Wishbones
- Thread starter Diver944
- Start date
morris944s2john
New member
Or you could rebuild your own with a kit from the USA. anyone tried these??
pauljmcnulty
Active member
General concensus seems to be that it's easy to get it wrong with the DIY kits, and do you want the possible consequences of a wishbone failure at speed? Or, having to do the job again because it wears quickly. I'd guess that someone with the experience to do the job would be fine, but I'd rather have something so important done right! Mention the PCGB 944 forum when speaking to Hartech as they are very nice people and you never know....[
]Paul Fraser
New member
I think you can retrofit with the earlier, and much cheaper, wishbones. Anyone done this and care to comment?
Wigeon Incognito
New member
I had both of mine replaced a couple of months back with refurbished ones on an exchange basis via Peter (PJS917) on here. They're fully refurbished and uprated to better quality joints at much less than Hartech's price. If you contact Peter through this thread or via PM I'm sure he'd be happy to help. Another plus was that the car was only off the road for the swap over, as my old wishbones were kept for the next job.
morris944s2john
New member
My understanding is that it was modified (i.e significantly lowered) cars that have had dramatic ball joint failures. Other than that, the joint starts to clonk long before it fails and the play would fail an MOT before the joint fails. In addition, there are superior kits available with bronze bushing rather than plastic and its these that I've ordered from the States- waiting for me in the local post office. I'll let you all know how I get on. I would think that brakes are more of a worry for poor DIY. If the attitude is taken that "I'd better not do it in case", then if one's mechanical skills are such that one doesn;t have confidence in the quality of repairs, then- may as well just get all the work done at the garage and not bother with DIY. I have stripped and re-built the front callipers and made several brake pipes myself etc- no problems at all with any repairs, I''l take my time and be careful. I'm more worried about the belts, rollers and waterpump job to be honest!
pauljmcnulty
Active member
I totally agree. I've absolutely no mechanical experience or training, and as such I would always leave anything that could be life-threatening to an expert. Brakes, suspension, steering etc. Replacing the centre consol hinge, I can do that safely....[&:] I'm only passing on the fact that I've heard cases of people repairing their wishbones with DIY kits and having them fail either during driving or within a year at the MOT. Either way, that's obviously a false economy. If you're confident that you have the skills to do the job, and are happy with the quality of the repair kit, then of course it's a more economical way of going about it. If not, I'd say again call Hartech, mention this forum and get two re-conned wishbones at a price that is cheaper than two new wishbones.
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
I was under the impression you'd used non original parts and dispensed with the hinge all together
[]While I agree in sentiment, what you are neglecting to take into account is that the ball joint was never designed to be replaced, hence the repair part is a new arm. I would therefore suggest that there are two issues: [ol][*]I agree brakes are a big safety item, but if all you're doing is changing pads or lines or fluid then that's all routine service and they are designed to allow that to be done.[*]You are depending on the quality of the part you fit and the quality of the engineering solution the vendor of a DIY kit has devised which are beyond your control, as well as your ability to modify the suspension arm correctly. [/ol]Why aren't the joints replaceable according to Porsche? I'd imagine because equipment is used in the original manufacture that is not available in Porsche dealerships, far less to Joe Blow in his garage at home. If the engineering design in the solution isn't good then the repair will be sub standard, and similarly if it's made with poor quality materials it will also be sub standard. Now while I might be prepared to accept that the OE joint will not catastrophically fail on a car that hasn't been significantly lowered I don't personally have the same level of confidence with a part that is not necessarily of the same quality and is definitely not fitted in the same way. I might even argue it constitutes a modification that should be notified to the insurer for the latter reason in fact. None of the above precludes refurbished items offered by the likes of Hartech or Gilmour Engineering provided they are as OE which can be achieved with the engineering shop equipment companies specialising in such work have available to them, though there is still a question of quality of components used, but presumably those reputable companies care enough about their reputations to use decent parts.
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
At the risk of going off topic slightly (again []), I would have thought those running uprated brakes and/or tyres may want to consider if they're risking greater chances of pin failure too, even if the car isn't substantially lowered. After all, heavy deceleration will cause the front to dip lower than designed and whilst it should only be for brief periods, repeated use (i.e. mainly track work) surely must start to stress it more. Recently there's been a lot of talk about pin failure on 968's on both 968.net and Rennlist following a rather nasty off by one of the members during a track session. What was an eye opener for me is that this isn't just happening to the original parts, even some of the expensive aftermarket A arms have failed too.
]), I would have thought those running uprated brakes and/or tyres may want to consider if they're risking greater chances of pin failure too, even if the car isn't substantially lowered. After all, heavy deceleration will cause the front to dip lower than designed and whilst it should only be for brief periods, repeated use (i.e. mainly track work) surely must start to stress it more. Recently there's been a lot of talk about pin failure on 968's on both 968.net and Rennlist following a rather nasty off by one of the members during a track session. What was an eye opener for me is that this isn't just happening to the original parts, even some of the expensive aftermarket A arms have failed too.
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
One positive thing is I've not seen any mention of 19mm pin failures, but then I have no idea how many people are running them (thanks again to John for finding the rennbay kit). The 968 thread is [link=http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtopic=6275]here[/link] (you need to register to read it), a briefer Rennlist one [link=http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=451213]here[/link], but the post by wonko on the second page is a nice summary of the situation.
Peter Empson
PCGB Member
In those threads I counted standard, fabcar, Kokeln and Charley arms having failed. Doesn't sound like tthe Racers Edge ones have broken, but then again I don't know how long they've been available.
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