Shock tower failure on 718 Spyder
#1
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Shock tower failure on 718 Spyder
I don't have photos to post, but a guy on the Facebook Spyder group experienced complete shock tower failure on his 12 day old Spyder - in street driving! I don't know much more than that, but this issue had of course previously occurred with 981 GT4s; I had not previously heard of this issue occurring with the 718 chassis.
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07-22-2020, 08:29 PM
Ten was my high guess, which would be a failure rate of .4%. Pretty small for a car that gets routinely thrashed on the track. And everyone I read about was due to a track off or hitting curbing, so you can't even call those 'failures'.
And this isn't a Camry. It's a high performance sports car, with stiff suspension, where light weight is at a premium. It's not going to be as durable to impact as a Camry or a Ram truck. It is not designed to take massive impacts and be able to dissipate force like a car with softer suspension.
And this isn't a Camry. It's a high performance sports car, with stiff suspension, where light weight is at a premium. It's not going to be as durable to impact as a Camry or a Ram truck. It is not designed to take massive impacts and be able to dissipate force like a car with softer suspension.
#2
I don't have photos to post, but a guy on the Facebook Spyder group experienced complete shock tower failure on his 12 day old Spyder - in street driving! I don't know much more than that, but this issue had of course previously occurred with 981 GT4s; I had not previously heard of this issue occurring with the 718 chassis.
#3
Rennlist Member
Crap! I had a feeling this might happen. I compared the shock tower of the 981 and 718 when I was at the Los Angeles auto show.
They look exactly the same. I was hoping Porsche made improvements to the material used. But, looks like they might not have.
Hopefully we'll get more insight what happened to this Spyder.
They look exactly the same. I was hoping Porsche made improvements to the material used. But, looks like they might not have.
Hopefully we'll get more insight what happened to this Spyder.
#4
Rennlist Member
F$@&! I was so worried about this & hoping Porsche resolved it for the 718. Scary that it might not be the case.
From what I recall these issues were NOT covered under warranty by Porsche, even in street driving, and forced owners to either make an insurance claim (and get an accident on their record for hitting an obstacle in the road) or paying out of pocket to the tune of $10-15k.
From what I recall these issues were NOT covered under warranty by Porsche, even in street driving, and forced owners to either make an insurance claim (and get an accident on their record for hitting an obstacle in the road) or paying out of pocket to the tune of $10-15k.
#5
F$@&! I was so worried about this & hoping Porsche resolved it for the 718. Scary that it might not be the case.
From what I recall these issues were NOT covered under warranty by Porsche, even in street driving, and forced owners to either make an insurance claim (and get an accident on their record for hitting an obstacle in the road) or paying out of pocket to the tune of $10-15k.
From what I recall these issues were NOT covered under warranty by Porsche, even in street driving, and forced owners to either make an insurance claim (and get an accident on their record for hitting an obstacle in the road) or paying out of pocket to the tune of $10-15k.
#6
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I haven’t read the thread in awhile though so there may be more updated information. Going to try and find it now......
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FullTwist (12-20-2020)
#7
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This is still unacceptable. Strut towers shouldn't routinely fail due to hitting potholes, and the wheel should bend severely long before the strut tower should fail, but evidently the flawed design from the 981 GT4 has carried over. We need to raise hell and bring it to the front pages of forums and magazines for Porsche to take action on the design flaw.
Perhaps its time for a sticky thread or database where 981 GT4 and 718 GT4/Spyder owners who had the failure can comment on when/where/how the failure occurred, and how Porsche reacted, so we can get a better idea for numbers. The thread on the 981 GT4 forum was cluttered with too many posts, so it was hard to count the instances and circumstances, but I recall the failures being numerous (I remember seeing at least 5 different reported cases).
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Denny Swift (07-22-2020)
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#8
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Crap! I had a feeling this might happen. I compared the shock tower of the 981 and 718 when I was at the Los Angeles auto show.
They look exactly the same. I was hoping Porsche made improvements to the material used. But, looks like they might not have.
Hopefully we'll get more insight what happened to this Spyder.
They look exactly the same. I was hoping Porsche made improvements to the material used. But, looks like they might not have.
Hopefully we'll get more insight what happened to this Spyder.
Let’s hope there is a valid reason for this particular failure and that Porsche didn’t just ignore the known issue. We are just speculating at this point. However, it’s certainly disconcerting no matter how you think about it.
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Croc999 (07-26-2020)
#9
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If they Increased the thickness of the aluminum or added a brace between the shock and the underside of the tower, you wouldn’t notice anything.
Yeah, if there is no wheel damage (serious damage), suspension damage, or gouges on the underside body, there would be no way Porsche could claim it was not a manufacturing defect.
Let’s hope there is a valid reason for this particular failure and that Porsche didn’t just ignore the known issue. We are just speculating at this point. However, it’s certainly disconcerting no matter how you think about it.
Yeah, if there is no wheel damage (serious damage), suspension damage, or gouges on the underside body, there would be no way Porsche could claim it was not a manufacturing defect.
Let’s hope there is a valid reason for this particular failure and that Porsche didn’t just ignore the known issue. We are just speculating at this point. However, it’s certainly disconcerting no matter how you think about it.
#10
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The worst part of the issue is that I recall reading of Porsche calling the failure damage caused by external factors, and insurance companies saying it's a mechanical/design failure that Porsche should cover under their warranty since it was not caused by a crash. Thus, owners whose strut tower failed were left holding the bag unless they brought in lawyers and fought endlessly.
Time for someone on Rennlist to start a supplementary strut tower failure insurance program for 981 GT4 and 718 GT4/Spyder owners? It could reduce anxiety for many owners.
Time for someone on Rennlist to start a supplementary strut tower failure insurance program for 981 GT4 and 718 GT4/Spyder owners? It could reduce anxiety for many owners.
#12
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I also recall never reading that Porsche covered any failures under warranty. Or maybe better stated - Porsche declined covering all the cases I read about on RL.
#13
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Hopefully the owner had a dash cam running and it is obvious when the failure happened and that nothing considered abnormal was on the road. Otherwise, without tangible proof to Porsche, nada.
#14
This can't be good but hopefully this is just an anomaly. I assume he will get it replaced under warranty barring any user error like crashing into a parking curb or something like that but if it truly is a failure, he should consider asking for the opposite side shock tower to be replaced as I assume the part would have come from the same batch.
Now I am curious to go back and see what resolution was.