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RandallNeighbour · 06-16-2015, 07:48 AM

The quality of the rubber in the suspension parts in our cars (and other German brands for that matter) is sub par to put it nicely.

I can get 15 years and 200k miles out of a Japanese control arm.

Switching to harder materials like poly makes them last longer, but they're not nearly as quiet as a new rubber-based arm.

I just swapped out most of the suspension in my 1997 Boxster again since buying it in 2004. I'm on my 3rd set of suspension parts now with only 35k miles on the car since purchase (it had 80k miles on it when I bought it).

BTW, I replaced the trailing arms in back (long ones) just 2 years ago with Vertex poly ones and I still have an aluminum on steel squeak over bumps from behind my left shoulder. I guess I need to replace them AGAIN with rubber based ones.

I think Houston's heat and humidity and crappy roads has a lot to do with longevity on my suspension parts.

I REALLY HATE SQUEAKS AND RATTLES ... SO WHY DO I DRIVE AN OLD GERMAN CONVERTIBLE? I'm starting to wonder.

06-16-2015, 07:48 AM	#17
RandallNeighbour Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 7,243	The quality of the rubber in the suspension parts in our cars (and other German brands for that matter) is sub par to put it nicely. I can get 15 years and 200k miles out of a Japanese control arm. Switching to harder materials like poly makes them last longer, but they're not nearly as quiet as a new rubber-based arm. I just swapped out most of the suspension in my 1997 Boxster again since buying it in 2004. I'm on my 3rd set of suspension parts now with only 35k miles on the car since purchase (it had 80k miles on it when I bought it). BTW, I replaced the trailing arms in back (long ones) just 2 years ago with Vertex poly ones and I still have an aluminum on steel squeak over bumps from behind my left shoulder. I guess I need to replace them AGAIN with rubber based ones. I think Houston's heat and humidity and crappy roads has a lot to do with longevity on my suspension parts. I REALLY HATE SQUEAKS AND RATTLES ... SO WHY DO I DRIVE AN OLD GERMAN CONVERTIBLE? I'm starting to wonder. Last edited by RandallNeighbour; 06-16-2015 at 09:35 AM.