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You might be right Chuck, butt these guys have screwed up so much stuff, it borders on the ridiculous, so it is convenient to blame them and they didn't consider the interference with the LCAs...
Had many issues with various suppliers over the years converting street cars for track use. But never with PMNA links, ran multiple 24hrs with them, no issue. The ones u show r not like the PMNA ones!!!
So, Andy....the Beck/Arnley drop links I mentioned a few posts up came in and I went for the install today. Let me ask you (and anyone else who has replace front drop links)...is the clearance INCREDIBLY tight between the "stabilizer collar" that the top end of the drop link bolts to, and the strut housing? Tight like, 1mm at best. It took an incredible amount of wrestling to maneuver the drop link so that the threaded end would come out of the hole in the stabilizer collar. It was almost a force fit, but I finally got it after loosening the center sway bar mounts, the pinch bolt and the diagonal (forked) suspension arm under the front end. I can see why Tarett re-engineered the stabilizer collar so that the top of the drop link mounts on the "outside" instead of in between the collar and the strut housing.
Well, once I finally wrestled the old one out, it became clear the the Beck/Arnley replacements that I got from Rock Auto were not going to fit. The combined thickness of the rod end and the threaded bolt was a full 6mm longer than the factory part. Flat out NO-GO!!
So, I put it back together and requested a Return Auth from Rock Auto. I am now going to get those Raybestos ones from Amazon that you recommended. But, before I do, I just wanted to confirm the install with you. Did those fit up inside that stabilizer collar and clear the strut housing? Was it a <1mm clearance for you? This is even after loosening the pinch bolt and sliding the whole suspension down the strut mount to create just that tiny <1mm to get the old one out. Did this clearance from Porsche really need to be that tight, or am I missing something?
Sorry for the long post. Just surprised that there isn't much posted on this topic for these drop link parts being considered a "wear item", and the amount of effort required to do what seemingly should be very straightforward.
Lucky for you, I have all the hubs, suspension off of my car doing a refresh and got sidetracked today and didn't get them back on as planned so it was easy to go snap a picture.
The simple answer is yes, it's extremely tight, so tight that it's tough to get in and out even after avoiding the shock tube down the upright which is the first requirement to getting them out.
Ha! Almost twin pictures on the same day! Thanks for that confirmation, Andy. Now to get the Raybestos parts and hope they are the EXACT same length as the factory parts. I can't believe the Beck/Arnley parts I got from Rock Auto were 6mm longer! Might as well have been a foot longer!!
Appreciate the quick response and all your guidance thus far on this topic. I will circle back once I get the Raybestos parts.
They may have sent you the non-GT3 drop links...which replaces the bolt that connects the strut (the pinch bolt). This is what happened when I bought the Tarret links:
Yeah, I followed your adventure, Josh, and in fact your write-up was very helpful. And no, the links they sent me were very similar to the factory pieces, but the bolts were just 6mm (1/4") too long. That would have been fine, except for the unnecessarily close clearance that Porsche designed into that stabilizer mount collar.
The Tarett extended links are probably a much better design (for replacement anyway), as it essentially turns the mount geometry to be outside of the stabilizer collar as opposed to between the collar and the strut body. I didn't go with the pinch bolt mounted solution, as I think I'll stick with either the factory pieces and design, or go whole hog and just put the extended Tarett links on (which require disassembly of the whole strut stack the first time - but would make replacement a 10 minute job).
Thanks to all for the advice on this. I still am surprised that there isn't more documented on this procedure. I hope the Raybestos ones I ordered last night will clear like Andy's did.
03-11-2015, 11:05 PM
