Paul491 Cadrobbi

I am hoping to find a possible solution to my on-going dilemma...

First and foremost, I am a happy owner of a 1984 Factory M-491 Turbo-Look Carrera coupe, which is also my daily driver. I live in Arizona but unfortunately, on a DIRT road that stretches more than a ½ mile between my house and the nearest pavement! Needless to say with more than a mile of "rally" driving on a daily basis, I am concerned about the possible long-term affects of dust ingestion and suspension pounding from the constantly changing “washboard” surfaces. I’m sure these are typical problems addressed and successfully solved by Off-road Rally Racers, eh? Any suggestions?

Over the past five years, I’ve had premature mechanical failures. One of which was the clutch T/O bearing at less than 21,000 mi. due to dust intrusion. It's starting to make noise again at a little over 14,000 mi. My front right strut and both front inserts were also replaced and now, after about 30,000 miles, are again rattling and knocking as well. Is this normal? I am hoping to up-grade these areas plus others that may be eventually affected…

Does anyone produce reinforced "streetable" parts to beef up the front and rear suspension components on a 930 chassis or any mods to slow or stop dust intrusion into the clutch and engine areas? If anyone has any ideas, thoughts or suggestions (short of selling my favorite car or moving... LOL), I NEED to be hearin’ from ya!

Thanks!

“Rattled”

blabla914

I know there is at least one person who runs a 911 in SCCA rallys in the north east. I just saw a picture of his car in a line up at the snow drift rally. Unfortunately I do not know him, but you might try the scca web page or get in touch with some local scca people. I know that's not much, but I hope it helps!

Kelly

JMMMM

The guy in the Northeast runs a 1986 Carrera. His suspension setup is The Racer's Group Coilovers with Michelin Rally/Gravel tires on Stock 16" Fuchs. He runs the car with the coilovers set at stock US ride height (rally roads in the Northeast are not as bumpy as rally roads in AZ). He's had problems with dust ingestion from time to time, and he's only done a few rallies. I can't think of anything to stop dust ingestion in the areas you mention. Prodrive (runs the Subaru World Rally Cars) ran 911 SCRS's in the mid 1980's. Maybe you could try emailing them to see if they have any solutions they'd be willing to share? I'm sure dust was a problem in the Middle East...
<a href="http://www.prodrive.com" target="_blank">www.prodrive.com</a>

Paul491 Cadrobbi

Hey Guys!

thanks for the tips. I have tried <a href="http://www.prodrive.com" target="_blank">www.prodrive.com</a> but they don't offer an e-mail address... Just a tele in England. I will try to find the guy in the Northeast with the 86 Carrera. Although I don't run rallies in my car, I would still like to beef it up a little. It would be fun opening it up down my dirt road and not have to worry about hurting it...

If you should think of anything else, please let me know!

Thanks,

Larry Parker

My boss raced in the pro rally series and knows that guy.......

Most rally shocks are rebuilt very often, especialy Leda's due to there poor rod material..... Trust me,I have rebuild MANY ledas
Almost all had bent rods also they had poor seals
that could not deal with dirt.........
they work just fine on the track but just are not sealed to deal with lots of dirt.........

But I got a idea where you could get some built for a rally enviroment......WINK WINK

Paul491 Cadrobbi

I must admit, I'm not the most knowlegeable person when it comes to suspension tuning or mods for that matter. What would be the differences between the O.E. shocks and struts I am now running vs. the units you may be thinking of? I'm not planning to race my car in rallies, I'm just hoping to find some cost-effective solutions to my AZ daily driving conditions. (Although, I do like the idea of having the capability of having some fun on dirt roads though... lol <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> )

I am currently running 225-50-16 on 8"x16" Fuchs in front and planning to mount 255-50-16 on existing 9"x16 Fuchs on the rears. My ground clearance is pretty good but still low enough to play on the street or track. You can see a picture of my car on my profile page with 245-45-16 on the back by clicking the profile icon.

Judging from the quality of your web site and the stuff you guys are into, I'm sure you know what your talkin' about! Let me know what you think.

Thanks!