gman3280

I’ve been doing some searches on dog bones, toe links and adjustable control arms. What is not clear to me is how to differentiate each brand.

You’ve got GMG, RSS, Rennline, Tarret, Torque Solutions and probably others I’ve not seen. It appears that they all are made out of 6061 aluminum with either FK, Aurora or an unlisted brand end links. Some have boots some do not. It’s also not clear what the useful life of these parts, ie replace every two years or say 25 track events.

The prices also seem to vary significantly for the same piece between brands. Yea, you get what you pay for but I need someone to help me understand the “what” I’m paying for before buying. If they are all pretty close then go with the cheapest name brand set up, right?

Thoughts?

KOAN

Not a simple question, and I doubt few on the list here have seen and evaluated all of the options. I have RSS and Porsche Motorsport parts, but I would be confident with Tarrett and GMG as well. Since they are expensive parts, I decided to go with a known brand that others have had good luck with. Do you have a local garage who does work for you? If so, ask them.

gman3280

So I'm not just missing the boat on understanding these parts...

I'm relatively new in the Porsche world so I don't have a shop yet but I'll likely use one local to Atlanta. I'm guessing they are going to somewhat biased towards the brand the sell. I would like to do the work myself and bring it to the shop for an alignment.

RSS seem to be the most reasonably priced out of the bunch.

LVDell

Anytime I have replaced suspension bits, I have gone with what is actually raced. PMNA has usually won me over. If it's good enough for the cups and RSR's, then it's good enough for my street 3.

gman3280

I would agree with that statement. It's likely that I'm never going to approach the abuse those cars get with pro drivers with what I'm going to do on the street and a few track days.

Where do you buy PMNA parts online at a reasonable price?

Mikelly

My first hand experience with this exact part saw me kill the aluminum inserts TWICE in the "Agency Power" dog bones. I eventually sold them and went back to the PMNA units.

Mike

LVDell

As Mike has learned and we all know, Agency Power is cheap crap.

As far as the PMNA bits, you have to buy them through a PMNA reseller. My local dealer has an account. And most of the race shops do (i.e., TRG, GMG, Orbit, etc).

gman3280

So if PMNA is the way to go why is there a market for these groups to sell essentially the same part?

Assuming PMNA isn't available how do you determine quality parts out of the brands listed in the initial post?

I appreciate the discussion. This was a confusing topic for me.

LVDell

Personally, I'd go with the RSS bits if you don't go with a PMNA part. They have amazing craftsmanship and have been tested on track by countless guys. The Tarret bits are also nicely done.

serickson

I went with RSS adjustable toe steer kit with locking plates and RSS rear link (dog bones). Quality is excellent ordered parts from Sharkwerks. From what I have read keep the stock drop links. When looking for these parts I only considered RSS, Tarret and PMNA. I would assume GMG also has good quality. I also installed myself, not that difficult but make sure you take measurements from fixed points before removing stock parts. I did not properly take measurements before removing the stock parts and it was a super scary slow drive in the rain to my local shop for an alignment. My rear end was walking around the car because it was so far out of alignment.

wanna911

Call Goldcrest Motorsports if you are in the Atlanta area, they will lead you in the right direction and really set your car up well. They are located up 75 in Kennesaw.

Bob and Steve have worked in Grand-Am for many years, they support Porsches Cup school at Barber, and maintain Leh Keen's RSR since their days of working with Farnbacher loles. Best part is they don't try to upsell you and their support is awesome. They will work with whatever you are working with.

gman3280

Another positive review of GoldCrest. That's where I'm likely going for the alignment.

They will earn my business if they work with me in my capacity as a DIY'er when possible.

Seems like RSS is the way to go. Given the prices they are charging it appears they are a good value too.

Are the front toe links typically replaced too? What about these RS style thrust arms?

onelove

Coming from a shop point of a view, I went with the RSS parts and had no problem paying for these items. Given the quality of their links and lower controls arms, I question how they were able to offer them and still make a profit! Super high quality, great packaging,and install was a snap. After initially getting just the links I went ahead and added the front and rear lower control arms, toe kit, and dog bones.

Mikelly

Forgot to mention, in my case it was less than two DE days each time the bushings became oblonged and would allow movement at the bolt.

Vendor did take care of me, but it wasn't worth the savings. RSS makes some sweet parts, and if not going with PMNA parts, I would go that route.

Mike

NXI20

This is my experience of running my car in the UK, where we have roads only slightly better than the Eastern Bloc. The car does about 25 trackdays / year and 15-20K miles/year.

As an "early adopter" of the fully rose-jointed approach on my GT3 (which has now covered about 35K miles thus equipped), I have various bits from GMG (dogbones, rear toe steer & bump steer kit plus the WRC ARBs), Tarett (droplinks front & rear), Rennline (all 4 diagonal fork arms) and RSS (all 4 coffin arms). All the rose joints have been covered in rubber boots from first fitting and are regularly inspected for wear. The GMG stuff has been on for nearly 2 years with the Rennline, RSS & Tarett only being fitted in September 2011.

The GMG stuff is extremely well made and thus far has been no trouble at all. Still no discernible wear on any of the joints.

The Tarett stuff has been a huge disappointment quality-wise. All 4 of the rear droplink rose joints had developed wear in less than 5K miles & were replaced with NMB teflon lined joints. We'll see how they fare!

The Rennline diagonal arms seem to be holding up well so far, but have only been on for 5K miles.

The RSS inner monoballs on the rear wore out in 5K miles also & have been replace by aircraft quality bearings as they are an imperial size and apparently so are aircraft

I did have GMG monoballs in "standard" arms before replacement with the RSS versions and these are still going strong in a friends car. They did 30K miles in my car before being sold on so they seem to be as durable as the other GMG stuff.