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: 3,431 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 |
mskala |
Jan 26 2021, 07:22 PM
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#2
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R Group: Members Posts: 1,925 Joined: 2-January 03 From: Massachusetts Member No.: 79 Region Association: None |
I'm not sure of your goal, here. Is your desire wide tires? Or
60-series tires (balloons)? Or do you really just want 911R rims? Or do you love fabricating stuff just to say you did it? So my comments may or may not be helpful. On my -6, I can run Hoosier A7 205/45/16 on a 7.5" rim. It does not have flares. The fender lips were flattened and pulled on a bit, and I am using about 2 degrees negative camber. They have rubbed the paint off the inner fender over time. I needed to get the spacers right, and I have them in 3mm increments. Before I had hoosiers, I video taped my suspension with other racy tires, and like Andy said, they move a lot under side loads. If you have good paint you don't want to destroy, give yourself 1/2" on each side. The 914 is great if you have plastic bushings, since you can disconnect the shock and move the arm up and down as far as you want to check the static fit. In my opinion, you will never be able to fit the tires you're showing without fender work. I don't understand what the trailing arm width has to do with fitting tires, the stock ones will accept a wide wheel in the location it needs to be. Rather than fabricate arms for no reason, you can just get some Fuchs and have them widened on the inside, and use appropriate spacers. That has to be cheaper and easier than custom arms, and probably nobody will will be able to tell. |
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