Diagnosing suspension needs
 

Though searching, I cannot find a post nor a YouTube that walks me through diagnosing my current suspension. I know about pressing down on the body to observe for “bounce,” as well as lifting tires off the ground, placing hands at 9 and 3, then 12 and 6 - pulling and pushing to check for play. Most posts I’ve read assume suspension needs to be refreshed based on mileage. So, in shopping, I find the Pelican kit at about $3300, and if one pieces it out and buys Meyle, the price drops to about $1900. But, then I go down rabbit trails of opinions on Chinese parts that have nice fit and finish, but last about half of OEM. Further posts suggest buying TRW, but then I can find some of the more expensive parts online - such as the rear lower control arm ($440each in Pelican kit, Porsche, vs $198 Merle - but can’tt find TRW). Anyway, I start to wonder, “Do all the parts REALLY need to be replaced? How do I diagnose?”

If anyone can steer me to a post or video that walks a person through the process, I would be grateful. Thanks.

What is the problem you're trying to diagnose?

In my experience, if the part has a rubber bushing, it likely is worn out.

Unless you are really pushing your car though, a full refresh isn't warranted(especially if you're budget conscious). Just stick to fixing a specific problem.



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I've had similar questions..
Out of curiosity, what year is your boxster (I'm assuming it's a boxster)? Mileage?

I'll second this.

There seems to be a ton of bad advice online about the longevity of suspension parts. I used to believe this, and the old parts on my car caused a lot of stress/anxiety so I would just replace everything, but found that it sometimes had no noticeable improvement in handling, and the old parts looked great on removal. It makes more sense to me to assess the condition of each part, and replace what has failed. I do not agree that suspension parts should be replaced on mileage without considering condition or use.

Factory shocks, bushings, etc. can often last 200-300k miles, and sometimes as little as 20k miles. I've seen a 26 year old Volvo with 200k miles that still had perfectly good factory shocks, and I've seen a 1 year old VW Jetta with blown factory shocks. Likely these were even basically the same actual shock (Boge/Sachs)!

It depends a lot on the condition of the roads the car was driven on, the design of the suspension, and the quality of the OEM parts used. It's also very likely that a cheaper non-OEM replacement part might have less longevity than old high mileage factory parts.