Any 928 Owners out there?, I have a few questions Options

[Tom_T]

I seem to recall somebody posting here that they'd taken their 928 to some 914 or P-car events over the past year, so I think there are some closet Shark fans out there! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I just don't recall who it was, or if there are several??

I have a crazy question which I posted over at the Pelican 928 Forum about whether you could tow with a 928, so any shark lovers here could maybe answer over there:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-928...tml#post6595065

Otherwise, if you prefer I'll just post it here too, but I didn't want to clutter up a 914 site with 928 questions, and risk being kicked to the sandbox again! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

TIA (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////

[zambezi]

I love when people talk about how these cars are unreliable and expensive to own and full of electrical problems. Of those people I always wonder how many have first hand knowledge of this. Or do they just know someone who knows someone with the problems. I am going on my 7th year of DAILY driving my '82 928. My only problems that prevented me from driving the car any of those years were a busted clutch hose and a pressure plate that got destroyed when the throw out bearing locked up. I have no electrical problems, never touched the torque tube, not done the timing belt yet but have the parts to do soon, and drive the heck out of the car. If you look above the liscence plate you will see the plug for my draw tight hitch. I have recently picked up an Austin Healey at the paint shop with an aluminum trailer. The car has plenty of power for pulling but can't handle a lot of tongue weight.

[Tom_T]

I love when people talk about how these cars are unreliable and expensive to own and full of electrical problems. Of those people I always wonder how many have first hand knowledge of this. Or do they just know someone who knows someone with the problems. I am going on my 7th year of DAILY driving my '82 928. My only problems that prevented me from driving the car any of those years were a busted clutch hose and a pressure plate that got destroyed when the throw out bearing locked up. I have no electrical problems, never touched the torque tube, not done the timing belt yet but have the parts to do soon, and drive the heck out of the car. If you look above the liscence plate you will see the plug for my draw tight hitch. I have recently picked up an Austin Healey at the paint shop with an aluminum trailer. The car has plenty of power for pulling but can't handle a lot of tongue weight.

Zambezi - Where did you get your hitch & installation?

That's a very clean job & looks like a better & less visible one that the factory optioned.

Those all sound like normal wear & tear type items, & which sometimes "stuff" (aka (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) ) happens repairs.
Nothing I'm hearing nor reading anywhere in my research is scaring me off of 928s - as a GT cruising, nor for lighter duty towing.

The only question for me now is whether the tongue wt. limit can be safely resolved for my wife's planned trailer.
GTW/GVW for the T20 Avion that my wife is eyeballing is on title as 2400#, & so I'm guessing a tongue wt. of 240-250# if 10-11% of GTW, based on their other trailers of that periods GTW to TW ratios.

So I'm looking at these units as a possible solution to reducing the tongue wt. on the 928's hitch, by carrying most of it on the "hitch helper's" wheel(s) & axle.
There are 2 & 1 wheel varieties & large & small wheel mfgrs. that I've found so far, as in these pix .... and that new Airstream 16' actually weighs more than 3000# & has more trailer wt. than do the vintage ones of comparable sizes.





(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[Tom_T]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-10181-1331106537.jpg)

I've talked with the guy who makes this Hitch Helper, & the std. set-up takes 70% of the trailer's hitch wt., & 30% to the tow vehicle (TV), but he can adjust the lever arm action to go to 100:0 or even -65 to the TV (i.e.: negative wt. to the TV for those throwing a bunch of crap in their pick-em-up trucks while towing he said).

So he can custom fit it to the TV & trailer hitch hts. & wts. transferred, match wheels size to trailer &/or TV, etc.

He can also outfit them with optional electric or hydraulic brakes on the Hitch Helper axle, and it has a full spring or torsion bar suspension with shocks on the unit - which he called a "Tag Axle" generically.

EDIT FYI: I'd tried unsuccessfully for several months to get the dimensions & weight specs from the Hitch Helper guy - an email about once a month - after he'd promised to send them to me in the above referenced telecon, in order to see if the combined trailer hitch helper wt. would be within the 928's specs. On the final email he called me up drunk on a Friday night & cussed me out for "...bothering him with stupid details...." etc. - so needless to say, I do NOT recommend anyone doing business with such an unprofessional a-hole who cannot even provide basic specs. for his own product.

Moot point, since my vintage trailer expert who had done the PPI for us on the 1960 Avion T20 shown above has recommended a weight distributing hitch with anti-sway control such as a cam/bar Reese or the Hensley Arrow - or Cub in the case of our small trailer - which is lighter than the hitch helper/tag axles. However, it will require a 2" receiver type hitch similar the Chris' with the silver 82 928 from Lafayette LA in the post above, in order to "plug-in" the Hensley apparatus. FYI for those interested, I'll post the Hensley info at a later date as a follow-up post at the end.

The 928 idea has hit some hurdles with the wife, but the other alternative might be an early Cayenne (03-06). For now we'll just rent a pick-up or SUV for the few occasions we'll tow my wife's "new" trailer to vintage trailer/car events.
[end edit]

.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-10181-1331107954.gif)

We'd only be towing a Bambi sized trailer, since that Avion T20 is lighter at only 2400# empty - even if 4' longer than the Airstream 16' Bambi in the pic above (it's +/- 3500# IIRC).

So now that I know it can work, we're looking at 928s too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The Avion T20 is a "go" for the wife, unless I find a fatal flaw when we go see it in person, but it's been checked out & got lotsa pix - regardless of a TV.

We may just rent a pick-up/SUV a couple of times a year until we find a good 928 & get it all fitted out, or if a 928 ends up being a no-go with the wife.

She still has truck ideas in terms of back seats & hauling crap, but we already have two 5-seaters: the 85 BMW 325e & 88 Westy - & the Westy hauls a lot of stuff for us already. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

I need to get her thinking "fun sports car for just us, with an occasional limited use back seat, that can tow your damn trailer in style & comfort" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)
- cuz we don't want/need another big vehicle to only use 2-3x a year!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-10181-1331610045.jpg)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)