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When I recently did some work refreshing my 2001 boxster base suspension with 110k miles, I found the front bump stops were totally obliterated (big missing chunks). My suspension was frequently bottoming out as a result! I would closely look at your front bump stops when doing suspension work. Aftermarket OEM bump stops for the front are available for cheap, so consider just lining those up for changing out. My rear bump stops, on the other hand, seemed to be in very good shape (although I changed them out anyway, it was not really necessary). All my strut mounts seemed to be in good shape (and although I changed my front strut mounts out anyway, it was not really necessary). My front strut bearings were in good shape - I cleaned and rebuilt them with fresh silicone grease. My ball joints and tie rod end were in pretty good shape, but with 110k miles, I popped off the top clips, rotated them 90 degrees, and added some fresh grease to keep them happy and noise free. My rear "track arms" are making noise so I'm considering whether to remove them and peen the ball joint (to rebuild), or replace with new.
Of aftermarket Bilsteins, be aware that they are monotube which can make more roughness and noise than twin-tube (based on my observation using them on other cars). My factory 2001 base struts were Bilstein twin-tubes, FYI. Konis, now available for the 986 in two different styles (sport and "FSD"), makes a top-quality twin tube that probably cost about the same as a Bilstein, and if you're in the market for new set of struts, I would recommend seriously considering a set of Konis of some sort.
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