uniquenamehere

I have a 1988 944 N/A track car. Only sees the street when i'm driving to and from the track. I bought the Rennbay kit and rebuilt the balljoints in August 2019, and it seems after 6 or 7 track weekends they're starting to get some play in them again. Is this typical for the Rennbay kit to only last a season of DE use?

Looking at the front arms on my car they're angled up about 7 degrees off from parallel when the car is at ride height. I'm wondering if my ride height is too low and is causing premature ball joint wear? Is that possible?

Lastly, could someone explain how to check the ball joints properly? My mechanic checks it on the lift prying up on the a-arm against a block of wood sitting on the inside of the rim. I think I read somewhere that it's best to check it when the car has weight on the wheels.

Appreciate any insight here!

KevinGross

I would not run stock arms at that kind of angle.

s14kev

There will always be a little bit of play when you pry up on the control arm since the ball is supported by a spring which is not at full compression. On a track car the control arms should be parallel with the ground. You need extended ball joint pins and probably a bump steer kit if you want to run such a low ride height.

T&T Racing

I agree. My race car has the lower control arm slightly positive at most, ie ball joint above centerline.
Does your car have front adjustable lower spring perches? Or are they struts stock with no adjustment?

uniquenamehere

Yah, I have adjustable spring perches courtesy of the previous owner.

Would this angle on my arms cause premature wear?

MAGK944

Not mine but was posted by someone here a while back who ran angled arms on his lowered track car.

T&T Racing

Yes on premature wear and replacement before failure.
What is the length of the unloaded spring? Is there a helper
spring installed on top of the front main spring?

Measure the ride height front and rear, floor to center of halfmoon of fender opening.

Then this data can develop questions to be answered.

ealoken

Woah, you need a bumpsteer kit.
That angles on ride height is wear and tear on the balljoints..

951and944S

Yes, go with the longer pins, and even then, replace them at least once per season.

Very messy if you break one on track and that's if you manage to coast/park trackside without hitting anything, at a minimum, fender, liner and possibly brake hose.

uniquenamehere

Appreciate everyone's responses so far. Where does one source extended ball joint pins? Paragon? Is there another supplier?

The front springs I'm running are Eibach 1000.250.0350. They are 10 inches long according to Eibach's website... no tender spring installed. In terms of ride height I'll have to get back to you, the car's stored at a friend's place and I don't have access at the moment. I'll take some measurements this weekend hopefully.

cheers!

Qtrfoil

No affiliation, just coming across this as I work on my own control arm issues:

"The 944 front control arm has long been know to be a weak point in the car's suspension. Also, when drivers lower their car they throw the suspension geometry “Out of Whack” and thereby lose a lot of the improvement they are hoping to make. Our A-arms are lightweight, much stronger than the original factory arms, and come with spherical bearings at the front inner pickup and also at the outer ball joint location. Our replaceable pins are tensioned in place, like a wheel stud, so you now have a very strong outer spindle pin that can be made longer than the factory original, without risk of failure. Due to this improved mounting system, we can offer pins of various lengths to correct geometry for lowered cars."
http://www.racersedge-inc.com/racersedge/rehome.nsf/0/065E61557E81DA2E8525718F00646D1F?open&id=9.3.10

"This problem is more prevalent in cars which are driven extremely hard (i.e. hard cornering, auto-cross, or tracked cars). It becomes and even bigger problem when the control arm geometry is changed on cars with lowered front suspensions."
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/susp-10.htm


There are other aftermarket vendors as well with products that can be adjusted for different ride heights
https://www.boostbrothersgarage.com/...t-control-arms
https://www.lindseyracing.com/LR/Par...-AARM-BIL.html

T&T Racing

Before you take the time to measure the ride height, ask the previous owner if he significantly lowered the ride height. For my comments, there is no need to measure the ride heights.

My setup is early '85 with an Eibach 800.250.400 with a helper spring (I changed the post from tender to helper because tender is the correct terminology) The total length prior to compression of the main spring is 8.0 + 0.5 (block height of helper spring) or 8.5" Your setup has 10.0" before compression. My setup might have a different overall adjustment spring perch length. I cannot use a 10" length spring.

Contact Jason for assistance on extended ball joint bolt.

wildcat077

I see you're in Ontario ... give Ernie a call at Mantisport, he's in Oakville and has lots of experience with 944's,i'm sure
he could give you good advice as well as get you the correct suspension bits for your car !

Cheers
Phil

uniquenamehere

Hey Phil,

Funny you should mention, Mantis were the ones who set this car up originally. They were the ones who supplied and installed all the springs, swaybars, and did the corner balance/alignment.

(Is that your green 944 that i see at Mosport most DE weekends?)

wildcat077

Yes , you've probably seen my car at Mosport many times , although only for the VARAC and PCA race events.I used to do DE's with my 911 for 8-9 years with Rennsport and UCR but
i've been racing my 944 for the last five years.The black 911 is retired to street duty only now.

I would go back to Ernie and shake him down a bit ... lol , although there's Blaszak in Ontario , he's pretty keen with 944's as well !
Guess steel arms are not an option ?
I run the late spindles and early steel arms on my car , $30.00 Lemfolder disposable units and the balljoints are $19.00 each from Worldpak , i replace the sets every season !

Cheers
Phil