944 Everything? + History

[Mysticle31]

So, a complete 944 suspension and brakes consists of what exactly? What all do I need to buy?

Trailing Arms,
Spring Plates,
Torsion Bars,
Rear rotors,
resr discs,
front knuckles,
front rotors,
front calipers,
kersher ball joints
What else do i need? How can I make the 4 pot calipers work the easiest?

[Supa Ninja]

Go to www.performanceghia.com , Micheal explain's everything needed for the 944 suspension/brake upgrade as well as half shafts/axles upgrade and the 901 tranny install. Most of this has been beatn to death on past threads, you can find it with the search function on this site as well.

Nick

[Mysticle31]

Perf ghia.. that was the site I was lookin for a while ago.. Thank you.

[jps]

I'm in the process of adapting 944 brakes/suspension to my SB and I'm looking for a US source for the Kersher ball joints to mate 944 spindles to SB control arms. Any help would be much appreciated!!

[Mysticle31]

Can I physically bolt up the 944 front control arms and use the 944 struts and springs and all that jazz?

I know I can use the 944 rear end by cutting off something or other and bolting it up (or was it swaping torsion bars and using control arms. I forget. What is that gizmo I have to cut off?)

[zen]

Originally Posted by jps

I'm in the process of adapting 944 brakes/suspension to my SB and I'm looking for a US source for the Kersher ball joints to mate 944 spindles to SB control arms. Any help would be much appreciated!!

there is no US source currently. there was a group buy being organized, but i think it is done. you could always start another round. just hit the "group buy" category here.

[Mysticle31]

I'm wondering if you can bolt up 944 late front control arms, shocks, speindles, springs..etc.

My train of thought is this. Get all the 944 stuff (mabey even ABS)
(or even get the 'standard' performace parts for the 944 (275lb springs, 968 rear SB, 944 Turbo front SB, 911 roters, 16" 'phone dial' wheels, konis)
And bolt it to the superbeetle. Then see if I can get more weight in the front! (radio, sandbags..etc)

My logic is this: The 944 has 50.7/49.3 weight dist. and if the SB could be made to have the same weight dist. Yes it's lighter, but it's lighter all around. Like puting 944 stuff on the rear!? Plus you get the track width.

No, you can not use the 944 control arms (which are actually from a VW Rabbit, for 83-85 944). The combo of parts are: 1303 control arm, tie rod & end, and strut bolted (via a Kerscher 17 mm ball joint) to the 83-85 944 steering knuckle (spindle) with brakes.

The near perfect weight distribution of the 944 has nothing to do with the suspension but rather the fact that the (Audi 5000) transmission is mounted in the rear of the car and the engine (Volkswagen LT Truck) is mounted in the front.

Mysticle31, don't take this the wrong way but you're going over board a little, and there is nothing wrong with that if you have thousands of dollars and mucho time along with a full shop and plenty of knowledge. This German Look thing has been around for about 10 years and these methods have been proven to work. Keep it simple, bolt on a few 944 items to upgrade your suspension, otherwise just buy a 944... and I do mean that in a sincere manner.

Originally Posted by Mysticle31

I'm wondering if you can bolt up 944 late front control arms, shocks, speindles, springs..etc.

Sure you could, but you'd have to complete redesign the entire front clip of the car with a new or modified frame head and a lot of work to intergrate the strut towers at the correct angle.

Originally Posted by Mysticle31

My train of thought is this. 944 (275lb springs)
And bolt it to the superbeetle. Then see if I can get more weight in the front! (sandbags..etc)

There's no nice or easy way to say this but your thinking above is not logical.

[Mysticle31]

Gotcha. Just for curiostity sake, what are the later control amrs from?

The engine is from a VW truck?

I'm just conserned about the weight dist, using a suspension from the rear of a great handling car (do to balence, and design) and not having good front suspension.

It's interesting that the 944 (early) had control arms from a rabbit, becouse they are so short, so as the control arms move up the camber change on the wheel is greater change becouse of the shorter distance. And change in roll center when lowered. I thought longer arms would have been better choice.

Then again, people say the later the 944 the better!