Stephen Fisher

While preparing my 2008 GT3 for an upcoming track event, I noticed that the drop link on the left front side was disconnected and bent (I failed to notice the one on the right front had been sheared in half).

I brought the car to the dealer. I informed the dealer that I had done some online research and have found that others have had an issue with this.

Dealer’s first line of defense was that he had never seen this. Did I run over something? “Porsche will not cover this under warranty.”

I request that the dealer check with Porsche NA. Next day, dealer gets back to me that this is a reasonably common occurrence with the GT3 with certain suspension settings and that Porsche’s position is that the drop links on this car are a “wear item”. No surprise on the end result (Porsche’s refusal to cover something), only surprised by the way they got to that conclusion.

What I have learned:

Drop Links = “Wear Item”

2008 GT3 = $110K…………Porsche Warranty = Worthless

There is a substitute!

PS: Check your drop links. I purchased aftermarket from Tarett Engineering.

Izzone

I have had the drop link form my old car come off too

I will replace the new car with Tarett soon

911SLOW

Put the service manager in a closed room and unleash your avatar. : )

sin911

That sucks!

If this is a common occurrence and not related to track then warranty should cover!

amaist

Unfortunately no. That's why they can get away with all the douchebaggery.

If you have an amazing product the lack of good support will not affect sales that much. (I am talking about GTx cars, here. Plenty of alternatives to regular 911)

Maybe Lexus is good with warranty and service. I wouldn't know as just looking at one induces drowsiness.

rmag

Broken 2 before also, then switched to tarrett. Once from track curbing, once from hitting speed bump on street..... definitely not a warranty item.

Izzone

So just buy front an drear.....what exact part numbers

I will order ASAP

tcsracing1

keep the nuts on em tight too

rmag

Here are fronts...no real need for rears

http://www.tarett.com/items/996-997-...lnk-detail.htm

mooty

drop link IS a wear tear item

Carrera GT

Anything with a bushing is potentially a wear item. Unless it breaks. In my humble. If it fails, it failed and warranty pertains to items which fail during the warranty period.

The 996 GT3 brought adjustable anti-roll bars to a production 911 and people were changing them as often as they changed their socks ... for some driver's, perhaps still not frequently enough.

I noticed cars coming in with drop links off or loose and damaged where the owner did not think this nut required a torque wrench -- it requires a "crow's foot" and a 3/8 torque wrench with a Torx bit to hold the threaded shaft, so that's a bit of a tedious setup to carry to the track, but there it is.

Once the "Nyloc" has had a few trips along the thread, it tends to lose its grip. Replacing the nyloc every so often, while expensive, is necessary. Over-tightening will tend to take out the "pinch" out of a pinch nut, so for anyone with pinch nuts (standard on the 996 from memory, but aftermarket parts usually revert to nylocs) you'll end up with a no-win situation. The common thing is to find a "habit" of "nut and bolt" checks where things like suspension links get a hefty wrenching when they should be hit with a torque wrench set to the correct level.

In my opinion, no component should fail. That the bar drop links fail with such frequency makes it irrefutable that the design is just plain wrong -- either the suspension travel or the stiffness of the anti-roll bar is overwhelming the drop link, which the factory should identify and upgrade.

I think that regional service inspectors for Porsche have lost their bearings (perhaps literally as well as figuratively.) Far too many warranty claims end up as trips into a bizarre, disconnected world which bears little resemblance to the factory marketing and claims about the GT3 cars.

If you're lucky, you have a "good" inspector in your region, if not, you'll experience these WTF? situations all too frequently. It should be a "luck of the draw" situation to get proper warranty support.

rlips

Mine broke after one track session with 300 miles on the car. The tarrett replacements have 18 track days on them so far with no issues. Highly recommended.

Land Jet

TRG also makes a very stout drop link. 3 seasons on mine and never any problems.

Hoosier_Daddy

I have a couple of questions as I get ready to order OEM drop links to have in my track pack...

Where does the energy that wrecks a stock Porsche GT3 drop link go when some monster piece of after market metal is utilized instead? (Clearly not developed with the millions of dollars the manufacturer spends on engineering)

What more serious damage/wear/breakage, elsewhere on the car, could develop whereby Porsche feels these drop links are the sacrificial lambs?

Given the time the 996/997 cars have been manufactured wouldn't Porsche have, by now, upgraded the drop links if not intended to act as the first line of defense against the pounding the suspension takes on a daily basis for the long haul with a personal use car?

I wouldn't think that the "Cup Race cars use this" argument applies here as those cars are completely dissected and prepped for each outing. I do not know what the Porsche Motorsport drop links look like or how they differ from the street GT3s. Anyone know?

docdan

Good question. Along those lines, does anybody know how the Porsche Motorsports drop links compare to the Tarrets?



Dan