Handling issue
 

Hi All

New to the site and new to Porsche.

Got a 2004 Boxster at the end of summer last year. 56000 miles on it but new engine 11000 miles ago. Runs sweet. Had to replace battery but starts fine now.

On corners it handles fine but on a straight it seems to weave a bit and the steering is vague.
Its a bit scary on the motorway and it starts to weave well before the speed limit.

Any ideas??

Cheers

Dave

Start with the obvious: alignment, check the tire wear. Are the front tires the same type, brand, wear? Steering/suspension hardware: any play?

It should definitely not handle like that, something is considerably out of spec.

Check the tire pressure to make sure they are even from side to side.

Mine goes exactly where you point it to over 100 mph with no drifting or pulling even in strong cross winds and uneven pavement.

I agree that alignment is also suspect, so take it in to have an alignment by folks that know what they are doing.

Search the forums for settings others have used.

Mine did that. Just a couple months ago. The car, actually my Mistress, has 140+k miles (okay, my older Mistress, perhaps a Madame even). Daily driver, about 1500+ mile a month. One day I just felt her 'go' a little loose, on the freeway, particularly over the rain grooves. All tires were in need of replacement, as well as the rear lower control arms. My rear tires in particular where uneven in wear pattern, almost bald on the outer edges with more tread on the inside - obvious alignment issue. It continued to get worse, so that I actually had to substantially tone down my driving. Then the front lower control arms started creaking and groaning, and the front steering went from being perfectly tight to a very minimal play (1/4 inch). I have had the tires replaced last month, but without the alignment until I get the control arms replaced this month. The tire replacement took 80% of the 'weaving' out of the car on the freeway rain-grooves. The handling is substantially improved, so much I am back to speed. The car is not as tight as when I first got her, and the front play is still there, but is not as noticable; I hope replacing the four control arms along with the rear track arms will bring her back to her glorious youth.

Thanks for the replies folks.

I will need to put it up on the axle stands and check the suspension, tyres etc.
There is a creaking coming from the front suspension so I will need to check that out also.
I went away when a rinsed under the arches with the hose so assume its just a lubrication issue.
Are the control arms refered to, what I would call the droplinks?

No - the droplinks (which rattle when worn) connect from the bottom of the shock lower mount to the roll bar. Cheap to buy (try Design 911 in Henault, Essex) and easy to fit.

The creaking from the control arms (what you call coffin arms in the UK) is the bushes which wear with mileage or rough roads. A temp fix is to pull back the rubber boots and inject some silicon grease (not normal grease) from a pressurised can.
Again, log onto Design 911 and check out their TRW coffin arms and pricing. I had them send out the front "kit" to me here in Australia and they fitted well and are of good OEM quality.

A good wheel alignment by a Porsche independent garage is well worth the cost - Boxster's can feel very loose with worn suspension and iffy alignment specs.

There's fair few more UK and Scottish Boxster owners on boxa.net

Had a look and that site is compromised. Keeps redirecting to play store and says I have viruses, which I dont. Thanks anyway.

Fatbloke!!

It's the balljoints on the front control arms!!

The key words you used: "went away when a rinsed under the arches with the hose"

I'd replace the tie rods also on the steering rack :)

Also check the upper front shock mounts.

Cheers. I had a look at the book I have (101 boxster projects). The control arms bolt into the middle of the wishbone. Is that correct? The pictures dont show the wishbone and control arm separaated so I have more questioons I'm afraid.

Can the bushes in the middle of the wishbone be replaced? Or, is what looks like a bush actually the balljoint you refer to? Can you purchase the wishbone and control arms separately or do they come as a unit? Is it better to replace both?

Its the first time I have seen a wishbone/control arm in two parts, usually they are a complete solid unit.

Sorry for all the questions but I would rather make sure I know what I am doing than break something or make it dangerous.

Are these recon units suitable? Dont want to get used and new kit is really expensive.

Hartech - reconditioned Porsche front wishbone, 944 wishbone, Porsche replacement wishbone, track rod, lower V arm, rear front control arm,

I would trust Hartech engineering. Your best resource in that area! ;)

Steve, TRW makes the OEM suspension parts for Porsche along with 75+% of all other car manufacters. If you see a spot on your new TRW parts where it's been ground on by a dremel, it's to remove Porsches symbol so TRW can sell it as their own part.

Correct BY - when I removed the original Porsche suspension parts, they had the same casting marks and part numbers as the new TRW bits - but TRW bits had no P symbol.
The reason I mentioned TRW is that on the Design 911 website you have the choice to purchase either original Porsche boxed parts or OEM brand parts which happens to be TRW.
Guess which is cheaper??

Search for trw jtc 1170 if you need wishbones on eBay. About £130 a pair.

Thats ideal. Cheers for that.

What do I search for to get the control arms and drop links?

For both my Boxsters I've bought all the arms off eBay. The forked control arms are jtc 1186 and 1185. That will get you front and rear, can't remember which is which now.

Sorry, another question.....

I noticed the wishbones/coffin arms were listed as front and rear.

Does this mean front and rear use the same wishbones and the JTC1185 and JTC1186 bolt on to them?

Just wondered as I saw 4 wishbones for sale and didn't know if front and back used the same components.

Also, is it correct that the car must be on the ground before the internal wishbone bolts are tightened up??

Same wishbone in all 4 corners. If on UK eBay get the trw ones or the meyle ones.

I saw the Miele ones with a 2 year warranty for £65 each. Seemed reasonable. The car is 10 years old now so will maybe just replace some bits.

As they have different part numbers, whats the difference between the front and rear control arms?

Are the wishbones and control arms easy to fit diy? If the car needs to be on the ground before tightening up the inner wishbone bolt, how do you achieve this? Is there enough room to get under to tighten it or is there a trick of the trade for doing it? I dont have a 4 post ramp unfortunately.