Fabcar/Charley Arms
#16
Drifting
Chris,
I for one am not in favor of somone "stealing" Charlies design. Also his bars are a work of art and I don't doubt that they are fairly expensive to make since they are fairly machining intensive. What I would like to see are a nice set of turbular a arms like those avaliable for a lot of the mainstream cars at a <$1,000 price.
Here is a great example of a race control arm for a Focus for $329/pair:
I for one am not in favor of somone "stealing" Charlies design. Also his bars are a work of art and I don't doubt that they are fairly expensive to make since they are fairly machining intensive. What I would like to see are a nice set of turbular a arms like those avaliable for a lot of the mainstream cars at a <$1,000 price.
Here is a great example of a race control arm for a Focus for $329/pair:
#17
Markus Blaszac makes two types of control arms: a reinforced early steel one for the short offset type, and a square tube fabricated one for the long offset ones. You can check them out at www.geocities.com/blaszak_precision. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer. He can add the tabs to mount the 968 M030 brake cooling ducts.
#18
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Wow, interesting transition from how this thread started. To clarify one thing, I am not selling Charlie arms in general but I know someone with a single set of early offset arms that he is willing to sell. Alan gets them if he wants them and I can get them in time.
I have heard people say that the Charlie arms are great products but there is a potential flaw in the area where the sway bar mounts onto the arms. I have never verified this claim and indeed have a set on my car with no issues.
Folks like Lindsey Racing have created Steel/Chrome Moly versions of these arms with success. They are just as light and probably stronger, although they may have canned the project because I could not find a reference on their web site.
I have heard people say that the Charlie arms are great products but there is a potential flaw in the area where the sway bar mounts onto the arms. I have never verified this claim and indeed have a set on my car with no issues.
Folks like Lindsey Racing have created Steel/Chrome Moly versions of these arms with success. They are just as light and probably stronger, although they may have canned the project because I could not find a reference on their web site.
#19
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I just wanted to chime in here by saying I'm more than happy with my Fabcar arms which have been on my 951S for about 5 years now. I don't drive the car that much anymore but I commuted an hour a day for a year with no problems. I think I'll replace the ball joints before going out on the track again but that's just being safe.
#20
Quote: I keep praying that an opportunistic fabricator will come out with a low cost replacement arm. You can buy tubular competition arms for cars like Hondas for $500 pair. While I understand that the 944 series arms are a lower volume gig, it still seems like there would be plenty of money to be made since I have to believe just about every 944 owner out there would buy them as replacements @ $500 pair rather than having the stock one rebuilt at $300 - $400 pair.
I thought I saw on the Kokeln/Vision site that they were in the midst of developing cro-moly arms. I wonder when and how much?
I thought I saw on the Kokeln/Vision site that they were in the midst of developing cro-moly arms. I wonder when and how much?
#21
I dont want to let the cat out of the bag but we have been working on some arms out of chrome-moly that are fully TIG welded. They use .120 wall chrome-moly with gussets were all the tubes meet. We are using a replacable ball joint along with some other cool tricks. I am more then certain that we can deliver a top qaulity product for under $900 a set. This would also include powder coating, new hardware, and billet aluminum caster blocks. Any interest?
Last edited by TurboTim; 07-22-2003 at 07:05 PM.
#22
Drifting
Tim,
You are exactly the guy I was thinking about when I referenced "an opportunistic fabricator". Of any of the 944 tuners out there you seem to have the most experience/ability in welding intensive fabrication and this project really seems to be right down your alley. I would definitely be interested and if you need a Beta tester - I am your man (with the appropriate discount of course ; ' )
You are exactly the guy I was thinking about when I referenced "an opportunistic fabricator". Of any of the 944 tuners out there you seem to have the most experience/ability in welding intensive fabrication and this project really seems to be right down your alley. I would definitely be interested and if you need a Beta tester - I am your man (with the appropriate discount of course ; ' )
#23
Skip, et al
The sale price for the set of arms I spoke of above is targeted at less than 500 for the set... that should help put things into perspective.
again, does anyone have a set of early arms laying around?
Thanks,
Sean
The sale price for the set of arms I spoke of above is targeted at less than 500 for the set... that should help put things into perspective.
again, does anyone have a set of early arms laying around?
Thanks,
Sean
#26
Drifting
Originally posted by Dan Gallagher
you guys keep saying the honda, focus, insert cheap car here has the parts cheaper...... lets not forget you are driving a porsche
you guys keep saying the honda, focus, insert cheap car here has the parts cheaper...... lets not forget you are driving a porsche
#27
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Originally posted by TurboTim
I dont want to let the cat out of the bag but we have been working on some arms out of chrome-moly that are fully TIG welded. They use .120 wall chrome-moly with gussets were all the tubes meet. We are using a replacable ball joint and a hiem joint. I am more then certain that we can deliver a top qaulity product for under $900 a set. This would also include powder coating.Any interest? If enough people show interest we can go into production right away.
I dont want to let the cat out of the bag but we have been working on some arms out of chrome-moly that are fully TIG welded. They use .120 wall chrome-moly with gussets were all the tubes meet. We are using a replacable ball joint and a hiem joint. I am more then certain that we can deliver a top qaulity product for under $900 a set. This would also include powder coating.Any interest? If enough people show interest we can go into production right away.
#30
I'm trying to locate Charlie arms for my 1986 944 Turbo but to no avail. I have been calling around but no one seems to have them. Are the Charlie arms still available for a 1986 944 Turbo?