potent951turbo

So far my new 951 is running great but now after my first 160 miles of use the front suspension is making a horrible creaking sound at low speeds, especially in parking lots where everyone likes to look at the car wondering what in the world is wrong with it. What do you guys think the probably is? I was thinking my ball joints are probably toast, since I had a similar problem on my previous 951. If this is the case, what do you guys think about the ball joint rebuild kits?

ehall

Rennbay sells a good one. The creaking could, however, be a number of other things. What is the condition of the struts, various bushings, upper strut mounts etc?

special tool

Very good chance that you've got SEVERELY worn ball joints.
Do not drive this car - it just might kill you at high speed.

Gator_86_951

I agree. You can check them pretty easily. Please call travis or somebody else and have those replaced. I took mine too far and travis and I were able to laugh about it, but in reality I could have easily been hurt very very badily.

potent951turbo

I have already parked the car, and plan on checking things out in the morning. If it is my ball joints do you think I will still be able to rebuild them myself? Or do you think the control arms will be too badly worn to do it with the kit from rennbay?

Also what kit do you guys suggest, they have 2 or 3 different ones.

Gator_86_951

It really depends. You have to have the arms off the car to tell if they are rebuildable or not. The rennbay website has a good run-down that explains what is rebuildable and what is not.

hosrom_951

I get that same noise, and in not very leveled areas (such as parking lots here).

Here is what i have done to the car:

Rebuilt steering rack (zims)
Rebuild control arms (both from zims)
New front dampers (paragon)
New springs (paragon)
Damper mounts + hardware/seals (paragon)
Tie Rods (zims)
Sway bar bushings (zims)

Still getting that noise, i suspect the steering rack shaft, but there is no way to test it really.

ehall

Does it squeak when the suspension compresses, or when it is level or turning?

hosrom_951

It is more or a ticking/clunking noise (but soft, i know what worn ball joints sounds like).

It happens when turning and moving at slow speeds (parking), nothing happens on level surfaces.

ehall

sorry. I was asking the guy who started the thread.

potent951turbo

I get the sound mainly at low speed. Its most evident in parking lots like I said or if I am pulling into someones driveway, and when I go over bumps I get some creaking but no where near as bad as when I am turning. I get will get some creaking moving along slowly in a straight line also. I can get a littly creaking also when I push on the shock towers, although my struts don't feel that bad considering some other 944's I have seen. The car was up on a rack yesterday and I was casually looking at the suspension, and the ball joints didn't look to be in all that bad of shape from a simple checking over (very brief). But I am going to get it in my garage tomorrow and look more closely.

Duke

Clunking sounds over bumps may be worn sway bar bushings so metal bumps against metal.

potent951turbo

Alright after closer inspection this morning the noise has been tracked down to the upper on my strut mounts. with the front end off the ground I could turn the front wheels and hear the upper parts of the struts mounts creaking like crazy. The rubber is in good shape so I don't know why they are creaking so bad, so I put a little grease in between the rubber edges and the creaking went away. Also a closer look at my ball joints, I will probably need to replace the right side pretty soon as some play was evident, and the drivers side seemed alright but I will probably do that one also.

Who do you guys recommend for rebuilt control arms and who has the best price? From my quick overview on the net 944online.com seemed to have the best price on rebuilt ones. I am still deciding on whether or not I should try to do them myself or not. Also who has has the best deal on strut mounts?

951TurboEuroSpec

I installed steel control arms on my 86, had the seams welded and aded plates to each side to box them, now i can just replace the ball joints when needed and they are very inexpensive.
Its up too you some people like to keep the alluminum control arms. I dont like them cause of how often the ball joints fail.

potent951turbo

I remembered someone saying they were going to do that and it very well may have been you. Do you have any pics of yours installed or even the plates and welding you had done? I would like to see that.