I took my 88' 944 spec car for an oil change last week and my mechanic found the right front ball joint seal broke and some grease is still there. He said there is a very slight amount of play.

My question is how safe is my car for another race weekend? Is this something major or can I be cheap and wait till after the race weekend? Please advise. Thanks.

Also since I am doing the right side, I figured I would also do the left side. Would it also be a good idea to change out my Koni shocks since I bought them used and installed them about 5 years ago? I did notice that when I tried to adjust them last year, a little bit of oil came out of the top of one of the struts. Since then, I haven't touched them since.

Right now Paragon Products is having a sale on Koni shocks so I will definitely buy a set. Just want to make sure I have everything so I don't have to realign the car more than I have to. Is there anything else that I should look at or replace while doing this maintenance?

If the ball joint fails it could get ugly.

repair it and do both.

Koni sale Ehh... Might need to look into that!

Thanks for the confirmation about repair before race info.

Here is the sale:
www.paragon-products.com/product_p/koni-8641-1414s-xdo.htm

Paragon has a cheap ball joint kit. DON'T USE IT! They have a better set (for more money, of course). The rules also allow us to use the bronze bushing for the bottom of the ball rather than a white plastic one that is standard in the less expensive kits. Get the best kit with the bronze bushings.

For $25 each, you can have your Koni's dyno checked. It one is leaking, it is not servicable but, if one is still OK, it can be kept as a spare.

Also, since you are taking off both corners, check the camber plates to make sure they are still in great shape and check the wheel bearings to make sure they don't need replacing and look at the tie rod ends. You may also want to check the alignment of the brake piston void area while you have things apart.

Big Dog

Jim,
Who does the Koni Dyno service?

I contact true choice about repairs and was quoted $125 plus parts ($30 to $40). So given the paragon sale they are not worth rebuilding. (Fronts are $157 each right now and rears are $120)

I do have spare set so they could be worth it to dyno check. I hate to spend $600 or so if I really don't need to.

Joe, Koni offers a dyno service but I don't know the price. They also suggest Pro Parts USA, which is close to me. Pro Parts, Ken Wong, charges $25 each to dyno.

I had two front ones that were bad, the adjuster was not working for whatever reason. I had somehow ended up with 8 rear shocks. He got two matched pairs from the eight and the other four don't match up well at all. Two of them match up OK in compression but not in rebound, others match up in rebound but not in compression.

The cost to repair starts at $150 plus parts so it is more expensive than buying new.

Jim