Boxster 986 Complete Suspension Overhaul
 

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Very nice! I am in discussion with them right now, sent them a detailed request for quote. This is a good thread to subscribe to!

An impertinent question. How much?

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Is your suspension completely worn out at 70k miles?

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Madmod...again I appreciated your time and effort in helping me with this over the weekend. I just pulled the trigger for all the components and after taking my time in doing a comparison of State side venders VS Design911 they were more then competitive. Not only am I doing the complete suspension, I am also doing water pump/thermostat/wheel bearings/steering and a new left side radiator.

I called a number of suppliers here and they all agreed that only a couple of components have bushing kits, the rest of the suspension are full replacement parts only. So with that in mind in looking at all my bushings, they are hard and cracked (but not for long).

What I think was the best part about these guys is the amount of time they put into building Kits that are reasonably priced with Porsche Drawings as backup. You see what you are ordering, where it is in the schematic and you are given options (OE, OEM, alternate brand).

Great post! I have the ROW M030 sitting in my garage awaiting install. Was wondering what else I should be replacing while in there. Your post/pics definitely gave me some ideas of what else I'd like to replace.

Kewl post! I always wondered what my car would have felt like driving it off the lot in Dec of 1999. I'm the type that likes to restore mechanical stuff to new, I guess it beats spending 65k on a new car. I was thinking of replacing a lot of this stuff also just for the heck of it. I have no idea if I'll be able to tell the difference. When I changed my shocks out at 55k miles I noticed a more muted ride. I'm guess if the car had all new bushings it would probably just feel stiffer and a little more responsive. Anyway keep us posted!

Subscribed.

Just started taking off my front suspension. I'll be doing the wheel bearings while I'm in there. Will be right behind you on the steps. BTW, Advance auto parts has all the tools for loaner - pickle fork, bearing removal tool, etc etc.

Hi Bala
 

So what was your decision ? Did you go with the vertex setup?

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Mine may not be a full overhaul like madmods'. Though it might end up to be. Want to remove and check first and then shop for the best price and order.

Just a side note, I had to remove one of my rear shock absorbers last weekend to try and find a thumping noise (not the shock) and I found that the shock had almost no rebound damping. Definitely time to replace all of the shocks (and maybe entire suspension). 102,000 miles.

Madmods, that looks like the project that I embarked upon 1.5 years ago - ROW M030 kit plus a FULL replacment of everything else suspension wise...

In my case, it was a painful multi part process.... partly due to unavailability of stock and partly as I didn't expect such a extensive exercise....

The only thing in my case that turn out to be still good was the strut mounts and 1 or 2 arms, the shocks were wobbly though still good damping, all the other arms had between serious play to slight play.... I even had the inner and outer tie rods changed (although they still looked good but it improved the steering feel).

And all this from a car with then only 29k km... but then the roads are really bad here in Malaysia...

Having said that, 1 yr+ later and 30k km later, I just sent the car in today to check on a nasty "wooden floor board" sound when going over rough roads... surely these control arms don't just last 1 year ????!!!! sianz..

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I guess I'm going to be highjacking this thread quite a bit. Sorry Madmods!

So, started taking out the front strut, wishbone, drop links, rotor, control arm. The drop link bolt is pretty snug into the housing where the shock is inserted. Tried quite a bit with air ratchet as well to no luck. Also the shock is in very tight into the housing. Maybe due to the fact that the drop link bolt is still in there?

Also having issues with the big bolt on the boomerang thingy under the sway bar. Can I take a propane torch to these nuts? Am I nuts?

Need replacement so far for front: wishbones, control arms, tie rods (in and out), sway bar bushings, drop links, shock bearing plates, bump stops, boots and wheel bearings, 2 cases of beer.

When I checked the wheels by shaking them they seemed fine. But once they were off and the rotor was off as well there is a slight play.

Shocks and springs seem fine. I don't get the point about buying new hardware and not using the old ones. 3-5 bucks a nut is crazy. Will have to try local hardware stores for less price.

Luckily, all the control arms/links etc I used was TRW branded. Frankly, the markings on the arms and links looked identical to the originals, except that they had the porsche logo removed ;). Looks pretty much oem quality.

The roads in Sepang are excellent but unfortunately, I'm a foreigner working in Kuala Lumpur/Petaling Jaya area... and the roads are horrible... I've never upgraded from 17" rims to anything bigger due to that reason (I dented 3 out of 4 rims on my prev bimmer in 9 months ! And finally the potholes even got the alignment so out of specs, I had to get the chassis straightened ! Apparently, it's pretty much common on a e36 on Malaysian roads !). It's pretty hard to avoid dropping into potholes at night or when it rains and can't see the *&^%!! potholes.

I'm sure you are going to enjoy your renewed suspension ! It made a huge difference on my car.

What a pain these bolts are. Maybe its just my car. Spent 6 hours removing the wishbone, sway bar, drop link bolts. Propane torch speeded up the things. Still broke the abs sensor ones and need to deal with it. Aso remaining are the bolts over the wheel bearing housing.

Both wheel bearings seemed fine when checked with the wheel on but when all was reoved there is some play. Recommend folks taking out the wheel assembly to check. "Better to do it while you are in there".

Heads up:

Vertex has just put out a kit that includes 4 wishbone, 2 front ontrol arms, 2 rear control arms and 2 track rods for 995. These will also have the upgrded polyurethane bushings. They even split the shipping with me. Of course these are the rebuilt ones. Lets see how they fare. Got to be better than the crap i took out.

Subscribed! I was going to attack the suspension on mine this year too.

Bala, I just took a look at vertex and their price. If cost is a concern... new parts from Design911 including struts, springs, sway bars and all of the suspension drop links were less expensive.

For ordering the parts from the UK you have to remember you don't pay VAT and the exchange rate means the price you see is 60% less when the exchange rate for the dollar is included.

For all of those parts my order came to only 1700.00 (with shipping).

I don't need struts, springs and sway bars.

Did that include the control arms and such? Can't be that less. Something doesn't add up. Their price quoted is in Sterling pounds. At 1.54 exchange rate it can't be 60% less even when you take VAT out. Madmods said the ones in his picture on this thread was just under 2900. I did not get a response from them. Ordered from Vertex already. Oh well!

I called my parts guy at Porsche yesterday and even with my steep discount of 10% over cost they still can't beat the prices of TRW parts online. I'm thinking TRW would be the parts to get if genuine too expensive, or do others like anything else?

Agree. Same on my car. Checking the wheel bearings with the wheel/tire on the car there was no play whatsoever but I planned to replace them since I was doing the CV joints. After I had the bearings out, I could feel a slight ginding and some play which would have only got worse with time/miles. Definitely better to replace them as long you're in there.

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Very nice! One of these days I want to do the same.....

Did you replace the control arms? Only the wishbones look new.

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Well done! Won't be long spring will be there and you can really enjoy it with the top down.

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Bravo! Really impressed with the whole job. Right now I am living vicariously through you. First thing I think that will be showing up is a midrise lift. The wife said you are not doing this job on a set of jack stands so first that then the rest. Oh and for my last post...brain fart on conversion factors. Helps when you make sure your rates are going the direction you are buying not the other way around...doh!

Madmods,

just a quick update - it was one of the front control arms - the one with a fork like links and a ball joint. One side with excessive movement on the balljoint and the other slight.

They were TRW branded (or at least the box said TRW) and lasted 1 yr + and about 28k km.... (and a number of big potholes) hmmmm...

Changed the 2 front control arm and now the vibration through the steering wheel is almost gone and the handling is tidier as well. AND no more wooden floor board noises when going to uneven roads.

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Completed my front last week. What a pain without the right tools. Struggled for two day on the wheel bearing without the SIR toolkit. Then it was a breeze. Car feels very rigid and tight up front. Haven't test drove it for long but waaaaay different and me loves it. Will be doing the rear suspension, bearings and maybe CV boots this week. Maybe while Im in there i should look at the clutch, IMS? When does it all end? :rolleyes:

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Actually, if you are doing the suspension then the wheel bearing is an easy job. PROVIDED you have the SIR tool. I rented different tools from 5 different auto places. None of them can do what the SIR does. You definitely need the horseshoe as well. The jaw puller from pepboys worked ok but a struggle and it doesn't have good place to grab on to. I got the SIR tool kit and it was a breeze from there on. I did get all the tools rented for the suspension as well. Without them it's a nightmare.

I spent about 80% of the time cleaning up the dirt and rust that was baked into the parts - housing, rotors etc. The ABS sensors were fused in and I had to break them to remove them. One of the bolts is still stuck in there which I have to deal with.