First of all, thank you for all the great ideas. I really appreciate the interest and responses. Here is a run down of the cars history with the issue and my thoughts on next steps.
- bought the car in 2023
- the car had the steering shake when I bought it (in the 75ish mph zone).
- had a post purchase inspection done by a well regarded indy Porsche mechanic.
- they noticed the front right brake caliper sticking and bled the brakes to improve it.
- they also replaced one of the rear bearings, others seem okay.
- They also noted that the stock shocks were shot from bouncing around on lowering springs. However, the various control arms seemed okay.
- so I installed bilstein PSS9s, new strut mounts and bearings, and drop links all around. I also installed new caliper bolts after removing them (torqued to spec, but I'll check again)
- Then I had the same indy shop corner balance and align it for me.
- The shake was still there and they recommended I get the wheels balanced.
- I found a place that did road force balancing and had them do the fronts. There was some improvement (maybe 50%) but not gone.
- since the car ran over something, possibly a curb (bumper tabs torn off and front part of the fender liners missing. I went to a scrap yard and picked up some fender liners and 996 bumper (in matching black color)
- Since the car ran over something big enough to tear up some of the under body panels (front and rear right, all replaced now). I thought maybe some of the rims were bent.
- I took all four tires to a local shop known for fixing bent rims, including on P cars.
- They unmounted all the tires, checked for bends, and remounted/balanced them.
- They said there were no bends, but the tires were a bit old and one side looked like the toe angle was off and the wear looked like the tire pointed inward. They noticed some wheel hop when balancing them and tried to change the mounting orientation to minimize it.
- the tires are 5 years old and I don't know if that wear was before or after I had the car corner balanced and aligned.
- I put them back on the car and it's way worse than before (back to 100% or more of the old shake).
- While the car was still up with the wheels off, I banged around on the front suspension arms.
- On the right side near the inner tie rod, I can get a metallic click and a little wiggle hitting it with my hand or a rubber mallet. It's not a lot, but there is no sound at all on the left side.
So here is what I am thinking for next steps:
1. new tires - Since the problem is better or worse after changing the tire balance this may solve the whole issue.
2. check the brake calipers and rotors (as suggested below) I'll have to figure out how to trouble shoot this one.
3. New inner and outer tie rods - If i go this route I will also do control arms since I'll have to get an alignment anyway. I'm a little worried its the steering rack, but the fact that there is no play on the left side is encouraging.
With all that information what does everyone think? With my luck the issue will be a combination of all of three and I'll have to sacrifice a few thousand to the Porsche gods
it still could be the tires, but I think it maybe the inner tie rod on the right. And if I do that I may as well do the lower control arms…. And then get an alignment done
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