Front strut replacement

[NewArt]

At my last track meet, a Porsche tech mentioned the ease of swapping out the front struts on my '04 Boxster S. He mentioned just removing the top nut, leaving the plate in place, and lowering the wheel assembly with a jack. Installation is reverse of removal. Having consulted Bentleys, 101, YouTube, and general searches, I have yet to find this method. Anyone like to comment?

[911monty]

I recently replaced all 4 of my struts. I looked hard at that method cause I do like to try to disturb as little as possible and not have to use spring compressors. Disassembly I believe is doable. However I decided reassembly would be a bit more difficult when trying to ensure the plastic spacer below the top mount was installed correctly (clocked to the bolts) and then to stab the shock piston shaft through the top mount while maintaining the spring correctly positioned in it's bottom mount all while jacking up. Probably impossible if you're working by yourself.

[geetee]

Start removing like you would normal do to remove the strut. Place another jack on the rotor for support and loosen control arm. Bolt head is 15mm and nut is 18mm. Loosen the 18mm a full turn.
Loosen/remove top nut. Lower the rotor. The spring and top bearing etc will drop along with the strut. Remove the spring/bearing etc. Push the strut shaft down and tilt the strut out and remove.
Replace the new strut. Compress and re'install. Place the spring back in and align the top bearing and start raising the rotor. If you use your original top spacer, it's already grooved for the springs. Keep raising the rotor so the strut shaft lines back into the camber plate. Tighten top nut.
Pain in the arse if stock springs due to tension....if you have shorter aftermarket springs..basically no tension and easy

[NewArt]

So this would be a good time to change over to lowering springs?

[geetee]

I don't see the point of doing it that way though if you are doing lowering springs.....front's are so easy. If you are replacing the struts only i guess it's easier this way as camber/toe will not change with the top camber plate is stationary. If you install lowering springs, camber/toe changes so...no point of leaving the plates in place. You'd want the plates out to inspect for any cracks....

I only lowered the front as I wanted the rake and rear height was fine. I went with vogland springs as it was the cheapest.
Jack both front side up and do it the "common" way and it seriously doesn't take more than a couple hours.

[NewArt]

Ok. I recently did the rears, which was a fair bit of work, although I did the cv joints at the same time. I noticed the ride was slightly higher with the Bilstein B6 hd struts that I installed. I have B6's for the front now and I'm thinking that if they raise the front in the same way, that I might consider lowering springs to bring it back down. Is there any advantage to this other than aesthetics? The car is handling well on the track.

[Gelbster]

This is very useful because it is not written up elsewhere,would apply to 996 also and it saves time,lots of time !Thanks. It should go in the DIY Project Guide Section. It may even inspire someone to do a full diy with photos ?

Originally Posted by geetee

Start removing like you would normal do to remove the strut. Place another jack on the rotor for support and loosen control arm. Bolt head is 15mm and nut is 18mm. Loosen the 18mm a full turn.
Loosen/remove top nut. Lower the rotor. The spring and top bearing etc will drop along with the strut. Remove the spring/bearing etc. Push the strut shaft down and tilt the strut out and remove.
Replace the new strut. Compress and re'install. Place the spring back in and align the top bearing and start raising the rotor. If you use your original top spacer, it's already grooved for the springs. Keep raising the rotor so the strut shaft lines back into the camber plate. Tighten top nut.
Pain in the arse if stock springs due to tension....if you have shorter aftermarket springs..basically no tension and easy

[steved0x]

I would be leary of putting different springs on the front and adjusting the rake away from the factory rake. But that's just me But that shortcut for the fronts sounds very intriguing...

1. Put the car on jackstands
2. Remove the front wheels
3. Jack up one of the wheel carriers (by jacking under the end of the coffin LCA) just to support it
4. Hang the caliper
5. Disconnect the speed sensor (and maybe brake sensor, I have them disabled so I don't have any)
6. Remove the top sway bar link bolt
7. Remove the tie rod end from the wheel carrier
8. Maybe (I have monoballs so I have plenty of range of motion so I don't have this step) loosen the rubber bushing end of the coffin LCA so that arm will pivot down more.
9. Jack up the wheel carrier some more to compress the strut and spring
10. Remove the top nut while counter holding the center strut post
11. Lower the wheel carrier down, slide the strut top out of the mount, and remove the top parts that are sitting on top of the spring.
12. Tilt the strut out from under the fender. If it doesn't fit, you could lower the carrier as much as you can, remove the spring (if you can?) then lift the strut up out of the carrier by sliding the strut up through the strut top mount.
13. You could then replace the strut top mounts with new ones (highly recommended if the mounts are the originals, both of my fronts had cracks in the rubber, while backs did not)
14. Re-assembly is the reverse of assembly The front strut top mounts don't clock the the 3 bolts like the backs since they turn for steering so it should be pretty easy to assemble it under the fender before putting it back together

That seems like a workable plan, I have installed all 4 struts twice (to KSports, dropping the fronts twice to adjust the KSport top plates, then reinstall the OEM Suspension, then installing camber plates on the front). I didn't do it this way, but I think it could work in the front.

[geetee]

you don't have to do #7. The tie rod end can stay.
From what I've done, I personally think this is the easiest way. The boxster and 996 C2's are the easiest as no front axle.

1. Put the car on jackstands on both fronts only. It's easier if both front's are off the ground.
2. Remove the front wheels
3. Jack up one of the wheel carriers just to support it
4. Hang the caliper
5. Disconnect speed brake sensor
6. Remove the top sway bar link bolt
7. Loosen lower control are bolt. Hold the 15mm bolt head and loosen the 18mm nut 1 full turn. This will actually drop the control are far enough to removed the strut.
8. Jack up the wheel carrier some more to compress the strut and spring. You can get 175lbs zip ties at HF. Tie the stock springs on 8-10 places to keep the stock springs compressed. This only applies if you are removing stock springs. You don't have to do this if you have aftermarket springs as everything is shorter.
9. Remove the top 3 nuts holding the strut top.
10. Lower the whole assembly and remove the whole strut.

Assembly is opposite. After you reinstall, drive up a ramp and tighten the lower control arm bolt. People and shops forget to tighten this bolt under load.

I found this method to be the simplest. You don't have to pop the tie rod end out.

[steved0x]

Good to know about the tie rod, I think I did that step before doing the sway bar top bolt and didn't realize I could leave it, it is quite a flexible joint. I like the zip ties too.

[NewArt]

Thanks for the how-to!
The job is done! Problems that came up: Torquing the top nut. The tube wants to turn with the nut and it's hard to get purchase on that new, shiny tube to keep it from turning. I used vise-grips at the very top of the tube so that any scarring would not compromise the functioning of the shock.
Torquing the control arm nut. Due to the structure of the chassis, it is impossible to get a socket on the nut so I had to resort to a box end wrench and a cheater tube to approximate the required 120 Nm of torque!