Modern trailing arms for the 914?, 986 carriers/calipers/e-brake, more adjustability, more tire? |
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Modern trailing arms for the 914?, 986 carriers/calipers/e-brake, more adjustability, more tire? |
horizontally-opposed |
Jan 26 2021, 12:21 PM
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#1
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,432 Joined: 12-May 04 From: San Francisco Member No.: 2,058 Region Association: None |
I've been reviewing past discussions on these (links below) off and on, having test fit a 215/60R15 Pirelli P6000 on a 911R wheel into both rear fenders of my narrow-body 914. It seems doable, but it's going to take some massaging on the outer fender, custom spacers, and—maybe—narrowed trailing arms. Which got me to thinking about the current state of the 914 trailing arm, which is the same it's been since 1970.
Basically, those heavy, non-adjustable steel trailing arms are one of the very few things on the 914 that hasn't been addressed or evolved by the aftermarket. I'm running PMB-rebuilt trailing arms with PMB-rebuilt calipers, and can redo them again with reinforcements and/or some reshaping, but I wonder how hard would it be to do blade-type trailing arms of similar strength with less weight and/or more adjustment. Could a 911 spring plate, or a triangulated or otherwise reinforced version of it, be adapted? Looking at the basic design of the 914 arm, it doesn't look all that complicated, but I'm no engineer. EDIT: Possible use of a machined 986 wheel carrier, an aluminum casting by Brembo that incorporates the 986 e-brake and 986 four-piston caliper mounts, comes up later—a very interesting idea from @Chris914n6, particularly as the castings are available for $100-200ea used or new from Porsche. Bolting that carrier to a new steel trailing arm with a lower damper mount seems viable to me, but here to learn. The custom work to narrow factory 914 trailing arms looks extensive, but has been done by both @914timo and @sixnotfour as well as, it looks like, Rich Johnson. I could see doing it in the process of moving to 911 e-brakes and 986 2.5 brakes, maybe, but I wonder if a group buy might attract a 914 vendor we all want to support? Relevant threads: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...p;#entry1247827 http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...ailing&st=0 http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...238144&st=0 http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...234391&st=0 |
horizontally-opposed |
Jan 28 2021, 02:20 PM
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#2
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,432 Joined: 12-May 04 From: San Francisco Member No.: 2,058 Region Association: None |
^ You are welcome, but @sixnotfour is probably our resident king of sneaking 205/55R16s into stock or stock-ish rear fenders.
I just wanted to get a conversation about rethinking the 914's trailing arms going. After some more thought, I wonder if I can't rope @Optimusglen in, as some of the thinking stems back to the dreamy "GT" build we commissioned him to render for 000 (below) and might even tie into something else he's working on. If a North American wheel supplier can create custom billet 20x12-inch wheels that exactly match Porsche AG concept car wheels for $1250~/wheel, I have to suspect two pieces of billet aluminum to accept stock, poly, or needle bearings up front and a 911 e-brake, wheel bearing, and a caliper at the back connected by a "blade" or two of carbon fiber might not be so crazy? It would be interesting to compare prices for the above against making jigs to narrow 50yo steel arms, adapting 911 e-brakes, repainting, and rebushing a set of stock trailing arms—which would still be boat anchors. Lightweight arms might save 20-30~ pounds in unsprung weight. Pair that with a lightweight battery, and it could add up to half~ the weight gain of a six conversion in roughly the same part of the car. Not gonna be cheap, but look what folks spend on bodywork, paint, wheels, lightweighting (!), etc. Attached thumbnail(s) |
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