Lower wishbone / control arm

[trev260764]

I have ball joint play on my passenger side control arm - it's not gonna pass the MOT! Noticed a seller with them on eBay (used) for £50 with postage. Or £400 new from Europarts...

What would you do?

 

[Riverside]

Get a refurbed one for about half way between the two prices you give. It's what I did a year or so ago.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

What would you do?

Hartech for a start.

 

[kevinyearley]

www.porscheshop.co.uk do refurbs for £275+VAT+P&P and then they refund you £100 if you send them your old wishbone.

Just had it done in the shop and it cost me over £400, but then they sorted out the alignment and the casters (i think thats what they're called)( basically the bits that sort out the pitch of the front wheels).

Handles better than ever now though.

 

[mik_ok]

My Indy arranged for a balljoint replacement for £140 a few years back.

Set away to a machine shop in Glasgow as I understand it.

 

[944 man]

The only cheap solution would be to buy a used 968 part from a breaker you trust, like Simon Butterworth. Itll cost £80, will have a better design and it will have a 944 part number (944 parts have a 951 part number).

For a refurb Id go to Barry Hart.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Set away to a machine shop in Glasgow as I understand it.

David Gilmour. No, not the guitarist...the engineer [&:]

 

[sulzeruk]

E-mail sent to you Trev, got a nice S2 one here with a very tight ball joint with a perfect gator.
Alasdair

 

[Suffolk944]

I'd go for the Hartech refurbs myself - In fact I did just that a couple of months ago. []

 

[trev260764]

Cheers for the help guys. Bought one from Al. Will get me mate Jim to fit it and report back...

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Just a thought, I know I shouldn't think but I can't help it...[&o]

I get a lot of calls about wishbones, as you'd expect. I do think, thinking about it, that it's nearly always S2s or Turbos and very rarely Luxes, or Luxi, whatever. Could this be because the cars were over-tyred, another example of why there's nothing wrong with 15" Teledials on a late 944? Another reason not to fit 17" or 18" wheels for purely cosmetic reasons? [8|]

 

[Eldavo]

Fit it yourself, it's nowhere near as hard as you imagine and is very satisfying. Plus you get a better understanding of how everything should be and how it all works.

 

[ChasR]

Wishbone is the first job I did on my 944, and it was indeed satisfying. Took me 40 minutes a side to change the lower arms. Make sure the eccentric castor adjuster is marked off to be in the right position, something normal garage may not care about. Whilst you are there, you may wish to consider getting 968 Castor mounts to freshen up the suspension a touch.

Furthermore if you do wish to go down the balljoint only route (not recommended by many), a specialist I spoke to (down south) said he'd only ever consider the Rennbay kit in terms of refurbing the balljoints yourself, and none of the kits available in the UK, unless you get a refurbed arm from Hartech.

 

[kevinyearley]

ORIGINAL: 944 man


No

No

No

NO !

Why not...?

 

[trev260764]

Any links guys for 968 Castor Mounts? Stuggling to locate em.

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

Just a thought, I know I shouldn't think but I can't help it...[&o]

I get a lot of calls about wishbones, as you'd expect. I do think, thinking about it, that it's nearly always S2s or Turbos and very rarely Luxes, or Luxi, whatever. Could this be because the cars were over-tyred, another example of why there's nothing wrong with 15" Teledials on a late 944? Another reason not to fit 17" or 18" wheels for purely cosmetic reasons? [8|]

I reckon it is the fundamental design flaw of the S2/turbo control arms. They have an aluminium alloy socket, a steel ball only separated by a thin nylon washer which breaks up over a few tens of thousands of miles meaning you have steel grinding into aluminium alloy. I'd recommend a refurb with Hartec. I say Hartec because they will inspect and restore the socket profile meaning the joint will be as good as new. Also i'd recommend an aftermarket kit for the refurbishment - better than the OEM ones as the good ones use a phospher bronze washer instead of a nylon one.

Whatever you do don't buy new - unless you buy new for both sides which turns your £400 into £800. You should always do things like this as a matched axel set in my view.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: kevinyearley

ORIGINAL: 944 man


No

No

No

NO !

Why not...?

Not, "No, No No No"

We do not indulge supplier bashing on this forum.

 

[944 man]

It isnt bashing John. Notwithstanding the clubs cosying up with PS: Im commenting on their excessive prices. If I wanted to 'bash' them then I know more than enough; but I keep it to myself.

 

[sulzeruk]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Porsche-944-S2-Turbo-968-Front-Wishbone-Rear-Mount-NEW_W0QQitemZ350290070962QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item518eea4db2
Alasdair

 

[ChasR]

As 944 Man I guess it's the fact that Hartech supply the arms for a similar price and are very well renowned for doing what they do with the 944 arms. I know their turnaround time when I have got bits from them (albeit just 1 arm and 2 968 Castor mounts) has been very quick.

Just to muddy the water a little, a specialist near me said that on a road car the Hartech arms are fine, but for track use I should only be looking at the genuine Porsche arms...