Front suspension: control arms and ball joints
Why the alloy control arms from 1985.5 are a known wear point and which repair routes exist.
In short: From mid-1985 the 944 has cast-alloy control arms. Their ball joint wears and for a long time could not be replaced on its own; today there are rebuilds and aftermarket arms with replaceable joints.
Early and late
The mid-1985 revision brought new cast-alloy control arms and semi-trailing arms. Earlier cars have different arms; parts do not simply interchange.
The problem
The late arms’ ball joint runs in a nylon cup inside the alloy housing. The geometry loads it on one side and it wears. Once the cup is worn through, the pin rubs on the aluminium; in the worst case it cracks and can shear. Hard cornering, track use and lowered cars make it worse.
What to do
- Check ball-joint and tie-rod-end boots for cracks.
- Clunks and uneven tyre wear point to worn bushings or ball joints.
- Repair: new arms from the manufacturer, rebuilds with a new joint by specialists, or aftermarket arms with a replaceable joint. We do not name suppliers or prices because the available information is out of date.
Suspension parts are safety-relevant: work to the workshop manual or at a specialist.
Sources
- Secondary source Porsche 944 (Abschnitt «Production»)
Secondary source. Production tables per model year, no book citation; totals are partly inconsistent.
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Front control arms, ball joints, rebuilding.
- Secondary source Buyer's Guide: Porsche 944 / 944 Turbo
Enthusiast buyer's guide (1998), checks on the lift and on the test drive.
- Secondary source Porsche 944 buying checklist (PDF)
Buying checklist ordered by area.