What do pinch bolt struts look like?

[berettafan]

Anybody got pics? How do i know if my struts are pinch bolt or not?

Brand is boge.

[Peter Zimmermann]

If you have the original struts they're probably pinch bolt type. Look just above the ball joint, you'll see a bolt with a 17mm (I think) wrench size hex head. If your struts use wedge pins you will have 13mm wrench size nuts. Both bolts & pins sit roughly parallel to the wheel.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

You don't want them.

[berettafan]

Wh*t do the struts themselves look like?

[pozee]

Is this what you're looking for?

[Peter Zimmermann]

Originally Posted by pozee

Is this what you're looking for?

OK, you can put the fender back on! Nice pics, by the way...

[pozee]

Much cleaner under there now!

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Hey Guys

I sure do hope I am not out of line here. I recall some of the longtime members of the board suggesting if you have the 'pinch-bolt' style of strut, you should seriously consider replacement of same with the wedge-pin style. I understand this to be a precautionary &/or safety measure, especially if you plan on any 'serious recreational' driving. I plan on switching mine out for that reason plus plain old 'peace-of-mind' . Go Canucks.

Cheers
JB

[Zeke]

Yes, that's what the pundits say. It's not the strut, it's the style of ball joint. The newer BJ is stronger. I figured any new BJ was stronger and put new old style ones on my early car. YMMV.

[Tom F2]

Can anyone make it a little more precise, what is wrong with the pinch bolt type of strut/ball joint? I am thinking of buying a pair of pinch type struts, but I don't want to buy myself a problem. Many thanks from snowy Massachusetts.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Tom, I've got a pair of 3" Boges with wedge bolts, complete with good ball joints, calipers, rotors, hubs. One hub is iffy, may have another to swap. $200 come on by and pick them up.

[Tom F2]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Tom, I've got a pair of 3" Boges with wedge bolts, complete with good ball joints, calipers, rotors, hubs. One hub is iffy, may have another to swap. $200 come on by and pick them up.

Thanks, Shaun, but I'm looking for a pair of original Koni struts with 3-1/2" spacing to go with some S calipers I have on hand. I may end up going for some boge, and reuse the Koni inserts I have now.

By the way, I answered my own question, or I should say that the estimable Grady Clay has answered it, repeatedly and clearly. Search on "pinch-bolt" and Grady Clay, and you'll come up with the answer. Which is that the strut separates from the ball joint. Not a pretty picture. Thank you, Grady!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

no problem Tom, yes, those early pinch Koni's are not good. was hoping to get the car out after Saturday being so nice. not so much anymore.

[Tom C.]

Sorry to drag this on, but I thought the risk with the pinch-bolt struts were related to the pinch-bolt . . . not the ball-joint.

So my understanding was if I maintained proper torque on the pinch-bolt all will be good.

Is the ball-joint for the wedge-pin really better than the pinch-bolt?

Regards,

[RWebb]

Many experts think so & I have never heard anyone say otherwise.

Post the link when you do the search.

also think about whether you want to go with 3.5" bolt spacing for caliper choice...

[Grady Clay]

I will stand up and say again that Porsche should have replaced all those parts under a ‘safety recall’. They didn’t but that was another era.

I agree with the above, the issue is not the ball joint (I think they were the same) but the attachment method.

IMHO, the pinch bolt method was defective. Even Model T Fords used the ‘wedge pin’ in the front suspension. I don’t understand how Porsche engineers could have missed this.

To be clear, I think this was only (and all?) 911, 912 and 914 from ’69 to ’71. A big issue today is finding used ‘pinch-bolt’ struts and ball joints for sale. They should be discarded or somehow recycled with wedge pins.

The issue is the pin of the ball joint can pull out of the strut past a worn, not tight or corroded ‘pinch bolt’. This is much more difficult (if not impossible) with the ‘wedge pin’. This failure mode causes the car to loose control.

As I have said before, I inspect a track car I’m asked to drive/ride in for these defective parts.

Best,
Grady

[Flieger]

Are these pinch-bolt Konis? I think they are. The car is a 1971 911S.

[Flieger]

Are there any cheap upgrades to the pinch-bolt struts? Can wedge-pins be retrofitted somehow? I do not have the budget for new struts?

I do not hear of these failing. The strut/ball joint interface is loaded mostly in compression (and shear) so I am not concerned enough about the consequences or likelihood of failure to get Bilsteins.

[Tom C.]

Thank you Grady (again) for that information. I rebuilt my front suspension recently and the ball joints are specific to the year of the car, so they maybe also different for the pinch-bolt vs. the wedge-pin.

To mitigate the risks of the pinch-bolt I used new hardware, torque'd it to spec, and re-torque on a regular basis. My thoughts were that for a guy like me that does 90% street driving . . . it's not likely to encounter high stress-loads that would cause the pinch-bolt to fail.

At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

[Flieger]

Cool, works for me.