Rene

Im looking for some Charlie arms for 86.

xschop

can someone post up a pic of what "Charlie Arms" look like. Can't find any net pics

95ONE

This is small and from racers edge.. looks a lot like the charlie arm.. But the Charlie arm is billet aluminum

cb951

Charlie Arms, especially for early offset, are pretty rare these days. Unlikely to ever get them new again. I was lucky enough to find a used pair about a year ago. I want to get some new pins for them before I install them. Anyone know of a source?

jmj951

Not exactly Charlie Arms, but slightly used Racer's Edge:
http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/pts/1453393998.html

I'm looking for track-grade replacements as well. I understand why he swapped out to 87 spindles for this upgrade, but I had to pass these up because I don't want to have to replace my front rotors as well - they're practically brand new, and were very expensive.

BTW, has anyone ever heard of problems with 86 spindles at the track? I suppose there was a good reason that Porsche changed the offset for 87 and up, but I haven't come across any discussions on that before.

CarbonRevo

Offsets were changed to late offet to accomdate the ABS option on 944's.

cb951

I believe that the problem with stock control arms failing is that when the car is lowered, the geometry is changed in such a way that there is excessive force on the ball joint pin. They've been known to break (along with the ca casting where it holds the joint). I don't think the spindles generally fail.

Porsche changed the offset for '87+ to allow room for ABS brakes. I've read that the earlier low offset makes for a better geometry.

If I hadn't found my Charlie Arms, I'd probably go with the RE.

Rene

Thanks

mjensen

I may have a set for a early offset 1986 turbo. I will look at my "collection" and let you know. I also run a 1986 951 with early boxed-steel arms. Ran them for 4 years with zero trouble. Either option will safely work.

CarbonRevo

There is always Paragons Ball Joint GCK with 19mm pins.

jmj951

Yeah - what is the trick to installing these? That was my original plan. I bought an extra set of OEM control arms to do this replacement as time allowed, and it has been a complete nightmare. That retaining clip absolutely refused to come out, despite tearing out mass amounts of the round plate underneath it and overly gouging the Aluminum in the process of trying to remove it. It's not pretty.

CarbonRevo

There's quite a bit of a trick to getting that circlip out and I have yet to master it. I know you have to put the arm in a vise and compress the ball joint assembly ever so little to undo some of the pressure on the circlip. Then a pick or screw driver should get it out. Once you discover the trick, you'll be amazed at how easy it is. Or so I've been told.

The GCK, as far as I know needs the spindle drilled or machined out to 19mm to accept the new ball joint pin. Don't hold me to that statement, but that's what I've taken it to meant. The pin is also longer IIRC, to make up for the lowering you've done and keep the control arm at the same level as stock.

Sounds complicated, but I'd rather have this than a snapped ball joint at speed!

xschop

Originally I was going to machine a billet set like the pic above, except design it with the replaceable EARLY style ball joint and also design it where the ball joint can be attached to bottom or top to allow for a 1-2" drop. After taking a ride in a 944 with CrMo arms. I changed my mind after hearing the harsh road noise from the hard joints. So I wanted PulyUrethane bushed arms and decided to build a set with Graphite impregnated PU. Recently, I finished the final detail on the 944-RX7 control arm mod. I built sway bar drop-links that keeps all the stock 944 sway bar in it's stock location. Does anybody sell PolyUrethane sway bushings?

DER951

PM Sent

MAGK944

I know "Charlie" doesn't make them anymore, but I wish he had passed the spec to someone who could reproduce them under license. Damn shame!