start to get loose they wear very rapidly, and they can fail catastrophically, and you get a wheel folding out at the bottom when it lets go. It's a good preventative measure to not wait for that to happen.

Here are the two, so you can see the differences. The slimmer steel one is easy to pick from the thicker aluminium one.

When you change to the steel ones you will be able to use one of your eccentric adjusters from the old units, but will need to get two more 26mm ones. The last pic shows the steel BJ housing with the internal dimension to take the eccentric adjusters.

The bracket which holds them will have threaded sections which will be too long for the new thinner steel BJ housings ... you can cut off the extra thread or just leave it projecting , or fit the later brackets which have the shorter thread. There's only 5mm difference in the length of thread, so you can happily stay with the old brackets and just have 5mm more thread showing underneath.

There are comparison pics in the WSM showing the two styles of housings, adjusters and brackets. The link to the thread Landseer has put in has a post of the WSM page in it ... post #11.

ledee416

so I can keep the old brackets? sweet... the new ones are like 90 bucks each. I found the new style adjusters for 30 each...i found ball joints for like 130 each i think

LT Texan

When I replaced mine, I recall 928Intl sent me the ball joints and later (used) eccentrics. Two I think. The adjustment, camber and caster are reversed if I recall, so make sure your mechanic aligning the front end is given a heads up.

I believe the official Porsche upgrade (not recalled) kit includes a new bracket because the old studs are longer on the old one for the thicker aluminum ball joints. This is not needed for upgrade.

LT Texan

Oh the failure is the steel ball joints are pulled out of the aluminum housing. Usually in the high stress of parking, not driving at speed. But do not chance it!

Dave928S

Keeping the old brackets just means you have a bit more (5mm) thread showing at the bottom.

You keep the two 26mm eccentrics from your existing setup, throw the two smaller ones out, and get two more of the 26mm ones. Nothing wrong with second hand eccentrics if you can find some.

As LT Texan points out ... camber and caster are reversed ... on the new steel ones camber adjustment is closest to the BJ and caster is furthest away.

Landseer

So you don't have to dig thru the link