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I'm updating my front suspension this weekend. I replaced the struts a month ago, and I'll be replacing everything else in the next couple days. I've seen many articles and "how to's" to replace each individual part, but I cannot find anything that shows the complete job, start to finish.
My question is, how would you guys go about this? Do you think there's a certain order of preference that would make things easier for me? Would it matter the order of what part goes back on, or would it not make that big of a difference? Any tips/tricks would be GREATLY appreciated!
Take everything old off. Install everything new. It's more or less self-explanatory. Remove sway bars first, then shocks/struts along with control arms, then rear upper dogbones. You can make your life easier on the rear by installing the new shock and letting the bearing carrier/hub hang on it while you change the suspension arms (this way you can leave the drive axle attached). If your car is a C4 I am not sure on if you can get the front struts off without removing the front axles, I did this on a C2, twice actually.
What Nickshu said! The rest is deal with stuff when it goes awry.
A couple of additional thoughts (and these may be obvious):
1) don't let your caliper hang from the car on the brake line (it can damage the brake lines)
2) be careful what position suspension parts are in when you torque them down - you don't want the bushings to be twisted (preloaded) in their static state (car with wheels on the ground).
For example, if you torque the inside bolt on the coffin arms when the vehicle is lifted, suspension bits hanging, and then lower the car to the ground in it's static position, you have introduced preload into the bushing. You don't want that...
Also, on a suspension job, I like to replace the nuts, bolts and related bits with new parts. But I live in an area where we see corrosion, so that may not apply to you.
Also, on a suspension job, I like to replace the nuts, bolts and related bits with new parts. But I live in an area where we see corrosion, so that may not apply to you.
Stuff will go awry for certain
Porsche says the suspension bolts are "torque to yield" so they need to be replaced but if youre only doing the job once, reusing the original bolts (assuming they are clean and corrosion free) should be fine.
Tip of the day: Porsche sells a "caliper hardware kit" that has the clips and pins for $30
What Nickshu said! The rest is deal with stuff when it goes awry.
A couple of additional thoughts (and these may be obvious):
1) don't let your caliper hang from the car on the brake line (it can damage the brake lines)
2) be careful what position suspension parts are in when you torque them down - you don't want the bushings to be twisted (preloaded) in their static state (car with wheels on the ground).
For example, if you torque the inside bolt on the coffin arms when the vehicle is lifted, suspension bits hanging, and then lower the car to the ground in it's static position, you have introduced preload into the bushing. You don't want that...
Also, on a suspension job, I like to replace the nuts, bolts and related bits with new parts. But I live in an area where we see corrosion, so that may not apply to you.
CDS, how do you avoid the pre-load situation? I'm assuming I can't lower the car on the ground before I tighten up the bolts....but is that what you're suggesting I do?
Porsche says the suspension bolts are "torque to yield" so they need to be replaced but if youre only doing the job once, reusing the original bolts (assuming they are clean and corrosion free) should be fine.
Tip of the day: Porsche sells a "caliper hardware kit" that has the clips and pins for $30
CDS, how do you avoid the pre-load situation? I'm assuming I can't lower the car on the ground before I tighten up the bolts....but is that what you're suggesting I do?
I have a lift, so after assembling the parts finger tight, then before I fully tighten the fasteners, I *carefully* lower the car on tall lift posts until the suspension is under full load, then I torque the fasteners to spec.
CDS, how do you avoid the pre-load situation? I'm assuming I can't lower the car on the ground before I tighten up the bolts....but is that what you're suggesting I do?
If you don't have a lift, and are doing this on jackstands, put a floor jack under the corner you're working on until that corner just barely comes off the jackstand, and then torque everything. It's easy to put a jack under the outer control arm ball joint, or under the brake rotor hub.
To be clear, anything that has a ball joint can be torqued in any orientation, with weight on or off, since the ball accommodates that motion. Only things that have a rubber bushing need to be torqued "on the ground". So up front that's the inner end of the coffin arm, and the joint between the coffin and tuning fork arm. In the back, all the control arms have bushings, as does the bottom of the shock.
If you don't have a lift, and are doing this on jackstands, put a floor jack under the corner you're working on until that corner just barely comes off the jackstand, and then torque everything. It's easy to put a jack under the outer control arm ball joint, or under the brake rotor hub.
To be clear, anything that has a ball joint can be torqued in any orientation, with weight on or off, since the ball accommodates that motion. Only things that have a rubber bushing need to be torqued "on the ground". So up front that's the inner end of the coffin arm, and the joint between the coffin and tuning fork arm. In the back, all the control arms have bushings, as does the bottom of the shock.
Convert everything to spherical bearings and its a non issue
If you don't have a lift, and are doing this on jackstands, put a floor jack under the corner you're working on until that corner just barely comes off the jackstand, and then torque everything. It's easy to put a jack under the outer control arm ball joint, or under the brake rotor hub.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that my 2004 C4S has a marking on the control arm that lines up with a corresponding mark on the crossmember when the suspension is properly loaded. See attached pictures. No guesswork!
Porsche says the suspension bolts are "torque to yield" so they need to be replaced but if youre only doing the job once, reusing the original bolts (assuming they are clean and corrosion free) should be fine.
None that i know of or have read about. They do recommend swaping the lock nuts but mine all grabed so i reused. Buy the torque hand book from ln e and get to work.
To the best of my knowledge, the answer is none. All have normal torque specs. Some like to replace fasteners after single use, but some would have you replace your gas cap with each fill too.
05-31-2019, 08:28 AM
Front Suspension Refresh - What would you do?
