Need Upper Control Arm Advice!!

[milspam]

Anyone have any advice or leads to upper control arm replacement or rebuild? I've seen the upper control arm rebuild kit, but sure if its a viable alternative to a rebuilt units offered by two sources that I know of and New units are 650.00 each. Appreciate any input - thanks milspam

[Mrmerlin]

OK lets start over,
what year is the car, there are 2 different A arms
Where are you located?

There are different ways to repair the older style of A arms in position,
There are different vendors that offer rebuilt A arms.
Are you
able to turn a wrench

[milspam]

Yep! left out the details - its a 80 Euro which should be the same as all US models up to 1985. I need to replace the original lower ball joints and noticed that the upper ball joint cups were torn and looked at little flat. It currently has a great deal of negative camber. I just pick this 928 up recently due to the M28/11 engine that I've lusted after for a long time. Appreciate any input in advance. Thanks, milspam in Virginia

[ammonman]

The early upper A-arm ball joints are re-buildable. However, you probably need to replace the pivot bushings as well. By the time you figure $160 for the ball joint kit plus another $75 to $150 for the aftermarket bushing kit plus a whole weekend to get the arms out, replace the bushings, rebuild and seal the ball joints (which need to be kept SPOTLESS during the assembly and re-seal) then get the arms re-installed you are prolly better off to just getting the rebuilt arms and making the swap in one day. Of course this is dependent on what value you put on your time. I have an S4 and changing the arm bushings and installing new boots was a 2 day affair without having access to a press.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[Mrmerlin]

if your upper Arm joints are tight but the boots are shot Roger sells new boots .
separate the joint,
remove the old boot,
add some grease to the new boot and install ,
the spring is a bit of a pain but if your careful it can be put on.
There are other 928rs in VA
Lower BJs need to be swapped if they are aluminum a magnet will tell.
Clean the eccentrics put some antiseize on them so they turn easily this makes stripping the adjustment hex slots less likely to be damaged by the alignment shop

[milspam]

Thanks for the input guys, just hoped that maybe someone had more input on the quality of rebuilt upper A-arms from current available sources. I will most likely not go the DIY rebuild route and with winter on its way I'll probably have to wait. Yep, lower ball joints are aluminium and will have to go, even tho they still look good. Sincerely appreciate the replies and your input. Best regards, George

[Linderpat]

This vendor (Pelican) sells them (ie, rebuilt upper control arms), as does 928 International (I've bought two sets of rebuilts from them over the years on past cars). The quality is good.
As to the alum lowers - they can look perfect - right up until they fail with you flying around a corner at a high rate of speed!

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by Mrmerlin

if your upper Arm joints are tight but the boots are shot Roger sells new boots .
separate the joint,
remove the old boot,
add some grease to the new boot and install ,
the spring is a bit of a pain but if your careful it can be put on.
There are other 928rs in VA
Lower BJs need to be swapped if they are aluminum a magnet will tell.
Clean the eccentrics put some antiseize on them so they turn easily this makes stripping the adjustment hex slots less likely to be damaged by the alignment shop

Good to know. How much does Roger sell them for?

[tlsmith1999]

Make sure that the bushing on the upper A-arms are good. If they have any play, they will probably need replaced. I agree with Mike (Ammonman), I started out replacing the boots, then found that the bushings were bad. I gave up and bought new steal Arms from 928MS:

928 Motorsports - Performance Parts - Steel Upper A-Arm Replacement for the Porsche® 928

I am very happy with them.