por29

I am questioning the strength of the ball joint stud in the RSS control arms for both 996 and 997 cars. We are considering making a much stronger bvall joint stud for this application.

Question. Has anyone had issues with this ball joint stud failing?

Please pm me

por29

After some very good conversation with both the sales rep and the chief engineer at RSS we think that what ever issue we saw may be resolved. I'll post updates.

smsarchitects

very curious about this...............

J richard

may want to look at post #362 in the "Clash at the Glen trash talk" thread, looks like a broken RSS arm put him in the wall...

dan212

That was me.. And this is what failed for me.

marcus0277

I'm interested in hearing what improvements you were considering. I have both versions of the pins. In comparison, the differences don't appear to be huge, but I'm sure they have a significant functional impact. Just curious to hear what improvements you thought they needed, to see if this matches what was actually done.

dan212

The RSS arms originally came from my 996 GT3 and were moved to the 996 GTB1. On that basis RSS said that they were not responsible because the tapers conform when first fitted to the first car and won't be as tight on the second car. The result is more load on the bolt and the same sheering effect as the bad batch with the incorrect CNC program. After talking to them for two hours it turns out that the tapers are replaceable, but they don't tell people that and didn't remember

jrgordonsenior

One failed on a very well built boxster out here in October at Laguna. I think it was the 3rd weekend on those control arms and the car suffered serious damage. Why bother when Porsche makes ones that last a very long time.....

BBMGT3

I've got these arms on the front axle of my GT3

Is there any risk?

Rick DeMan

I would reccomend using the Stock Porsche GT3 control arm, same price if not less expensive and Very well known quality...

BBMGT3

Yeah but the RSS is a solid bushing, monoball etc. The Porsche one, even the motorsport one, is a rubber

coryf

997 cup part is forged with a solid puck and inner monoball

Rick DeMan

True,

But think.. every 996 and 997.1 Factory CUP cars used rubber control arms running Michelin slicks...

dan212

The control Arms looked and feel well made which is why I moved them over to the next track car. Every wear part is replaceable by design. The ball joint was still in perfect condition.. Everything was except for the bolt that sheered.

The problem according to RSS was moving them from one car to another. The taper conforms to the first for best fit in a way that it cannot repeat in another chassis. Conformed, softer metal (designed to shape to fit) doesn't uncomform to paraphrase. Thats why I posted their response.

I don't know if the same would be true in the Porsche part, but its something to be aware of with RSS.

At a recent race, a chief mechanic from of a shop with a gaggle of cup cars said he replaces control arms (Porsche control arms) every year or two as a wear item..

Don't mean to reopen an old thread, but I was going over some posts and realized this was a question left unanswered.

DOUGLAP1

Recently when I ordered some addittional control arm shims from RSS, I was told that I needed to order a replacement "wear part" that needed to be replaced every year. It was a pretty low price, so I didn't give them any grief about it.

When the "wear part" shows up, I see that it is the upright attachment consisting of a new bolt and nut with the tapered cone. There were instructions inside saying that it was for single use, and should not be re-used.

As far as I'm concerned any part that needs to be replaced at less than 1,000 track miles needs to be replaced at 0 track miles. No way this is a fatigue problem - it sounds more like an inadequate fastener. No doubt this is a highly stressed single shear application, so the fastener needs to be the best posssible material and quality.

Has anyone found a high quality AN equivalent or any other solution? I would like to stay with the RSS control arms as I like the solid mount bearings everywhere, but I don't trust these bolts right now.