zoso_turbo

It's been a long summer from a 951 point of view. Had the motor rebuilt/tweeked and just got it back on the road last week. Car is lookin and runnin great.

Qu: What is the opinion of the board as it relates to using re-built control arms on a 86 951 on the track (Nelson Ledges). My shop has taken a fairly firm position with me, as to recommend that I do not track the car untilI upgrade (charlie arms, fabcar, etc). The re-built arms are three years old, and the epoxy looks solid.

I had it on the same track once last year and it was fine. I look forward, as always, to your thoughts, also known as opinions....

thx.

zoso

SeaCay

There are many more arms on the market now as opposed to several years back when Fabcar and Charlie were the only makers of arms. I would look into one of the aftermarket selections as your mechanic has suggested. A failed arm at the track will get expensive in a hurry.

Oddjob

Thats a pretty extreme position (and expensive). But its a liability issue. The Fabcar and Charlie arms balljoints do not have anywhere near the failure rate of the factory balljoint setup, so I am not completely surprised that they would only recommend aftermarket replacements - then there are no worries on their part. However, there a still a lot of hard track driven 944s that are running factory arms.

I do know that its pretty typcial for shops to strongly recommend against using rebuilt factory arms, and would instead recommend replacing with factory new arms. And I cant say that I disagree with that. I had a set of arms rebuilt for a street car, and one went bad within a few thousand miles. So I would not run rebuilt arms on a track/race car. I have used a couple sets of factory replacement 968 M030 arms (which are the only part number still available for late offset 944s) on two different full track/race cars, and I also came across a set of Club Sport (Turbo Cup) arms, which have a stronger balljoint pin, that Im using on a street/DE car - I did not have any problems with any of those arms over several years of track driving.

Although, do know that the 86 arms are weaker then the 87 and later arms (they were upgraded when the offset was changed). But I believe that only has to do with the strength of the actual arm casting, not the problematic ball joint failures. There are some known failures of the actual arms around the swaybar drop link mount - supposedly more prevelent on the weaker 86 arms, especially when using a weltmeister sway bar.

So in the end, there is a risk in using factory arms on a track car, and possibly even a higher risk when using rebuilt arms (depending on who/what rebuild kit was used). There is no definite answer on this (yes they will break on the first lap, or no they will never break), so it really comes down to your personal comfort level - if you dare to use them, or not.

SeaCay

Interesting choice of words...

a4944

Do a search on steel control arms. You can reinforce early 944 steel control arms by boxing them in with steel strips (welding). It's inexpensive and you can replace the ball joints which are cheap. I was having trouble with rebuilt aluminum arms failing and chewing up tires so went the steel route last year. I don't have enough time on them to comment on their durability but you may find that type of info with a search.

Thanks,
Mark

theedge

Blaszak also makes control arms. Theyre cheaper than Charlie Arms and all that too.

zoso_turbo

Gents,

Excellent feedback.....Muchly appreciated!!! Your feedback is exactly the message I did and have been receiving from my shop. The owner did also suggest new factory arms as opposed to aftermarket preminu arms.

You know the deal, so close to a kickass track car, but still a couple grand short of doing it right, story of my recent 951 life.

Will keep you posted with the direction I decided upon.....ciao!!!

zoso_turbo.