johnr265

Okay, got to see if anyone else has a problem with this or has a clue what might be going on. Car is 2011 GT3 RS. Car has 1300 miles on it. I am quite familiar with driving low cars and know that on some stronger bumps this car will bottom out. I have a pretty good feel what type of road motion will cause it.

So the other day, I'm driving rather spirited over a bumpy stretch of road and my car bottoms out hard, not once, not twice but three times. Concerned I may have knocked something loose and never having had this happen before, I pull over to check out the car. What I notice is that the car is riding almost a half inch to an inch LOWER than it normally does. Not sure what to make of this, I pull into a side street, do a u-turn, and shut it off to take a closer look. Ride height is back to normal.

Not sure if I imagined it, I continue on. Then tonight, at a different stretch of the road, I notice after spirited driving that the car is scraping in places it normally doesn't scrape. Again, I pull over and the car is lower than normal. This time, without moving it, I play some more. I try putting on the sport suspension. Nothing changes. Then I try to activate the lift. It says it is going up but when I get out to check, it is not as high as it normally is. Confused, I get back in the car, turn the steering wheel, and hear a distinct POP, and the car then instantly lifts to the proper height like it had been caught on something. I suspect the u-turn before is what brought it back to it's normal height.

Aside from a serious suspension malfunction, the only thing I can think of is, I had an alignment done a couple of weeks ago. Nothing radical, no rotated strut tops or shims, just the upper part of the strut pushed in towards the center of the car with -2.25 neg camber the result. I noticed that the sway bar end links weren't torqued properly after this alignment and wonder if the strut tops weren't torqued properly either. I put my torque wrench on them and best guess is they put about 35 foot-lbs on them. Is that enough? Could this somehow cause the problem? Note that I have done one track event and one auto-x on this alignment since it was done. I did notice that the front end didn't seem right recently (tended to track in the road more than normal, steering wheel not stable at higher speeds which wasn't apparent at the Glen with speeds over 140 mph). Any input appreciated before I bring it in to get it checked out. Thanks.

axhoaxho

Sounds like when you bottomed out your car, something at the suspension was damaged. The lift was just an effect affected by the damage.

I would suggest to have your car checked as soon as you can.

Regards,

savyboy

I would have it examined ASAP. I have the lift and have never experienced what you describe.

Also- shimming the LCA's to get the camber is preferential as it widens track as well. Might cost you a bit more as the shims aren't cheap but if you use the car in it's natural habitat this is the proper method.

texasviany

No lift issues here. I can not believe that the lift would have any impact on the suspension drop.

malmasri

Have it checked by the dealer and keep us posted please....GL.

johnr265

Thanks for the input. I'll call the dealer tomorrow. It's all quite strange. Just in case it's relavent, does anyone know the proper torque for the bolts on the top of the front struts? Thanks.

johnr265

Just a brief update. The lift system checks out fine (no fault codes) and I really didn't think this was the problem.

I have been able to duplicate it several times. It comes after a decent compression of the suspension over a bump or dip in the road. The suspension then locks the ride height exactly one inch LOWER than standard ride height. Turning the steering wheel in either direction releases it with a pop. You can actually feel it through the steering wheel too when it happens. gets stiffer and has a vibration in it.

The dealer is not sure what is going on and has contacted P-Tech. The dealer thinks there is a faulty strut with something binding inside. I spoke with a reputable independent Porsche shop and they think it is probably the upper strut mounts where there is a strut bearing that could be binding. I don't know that much about either. If anyone has any thoughts or theories, any insight is appreciated. Car is currently at the dealer. I am just praying this doesn't take several weeks to fix.

Larry Cable

Did the dealer do your alignment? Sounds like something went amiss during that process ...

johnr265

Actually, no, the alignment was done by an outside shop (who is pretty reputable but who did forget to tighten the swaybar endlinks so I suppose it's possible). I am trying to figure out how an alignment though could cause this problem. Something improperly torqued? Prying on the wrong part? Note that I marked the strut top nuts to see if they moved when it happened and they didn't so I don't think that was the problem.

Larry Cable

does it happen on both side of the front of the car or only one side?

Do you know if this shop has aligned 997 GT3 cars before?

Larry Cable

I wonder if the springs are binding on something due to the increased camber when the suspension compresses aggressively ... I think that it is more likely a mechanical constriction caused by the alignment rather than a faulty strut ... the coincidence of the alignment and the problem seems to me to be anything but ...

johnr265

When it happens, the height of the car appears symmetric from side to side (lowers the front lip from 4 1/4" to 3 1/4" on both sides of the car). Car releases regardless of which way you turn the steering wheel.

I agree it is odd about the alignment though I don't think it happened immediately after the alignment was done. In fact, it seemed to take a couple weeks before it showed up. Also, there are many with much more aggressive negative camber and I haven't heard of others with the same problem. The shop has done many GT3s though I think I may have been the first 997.2.

Larry Cable

what seems weird to me is that *both* sides "bind" at the same time ... did the dealer check for fault codes on the PASM? have you tried driving with the PASM in sport mode to see if the fault occurs in that setting (with the suspension stiffer)?

BTW what happens when you activate the lift while the suspension is "dropped"?

johnr265

There were no fault codes. I didn't try it in sport mode so I don't know. I did try activating the lift and it didn't rise to it's proper height. Only when I turned the wheel (with the resultant pop) did it rise to the normal height.

Larry Cable

I'm no expert but it has to be something mechanical binding ... it sounds like it is going to be difficult to diagnose since the moment you turn the wheel it pops out ...

If there is no way to get the problem to occur and get it on a lift I think your only resort might be to return the alignment to stock at the dealer and see if this clears the problem.