AOS and strut tower brace questions.. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

jcb986 · 10-03-2010, 04:29 PM

AOS will eventually fail...some guys think it's good to replace it at the 60K maintenance. Mine failed at about 67K.

shlim8 · 10-03-2010, 10:23 PM

Thanks guys for all the response...

As for the strut braces, I don't track and though I'm tempted on the M030 (heard wonderful feedback) was alittle afraid of the speed bumps around the area that I live - as even on stock suspension with 2 persons on board, I've hit the bottom of the car. A little lower and I'll probably have to take the bumps sideways in order to get across. We've got some monster bumps here... even my bmw 3 hits the bottom sometimes when fully loaded.

Kirk · 10-04-2010, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shlim8

As for the strut braces, I don't track and though I'm tempted on the M030 (heard wonderful feedback) was alittle afraid of the speed bumps around the area that I live - as even on stock suspension with 2 persons on board, I've hit the bottom of the car. A little lower and I'll probably have to take the bumps sideways in order to get across. We've got some monster bumps here... even my bmw 3 hits the bottom sometimes when fully loaded.

I seriously doubt the strut braces will do anything for you based on your description. Maybe you should consider an "S" suspension if you have a base Boxster or the USA M030 rather than the lower RoW M030. Shocks, springs, sway bars, bushings, etc will all have more of an impact than the strut braces.

As for ride height - yes you have to take speed bumps at an angle, as well as any steep inclines. I generally have few issues with my Boxster lowered, but you get used to it and learn to instinctively take things at an angle to avoid bottoming out. Someone does make an air bag system that mounts to the top of the shock and will raise the car for speed bumps and inclines. It's a pretty spendy option though when careful driving can usually work just fine.

Kirk

Boxtaboy · 10-04-2010, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcb986

AOS will eventually fail...some guys think it's good to replace it at the 60K maintenance. Mine failed at about 67K.

My friend helped me install a new AOS yesterday on my 01 with 65k miles. My old AOS wasn't acting up or anything, but we did it as a precaution. It was only $88 from Sunset Porsche, so not really expensive to replace if you do it yourself.

The new AOS has an updated multiple o-ring seal which is much more substantial. You can sorta see on the pic below of my old AOS that it only had a small single o-ring seal (top left on that tube):

jcb986 · 10-04-2010, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

My friend helped me install a new AOS yesterday on my 01 with 65k miles. My old AOS wasn't acting up or anything, but we did it as a precaution. It was only $88 from Sunset Porsche, so not really expensive to replace if you do it yourself.

The new AOS has an updated multiple o-ring seal which is much more substantial. You can sorta see on the pic below of my old AOS that it only had a small single o-ring seal (top left on that tube):

When mine failed there was no smoke. When the engine warmed to 185 degrees it would start a whistle screaching sound. It was air being forced out out the front seal which could have blown out the rear seal...not that's pressure.