Magdaddy

old monoballs COMPLETELY frozen(rusted) up tight-zero movement. Alignment completed, and feeling good. The car hasn't had that crisp of a turn in for a very long time. I'm thinking those monoballs have been rusted up, or at least became limited in movement for at least the last 18K miles-almost two seasons. I always atributed the weird turn in sensation to old rear tires, then slightly reduced with new rears and a rear toe adjustment.

Shop applied anti-seize type stuff to all surfaces of the steel ball in the new bearings. I forgot to ask them to measure the spacer between the strut stem and I.D. of the ball-ID, OD, height. If I can get another spacer to fill the gap-14mm stem to a more standard 1" ID ball, I will have better luck sourcing a full stainless bearing.

Mechanic explained how to remove the top camber plate, and get the bearing out to clean/inspect. This will now become an additional winter cleaning ritual.

Waiting for the roads to dry up before flogging the car a little, but initial impression is all good.

Now, if the 4th service to my truck is finally done right...all this mechanical crap that has been going on since the second week of June will be behind me.

I'll post up pics of the rusted bearings later, can't seem to resize pics from the phone to upload.

JPP

It's kind of amazing that a completely frozen front monoball system was driveable at all! I don't think I've ever heard anybody else have this problem (except for really early 911/912 that have sat for years) .. was it a failure of the parts themselves?

Magdaddy

pics of rusted bearings below...stainless race, common steel ball. Not a real great combination for a street application in the North East. H&R was really not very helpful here, as mentioned in another thread. This system has been installed on lots of Pcars going back to 964 vintage. That being said, I simply must be in the super minority(data gathering group of 1)that puts milegae on these suspension systems.

This suspension has been on the car since early 2010...car has about 33K miles on it since install. My gut tells me they started to freeze up within the first couple of seasons. Ok...these systems have been around for many years, most all must be track car/garage queens/other coast applications.

I now know the handling sensation these can create, now know how to service these "maintenance free" bearings. I will continue to work on finding a full stainless replacement. Until then, enjoy these rusted up -good for nothing but paper weight's... pics

cost of replacement bearings with additional drop ship fee's(thanks H&R)-$250
replacement front tires with mount/balance due to unusual wear-$335
labor to replace rusty bearings/align-$500
knowing that you are "theoretically" the only individual in the entire world with an H&R system that this has happened to...priceless.

with odds like that, I should be a shoe in for the 993 drawing this Saturday...which coincidentally is also my birthday.

inkatouring

Well, it's been a difficult journey, but at least it's fixed. And what a birthday present -- the car back in shape and a nice drive. Enjoy!

JPP

Dude, you're killin' me. BTW, we are only two days apart ... except this is a biggie for me with a '0' at the end :-) My yout' is officially OVVA!!

Cactus

Glad you are fixed up Joe. Sorry about the 95 C4 but that one is mine. My alignment went well also and I have about 750 miles on it since.

Paul902

Magdaddy - glad you got it fixed up. That was an ordeal! Happy Birthday.

JPP - Happy 70th!

JPP

Thanks! well, actually 60 but at this point, not much diff

AOW162435

Joe,
Glad you got this sorted.



Andreas

Magdaddy

unfortunately a week late for T13

Cactus

Never thought it was going to happen myself....

Cemoto

Since you are the only one, I'd think about sending them pics (now that you have proof of failure) and politely ask for new ones n/c.

Remind them we are all watching.

You never know.

Regards,

.

Magdaddy

H&R got pics from the 1st shop where the alignment was scheduled....way back on July 1st. It took H&R 5 business days to come up with replacement's, then I not only paid full retail, but an extra $10 to have them dropped shipped from H&R instead of shipping to their preferred West Coast suspension shop first...then here. H&R could seem to care less about this, neither apparently does the actual bearing manufacturer Hirschmann. I have sent emails and pics to both showing the removed parts, as well as what the failure cost in time and money.

insert sound of cricket's chirping in the distance here...

Not impressed with "customer support" from either company. Honestly though...I can't tell you how many times in my automotive history I've had a mechanic say "we never see that(insert obtuse mechanical item here) fail"

oh well

Also, just returned from a semi spriited hour + back hill country drive. This morning when I picked up the car it was low 60's and light rain, this afternoon it's low 80's and muggy. I checked and adjusted tire pressures mid drive, cause the car felt just a little nervous. It handles very well, but is still only 8/10 th's of what it was when it came fresh from Joel Reiser 30K miles ago. I remember that feeling clearly, or at least I think I do. How absolutely f'en magic the car felt. Tires got almost 200 miles on them now, so initial squirm is gone, just something missing...gotta drive it some more to hone in on it. At least it's driveable...been pretty much out of commission since the second week of June...getting the rear wheels refinished, scheduling theoretical service...etc.

Paul902

Well, then, you have a good 10 years of youth left!

Magdaddy

just got a response from the bearing manufacturer Hirschmann, the USA divison sent an email to Germany to see if a full stainless variation of the bearing existed. A full stainless one does indeed exist, and it's even less money than what I paid H&R for the other "rustable" ones. Lead time is 6 weeks to acquire.

Probably gonna get a set and put em on the shelf, while I await the eventual rusting of the most recently installed bearings...again.

Least I now have a better alternative.

just got my truck back today...alignment hell since early June. It took four, yes FOUR different alignments by two different shops, and three different "mechanics" before it didn't pull, and the wheel was centered.

So truck finally fixed and driving well...check
car finally fixed and driving well(enough)...check
tractor mower deck fixed(spare parts now in drawer)...check
still waiting for the correct parts to put the mtb back together, never ever...have Fox and Specialized been able to provide me the correct hardware/bushings/etc for their suspension systems...never, ever.

Next mtb won't be a Specialized, and maybe won't have any Fox stuff on it either-not that any other major manufacturer is any better at providing out of warranty parts for their products.

anyway, mechanical rant off.