Martin S.

Is it the rear toe link? If so Viper Bob can fix you up with ERP...a fine vendor with great products.

Premier Motorsp

I am not sure we are all talking about the same thing. I am speaking of the lower ball joint that resides at the apex of the lower a-arm.

I did see a 993TT break the ball joint of the toe link once. No accidents, said the owner.

Chris Cervelli
Premier Motorsports

Dave Parker

Yes, I am refering to the lower ball joint that resides at the apex of the lower a-arm.

I did pay attention to potential interferences with the control arm, but maybe I didn't check it well enough...... I'll take a good look when the car comes back to see if there is any evidence of contact.

Viper Bob ... can you tell me where the other sources are? Here in the mid-west it is hard to find good knowledgeable shops, so maybe I can help point them in the right direction to speed up the process.

Felix

Sounds like the ball joint at #6 in the attached photo?

Dave Parker

correct, it looks like the spindle failed at the bottom of the threads.

przt

Pics please if possible. I guess i have the same problem.

Martin S.

NOW I get it.....................Gott en Himmel, anothere thing to worry about

I wonder as do lots of othere readers of this string...what is the probability of this part failing? I am certain that loading up the suspension with R rated tires does not help.

I wonder if the ball joint to the 993 RS is any more rugged? Hmmmmmm.

Dave Parker

Unfortunately, I do not have the car accessible right now so I can not get any more pics. ... It is at the shop about 100 mi. away. I do promise to try and have them save the part so I can inspect it myself .... I'll post pics and give my (mechanical engineer's) oppinion on the failure.

Jack Esposito

If the part failed between the threaded portion and the shank then the nut was probably not torqued right. Over torqueing the nut will yield the part in the threaded area and can cause a tensile failure. Under-torqueing the nut results in low preload in the joint and the part will fail in fatigue because it is being worked more. Looking at the failure surface should tell you if it was just a static tensile failure or a progressive fatigue type failure.

Jack

ceboyd

yes indeed.. I'm also very curious to see the photos of the broken pieces... I guess this is something else to inspect on the rear of the 993... after my broken sway bar link I was wondering what else has to be checked over... now i know...

slider

was having my alignment and corner balancing done today. got a call to say that the lower ball joint was bent and I thought of Dave's photo of the right rear extreme toe out. Apparently, this was an existing condition (not noticed on the PPI) and - happily - wasnt the result of something I did during the suspension diy. Likely cause was either a pot hole at high speed, or someone hitting a curb. Part is ordered (approx $250) and should be ready in a couple of days.

No wonder the alignment wasn't working out for some reason. Glad it was found now intead of it breaking sometime on the road.

Martin S.

I have a friend that drives his 993 very hard at the track, Hoosier tires, etc. He has btoken two (2) ball joints in the past year. I am going to go to PET and see if the 993RS ball joint has a different part number...perhaps more rugged. If so, that would be good to know....great string guys, very informative. Now I have to go and , more specifically, PET.

texas911

Oh damn, that totally sucks.

Is this something we should be proactive about? Maybe change the lower arm at some point. Not to expensive at $250 each. During a HD install perhaps?

Martin S.

when you have the suspension apart for the Bilstein HD install...this would be a good time to change out the ball joints.

Dave Parker

Martin,
Let us know what you find out about the RS ball joint.