I've noticed a deterioration in My steering for a while and assumed it was an alignment issue as I had uneven tire wear, and a tendency to pull when braking(sometimes to the left, other times to the right).
Suspension knowledge is not my strong suit, so I had a local Porsche shop do an alignment, but this made little improvement. I jacked the car up and found the driver side strut assembly would rock considerably. Am I correct assuming this is due to ball joint/tie rod wear? If so, does it make sense to upgrade to the turbo tie rod assembly? Or do I have another problem altogether?

it could also mean your strut is not tight inside the housing. if the collar that holds the strut insert down inside the housing is loose, the whole thing will bang around. you should hear it in corners for sure.

as for balls and tie rods... i defer to more qualified people

Thanks, I'll check it right now.

jack up one wheel at a time..leave three on the ground.
Use the front jacking donut so you have no stress on the suspension.

Rock wheel from 9 and 3 oclock...if you feel a click its the tie rod end.
Rock the wheel from 12 and 6 oclock...if you feel a click its the ball joint.

Other things that you may also feel.
If it wobbles not matter what position it could be wheel bearings, loose strut insert, bad upper strut bearing, or steering rack.

Typical wear items are ball joints, tie rod ends and wheel bearings.
The alignment shop "should" have checked those prior to attempting an alignment...its kinda standard practise to make sure your work will actually align the car...but I have watched the aligment shops at the big brand stores and they never take the wheels off the ground...so they never check..they just take your money.

Rich

I agree. Sad to say this was at one of the better known Porsche shops in Portland. After almost 20 yrs. I've yet to find a quality Porsche garage that will also work on 914's in the area. On the other hand it's forced me to learn how to 'do it myself', sometimes three or four times...LOL

tendency to pull to one side during braking got me thinking.....

have you adjusted your rear brakes venting clearance lately? if one caliper in the back grabs before the other I'm sure that would send you veering fast (ask me how i know)

I did adjust the rear venting recently, but if fixing the loose front end doesn't resolve it, I'll recheck it.
Weird thing, sometimes it pulls left, then right or not at all

OK! The strut retaining collar had indeed come loose, and it's just as well because I found that the strut was completely shot. I periodically press on the corners to check the condition of them and assumed they were just really stiff(duh, i can ti mi onn shoos) being the car didn't bounce Go ahead and have a good laugh,but remember if it wasn't for Me, who'd make You feel so smart right now.

I'll leave You with one final question, I've never heard KYB's recommended as replacement struts in these posts, are they significantly inferior to Bilstein, Koni, and Boge?

BTW. It appears the ball joints and tie rods are fine.

Thanks everyone!

kyb are the lowest quality choice of struts.
If you can, buy Koni struts.

If you cannot, I have a few sets of kyb's on the shelf that you can have for the cost of shipping...so basically free.

Rich

Rich,

Appreciate the feedback, I figured that was the reason. Also thanks for the offer, but I'll step up to good ones.

Scott...

Funny.