Front Shocks and ball joint

[pbrett]

Hi All,

Interested in your views about front shocks for 944 turbo.

Mine seem to be shot, with play in them also one of the ball joints has play in it.

What are the options for sorting this?

I am a fan of standard set ups, as I have the unpopular view that porsche most of the improvements seen with aftermarket set ups come from the comparison with poorly set-up old worn out 20+ year suspension components.
That gives you a clue about the direction of advice I am after[]

 

[ChasR]

People do tend to compare new OEM to aftermarket stuff though mind you. And times have moved on. This view may be slightly biased though . I do agree that OEM stuff in many cases can surpass aftermarket stuff (especially on the daily, where others seem to suffer from issues for a variety of reasons. On an unrelated note I have also found that OE branded stuff is not necessarily what you shall get from the motor factors in comparison to the dealer (Ford dampers are one, as are cambelts on older Peugeots).

Hartech sell reconditioned lower arms for around £175+VAT a corner. They are pretty simple to fit.

As for the shocks what setup do you have ATM? Stock M030 coilovers or a more conventional shock setup?

 

[pbrett]

It is just the standard, not MO30 set up.

but very few comparisons are done from standard fully restored set up vs after market set ups.

The after market stuff always seems to be very stiff and unforgiving and I subscribe to the Colin Chapman suspension philosophy

" Make the suspension adjustable and they will adjust it wrong --
look what they can do to a Weber carburetor in just a few moments of stupidity with a screwdriver."

interesting article about suspension by chapman here:- http://www.lotuselan.net/publish/article_245.shtml

 

[ChasR]

I do agree, and some comparisons have been done by chaps on here who have driven cars with all creeds .

In your case I would be tempted to go with the stock Sachs shocks.

 

[944Turbo]

I have had new standard shocks (sachs / boge) with original springs - then shortly after, techart front springs on the same standard shocks.

New leda (road biased) and worn standard.
I also have Bilstein B6 on the back of the coupe but only for one trackday at Bedford. For mostly road I think I would be tempted to investigate B6 all the way round (I think the fronts need some mods (cutting welding) to the original struts as they are inserts that don't just bolt in like the koni inserts for later struts do) and compare this with the price of standard replacements If the B6 were within 20% of the original and the front mods are not too complex I would be tempted to go that way, in my limited experience they offer better control without increased harshness.

The new standards are better than the old ones - depending how bad the old ones are depends how much! With tech art front springs my fronts were feeling tired again after 40k miles - not very bad but a loss of 'finesse'.

The ones I took off my lux at 120k felt a bit worn on the car but off the car I was shocked at how little resistance they actually offered, the new ones drove much better but it was also the first time I had the car aligned as well which may have contributed.

For lowered / track - KW, gaz or leda unless I have a lottery win or want to race then I would look at the more exotic options!

Tony

 

[944Turbo]

Strut mods here http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=713534&mpage=1&key=bilstien&#719491 Thanks again Oli !

and

list of suppliers if you fancy an alternative!

http://www.weissach.net/924-944-968_SuspensionPartsSuppliers.html