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It is my understanding that ALL 987 are ready to receive the parts indicated at the top of this thread. There is confusion, though in the Porsche documentation, which says that the front-end parts are only for 987.1. In my case, one outlet would not sell the parts to me since I have 987.2, and another would only sell to me if I assured them in writing that I would not return them if they did not fit. They DID fit, btw.
As for all 987's having strut towers that will accept the two bracing tubes, I am not so sure that's accurate. My Boxster S, manufactured in mid 2008, does not have the brackets to which one attaches the bracing tubes. The center bracket is present, but there is no attachment on the strut towers.
If one looks at the photos (above) of the right and left strut towers, it's clear that the bracing tubes bolt into bracket welded to the towers. As best as I can make out from the photos posted in this thread, these brackets, each with two threaded holes, accept the respective bracing tubes. Judging from the photos, each has a tab that folds over a portion of the strut tower with a hole in the tab that accept the inboard stud and nut from the McPherson struts. My particular vehicle has the typical strut towers, but lack any overlapping bracket with the two threaded holes (for bracing tubes). While I wish you were correct about all 987's having the necessary mounting points, sadly mine doesn't. Moreover, I can't imagine my Boxster is the only one missing these mounting points.
I have a 2007 987.1 Cayman S, which does not have a bracket on the front shock towers. I did buy a Racing Dynamics front strut brace as well. This brace seems to tighten up the front end somehow, less squeaking now, especially going downhill through switchback corners. I also have a Pedro's TechnoBrace that I installed a couple of years ago. They both do help to reduce torque to the rear frame rails and the front shock towers. I would agree that the Rennline product looks like it would provide a more secure mounting position with their solid metal mounting brackets. The Pedro's bar is not reinforced inside, so it could be crushed if tightened too much. It does squeak when I back up out of my garage onto the street.
Thanks for the detailed photos, but regrettably my Boxster S lacks those mounting points on the strut towers. Otherwise, it appears to be an easy installation requiring only a couple pieces of tubing and some bolts.
Ok the trick to removing the wipers is to spray some WD40 or similar into the opening once the bolt is off. This will loosen up the connection an it will pop off when the wiper is in the up position.
So now I’m having some difficulties getting the drivers side brace installed, for some reason the top hole doesn’t line up perfectly, almost as if the angle of the brace upper connection is off. Anyone else have a trick to installing this or perhaps I received a faulty part?
I just installed set today and my recommendation is to try the other one. When I tried, I had the same problem -- at the center bracket, the angle was wrong. I switched sides, and it fit fine.
On a side note, but related, I want to thank the O.P. for this post. It doesn't get any bettr than a cheap oem upgrade!
I just installed set today and my recommendation is to try the other one. When I tried, I had the same problem -- at the center bracket, the angle was wrong. I switched sides, and it fit fine.
They are side specific. My recollection is that part ended 33 is driver's side and part ended in 34 is passenger side.
I just installed set today and my recommendation is to try the other one. When I tried, I had the same problem -- at the center bracket, the angle was wrong. I switched sides, and it fit fine.
On a side note, but related, I want to thank the O.P. for this post. It doesn't get any bettr than a cheap oem upgrade!
Jason
Jason, thanks for the suggestion. I gave it a shot this morning and unfortunately it’s the same issue, the angle is wrong for the connection at the firewall. I placed both parts side by side it appears both are exactly the same, I’m convinced someone at Porsche mislabeled the part. The passenger side literally took 5 minutes to remove/install so there’s definitely something up with the drivers side brace. I’m going to get another one on order and compare, hopefully my hunch is correct.