Suspension problem
 

Hey guys,

Got my Boxster back from Porsche with the following problem:

N/S (passenger side UK) rear lower outer suspension arm has slight play in ball joint.
N/S (Passenger side UK) front out suspension arm has excessive play in ball joint.

Which part do I need to buy to solve this problem? Can you buy seperate ball joints and link rods or do I need a whole new control arm?

Porsche doesn't sell just the ball joint components forcing you to buy new control arms.

However, if you sift through the threads on this site with a search, you'll find a member who rebuilt his and it worked. I wish I knew where the thread was, but it's been a long time and I can't even remember the forum member's name.

what year is the car & how many miles? does the suspension squeak? does the car shimmy when you drive it? my guess is you probably really don't need any parts. at any rate, the two parts are identical part numbers and will run you about £280 each without installation. if there are no symptoms, i'd leave the old ones in and forget about it.

Its a 1997 with 96,000 miles! Quite a lot!

We have a thing in the UK called an MOT where, when a car is over 3 years old it has to under go checks to make sure its road worthy.

This was one of the things they pointed out to me. The fact that there is excessive play in the ball joint on the front outer suspension arm and the rear lower outer suspension arm.

If I give you this link to the website where I buy my parts, could you guys point me in the right direction to the exact parts I require. (part number)

This would help me out so much!

The link is www.design911.co.uk - under the suspension & axle section.

here are their part numbers:

ID99634105316X 986 LOWER CONTROL ARM (DIAGRAM A No.7) £ 179.50
ID99634105316W 986 MAIN LOWER BAR (DIAGRAM A No.8) £ 179.50

the actual porsche part number for a is 996.341.053.16 for both the front and rear parts.

Top man! Thanks for the help, its greatly appreciated!

sure thing. if you're doing this yourself, be aware that it IS possible to remove the rear control arm WITHOUT removing the axle from the wheel housing. to do this, loosen the control arm bolt at the subframe under the car. then, loosen the nut at the ball joint about 1/2 way. split the balljoint. remove the nut the rest of the way. this saves some time.

also be aware that when you remove the rear control arm, you will lose your camber setting & will require alignment following the job. you will need to do this regardless of how well you mark the concentrics; plan on an alignment for sure.