jbangert

Hello,

tonight I heard a pretty solid bang from the front suspension when driving into the garage. I looked into the wheel well and the front left strut was sheared right below the shock top mount plate and the right side was extremely worn near the bump stop. These after aftermarket (elephant) mounting plates that I had installed along with a "performance street" alignment about 5 months/3k miles ago because the old plates were falling apart . I've done mostly slow driving, except for my first trackday shortly after installing the mounts. After the track day the suspension looked perfectly fine.



What could have caused this? Should I just repair the struts, or is it likely caused by other components? I am trying to decide between just replacing the shocks, going for a PSS10 /kwv1 or some other option.


Could this be related to the monoball mounts or the alignment or is it just bad luck that two components fail on the front suspension in a row? Does anyone know how annoying it is to replace the suspension on a Carrera 4S? I brought it to the mechanics last time because I was in a hurry before the track day, but wouldn't mind saving a 4-figure amount this time by getting my own hands dirty.

jbangert

(Pictures : I am sending this from my phone so it is a bit of a hassle, apologies and thanks in advance for any advice!)
right shock with worn bumpstop
Left shock sheared right below the mount.

Audidude

This won't help, sorry, but in my experience failures usually occur with aftermarket interventions, not OEM. That hasn't stopped me using aftermarket gear in some of my vehicles (including the 996.2 C2 - H&R, Bilstein), but I always try and use well known and reputable parts.

DBJoe996

What brand of struts/shocks are those? I've never seen anything break a strut like that! Basically the strut shaft broke and that is very dangerous. Not normal.

todcp

Is it possible the alignment setting of the camber plates allowed the strut to contact the springs. This contact could easily result in the demise of the strut over time.
I have installed camber adjustable plates in a few cars of mine to get more negative camber for track use. In one case I had to be careful to keep the strut off the spring.

dporto

WoW!!! Elephant Racing is a reputable/well established company. I doubt that their top mounts caused this failure without something else being awry. It's certainly possible that the top mounts were improperly installed (there is a right way and a wrong way - left/right orientation of the top mounts). You also don't mention the Type/Brand of shocks used, and whether they were the proper fit for the car (there are several fitments depending on the model of 911/996 you're installing them on).

Porschetech3

WOW !! Good thing that broke while pulling into the garage, that could have been catastrophic had it broken at high speed from a pot hole !! It would have been near impossible to control. I don't like finding fault with another technicians work, but if it were mine and I had done the replacement of the strut mount I would be questioning whether I had stressed the shock rod end by over-torqueing the nut.

jbangert

Yes I am very glad this happened while moving into a garage. Now that the shock has gone away, I contacted the (rather prominent + reputable) suspension specialist that installed the camber plates + aligned the suspension to see what they say about it.

I did not replace the shocks/springs, however they look like OEM Porsche. At the end of April when the camber plates went in they were definitely fine.

dporto

Perhaps the prominent/reputable suspension specialist put one of their trainee/interns on the job... Seems as though they might have just powered through the job with the air/impact wrench

NYoutftr

Every time a have been a little cheap with parts or labor, it has come back and bit me.
Pay it now or pay more later.

I have recently been burned by a local indy, it won't happen again.

Byprodriver

Install error of some kind !