feels like more oversteer lately - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

renzop · 06-09-2009, 04:51 AM

Start with an alignment. Then get someone knowledgeable to look at suspension bushings, front motor mount and finally shocks. Also look at sway bar end links. These are kind of a weak part of the Boxster suspension and can easliy wear out but the wear is not visible.

sb01box · 06-09-2009, 10:17 AM

I think I'll start by looking at the rear sway bar/droplink setup.
the oversteer came on suddenly.. I think. so the drop link play may induce the back to roll much more and enable the back end to ever so slightly induce oversteer - I think.

Brad Roberts · 06-09-2009, 10:50 AM

We remove a rear link when the car is understeering (pushing) removing it decreases the amount of rear grip.

Look for a FRONT drop link broken. These break a LOT more frequently than the rears (they turn with the upright)

In 10 min over the phone I can walk you through checking the rear toe on your car. It requires 4 jackstands and string.. and a tape measure. I'd only check this if you KNOW you have hit some major pot holes or bumped a curb. The only time I see rear toe adjustment "out" on our cars = when somebody is really bouncing the cars off the berms at the track.. and I have a solution for those people also

B

sb01box · 06-10-2009, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad Roberts

We remove a rear link when the car is understeering (pushing) removing it decreases the amount of rear grip.

Look for a FRONT drop link broken. These break a LOT more frequently than the rears (they turn with the upright)

In 10 min over the phone I can walk you through checking the rear toe on your car. It requires 4 jackstands and string.. and a tape measure. I'd only check this if you KNOW you have hit some major pot holes or bumped a curb. The only time I see rear toe adjustment "out" on our cars = when somebody is really bouncing the cars off the berms at the track.. and I have a solution for those people also

B

I'm going to thoroughly inspect the drop links per your first suggestion.
I may take you up on the second... but it's been my experience (haven't really tinker with cars for 25 years) that if the toe in/out is out of spec, i would notice wavy wear pattern on the tire. rear set of rubbers were replaced couple of thousand miles ago and the problem was first "felt" about the same time. both very recent.

sb01box · 06-17-2009, 06:57 PM

regards to drop links at the four corners.
I visually inspect then and all are straight and appeared OK. I then grabbed the drop link and tried to wiggle it - if worn linkage, would I be able to feel play or do I need to unload the suspension to take out possible preload before I can wiggle them to determin slop?
or what do I need to do to determine if the drop link needs replacing?

thanks in advance
.

sb01box · 08-20-2009, 12:01 PM

making this thread longer...
I am now considering replacing the droplink and most likely change the sway bar(s).
the car, 01 box 2.7L is my daily drive. does anyone have graphs/charts that shows the relative firmness for std sway bar, M030, M030s, GT3 and H&R units?

70Sixter · 08-23-2009, 10:48 AM

One simple possibility is that the new rear tires are not broken-in and are still a bit slick. Especially if you don't drive hard.

This would give less rear stick and therefore more oversteer since the rear would try to slide out while the stickier (broken-in) fronts hold their own.

I would not make any suspension changes until I got the rears broken-in and played with the air pressures.

You need a good baseline going into changes.