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I can't see a street car with 'relatively normal' sized wheels/tyres and not slammed to hell that you would need anything more than stock. As Spencer says, if you're going through these unusually quickly then something is causing this symptom.
I don't believe there is anything systemically wrong with the vehicle, I just purchased one that needed lots of love to get her on the road again,and it's all due around the same time (hence money concern).
Thank you for the input on the steel arms. I'm going to evaluate my options and go from there.
Cheers everyone and thanks for the clarification and input!
Yes they are reversible l&r. You will also need some other parts to fit them, the rear castor bushing clips are different as are the sway bar end links. You can find more info <here>
Thanks for all the awesome information, folks. I really appreciate it. Steel arms ordered from Pelican, and then a slew of stuff ordered from spots all over the interwebs. I'll close out my thoughts once the work is done.
I keep reading about how the steel arms flex, especially with large sway bars, but how much doe they REALLY flex under normal street driving conditions (even mildly aggressive street conditions). I'm considering swapping from aluminum to steel and reinforcing, rather than dropping $200 every 10 years. Unfortunately, that 10 years is up right now, along with the wheel bearings (which disintegrated), a brake job, new struts/shocks all around cause they were shot, and new master/slave for clutch.
I bought a well used, not well loved, 944 and there's more wrong than I realized.
I ran steel arms on the track for years with a big Tarett bar them the entire time with no issues. I was only running 225 or 245 street or R-comp tires on the front, but they held up well. The arms are so cheap that they are a maintenance item, and I would replace them every season just to be safe. The 944 Spec world has proven that the steel arms hold up well. You can also weld reinforcements as a number of 944 Spec guys do if it helps you sleep better . . . .
It may be interesting to look at what the factory did to prepare the 924/944 for the track:
Awesome, thanks for sharing that!
That car is radically lowered, because even after raising the steering rack as much as they did, Porsche still had to use spacers between the tie rod ends and steering arms! But, that also allows fine-tuning to minimize bump steer.
I'd love to get my hands on a set of those front spindles . . . . My "budget" welded-in drop pin solution to correct the front suspension geometry (which is far more substantial than the usual elongated ball joint option that relies on the factory pinch bolts) has proven to be plenty strong for my usage (with lots of curb-hopping!), but I would further gusset/reinforce the pins or go with custom spindles if running slicks that wide in front!
What impresses me here is how the arms remain parallel to the ground even with the car in the air. I guess those arms won't move much in bump either.
The control arms being parallel while the wheels are off the ground has zero to do with the control arms themselves; the struts are significantly shorter than those of a factory 924/944, which limits the droop travel to near zero, because this is not very necessary on a race car that runs on smooth racetracks.
I have the shortened Ground Control struts on my 951 along with the aforementioned modified spindles (see the "after" pic in the above link that I posted), and there is almost no droop travel with that setup. I still drive the car on the street sometimes, and if I am exiting a steep driveway at angle to avoid scraping the front, the inside front wheel will actually lift off the ground like that of a modern 911 GT3 street car does!
What impresses me here is how the arms remain parallel to the ground even with the car in the air. I guess those arms won't move much in bump either.
Originally Posted by Droops83
...The control arms being parallel while the wheels are off the ground has zero to do with the control arms themselves...
Yes I'm quite aware of that. I was commenting on how level the arms were, absolutely zero droop. I would have thought there would be some droop dialed in to allow for lift.
I ran steel arms on the track for years with a big Tarett bar them the entire time with no issues. I was only running 225 or 245 street or R-comp tires on the front, but they held up well. The arms are so cheap that they are a maintenance item, and I would replace them every season just to be safe. The 944 Spec world has proven that the steel arms hold up well. You can also weld reinforcements as a number of 944 Spec guys do if it helps you sleep better . . . .
My experience with the steel arms was quite different. I found the arms way too weak for hard track use. They bent and cracked. The solution, however, was quite simple. Box the arms with a band of steel welded around the perimeter. IIRC, 1" x 1/8" strap fits nicely and will allow the arms to take a beating without fail.
12-22-2016, 02:05 AM
