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Originally Posted by 986Jim
Once the suspension is out of the car, it's no big deal. They are a standard coil over spring setup the only parts thats even slightly difficult is taking the old spring out because it's under load. So you use a spring compressor then take the hat off the strut and slowly let out the spring compressor and pull out the spring after. Because Eibach are lowing springs, they take no compression at all (or not much) to install and you can put the new springs in easier than the old ones come out.
I have never re-re'd the suspension in a Boxster, but I can't see it being an 8 hour job. I have done some really messed up cars before and finished them in say 4 hours tops having never done it. The only problem I can see with the boxster is getting to the bolts that hold the top of the strut down, but if guys can install strut bars in an hour or so it can't be that hard to get the suspension out.
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Trust me, the rears are a German engineer's revenge for WWII......
To get the lower hub off the strut or to get it low enough to rotate the strut out of the tower you need to dissemble half of the rear suspension including unbolting the half shafts from the trans. There is a shortcut where people remove the hub from the carrier but that can many times end up costing you more time if it doesn't separate cleanly.
I imagine the reason it's such a pain is the way the whole engine / trans is mated to the car. It's built as a complete unit with the suspension then raised into the car as 1 piece rather than being separate from the drive train.
Here's the factory specs for time to R&R the Boxster struts (which would be the same as replacing springs):
Front: (without alignment)
1 side - warranty time 1.7 hrs, book time 1.9
2 sides - warranty time 2.9 hrs, book time 3.8
Rear: (without alignment)
1 side - warranty time 2.8 hrs, book time 4.2 hrs
2 sides - warranty time 4.3 hrs, book time 6.0 hrs
The warranty time allocated to a full suspension R&R is 7.2 hours and we know that Porsche rarely reimburses the dealers for more time than the work actually takes to perform.