Poor handling 944

sbloxxy · 05-16-2005, 11:14 AM

I'm fairly new to 944's so I'm not sure whether my car is normal or not. I have a '83 944 (with no power steering) and when driving at higher speeds (over 70mph), the steering feels quite vague and the front end feels as though its floating around which is a bit disconcerting when you're tackling a series of fast sweeping bends. In fact I find myself having to back off a fair bit compared to the other vehicles travelling with me. The car has covered over 126,000 miles and I have a horrible feeling that its still on the original shock absorbers, so I'll change these but is there anything else (bushes for example) that I should be checking? Thanks for your help.

Rmills944 · 05-16-2005, 11:21 AM

shocks may be the answer, but it would still go straight if you had blown shocks.

Steering slop would be from tierod ends or the lower steering shaft joint. You should start with those.

Steve PH · 05-16-2005, 12:28 PM

Definately sounds wrong, a standard 944 NA in good running order with manual rack should be confidence inspiring above 70. Dampers/shocks call them what you will, have a large effect but only on bumpy roads or when turning.

More likley to be your lower ball joints, if they are kapput the car will follow lines in the road (so called tram lining) which isn't good at all.

Other possible areas are to have checked are the tie rods, wheel bearings, steering rack itself, steering shaft and the wishbone bushes.

Hope this helps.

sbloxxy · 05-16-2005, 01:29 PM

Actually now you mention it, I've noticed the car tramlines quite severely. I'll whip the wheels off this weekend and have a look and post the verdict.

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

I put my money on the main a-arm bushings then the ball joints and tie rod ends. Also the u-joints in the steering link will wear out and cause slop in the steering wheel. Actually the top u-joint is the one that wears out. Then yours being a right hand drive you may have more than two u-joints in the steering.

Wheel bearings will need to be checked too.

Once you refurbish the suspension you need to get an alignment. There is a special pointed end bolt that the factory shops use to set the toe in. This screws into the rack to center it. Once it's centered then the tow in is adjusted. Other wise it gets all goofy with the steering wheel out of kilter and a larger turning radius in one direction than the other.

Rmills944 · 05-17-2005, 06:22 AM

Replacing ball joints isn't hard, and the A-arm bushings are simple while you're in there. I'd definately do those if they are original.

The tierod ends are a little harder and you'd need a tierod end puller, so I'd see if the suspension bushings fix it first.

When my balljoints went out, the front tires would actually feel like they were out of balance the whole time I'd drive. They'd "wobble" so to speak - it was obvious where the problem was.