Jon Moeller

My wife's 2011 Cayenne S is exhibiting the signs of worn control arm bushings at 80k+ miles. I've searched the usual locations and haven't seen any DIY's for replacement. Is there any chance someone has a link to one? If not, I'll work on a write-up for the DIY section. Additionally, does anyone know what usually fails? Is it just the rear bushing, or do I need to be concerned about the ball joints and other bushings in the arm?

Thanks,
Jon

CarGuyNVA

Just out of curiosity, what are the symptoms when these need replacing?

Just before I traded my CTT I began to notice a 'clunk' that seemed to come from the right front suspension area when turning the wheel sharply at low parking lot speeds, like when maneuvering into a parking spot. Would that be it?

cwheeler

Jon Moeller

I'm getting some knocking when going over uneven pavement. I'm going to put the Pig on a lift, and see if I can find any play in the bushings. From there, it looks like replacing the entire arm is the proper procedure, so I'll go that route, if it needs it.

garrett376

If you're there, you should press out all 3 bushings and replace them all. The rear bushings on mine leaked, that is how I knew they had failed.

deilenberger

On the 955/957 - the hot setup for non-turbo cars was to put the turbo control arms on. The bushings were supposed to be stronger and longer lasting. Dunno if this is the case on 958's or not - but a quick perusal of an online parts catalog might be revealing.

Texas993

My CTT had the same symptoms of clunking when driving over bumps. 80k miles. It was resolved by replacing the upper and lower control arms on both sides. Fortunately, it was covered under CPO warranty. However, I don't think the parts were all that expensive.

Check alldatadiy.com for the procedure.

DIYDanCars

Control arms on the Cayenne are huge revenue boosters for Porsche as they are designed to fail before 100k miles. One of the bushings Porsche uses is hollow (less durable) in the control arm and this is the one that always fails. My control arms only lasted 70k miles before they needed replacing, pretty sad for a $100k SUV. I decided not to go with OEM Porsche the second time around and went with an aftermarket control arm from a vendor who claims to overbuild them. Time will tell if they are "overbuilt", but figured I had nothing to lose.

Jon Moeller

Mind telling me which aftermarket unit you used?

DIYDanCars

Mevotech Supreme. The Cayenne control arms I received have a bigger ball joint and and the structure of the arm has been increased (thicker). I was told the bushing is no longer hollow and now solid, which means it should last the life of the vehicle now. Just remember that Mevotech has two versions of control arms for the Cayenne, a cheap one, and a "supreme". You will want to get the "supreme" version if you care about longevity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb-HhRJEhxI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbnkQDs7fMs

Jon Moeller

Thanks! I'm finishing up a pretty big project on my M3, but I'll pick these up as soon as my lift is open.

audilyfe42

I used mevotech on my b5 S4. Good stuff. I'll be ordering from them for my 958, thanks for the reminder

Ericson38

The lower arms (all suspension on our 153K mile 957 base) is original and everything is tight so far. Are the 957 arms different, or are the mechanical loads on the base model just less (less weight/torque) ? Also having base wheels/tires doesn't invoke spirited driving, so less side loads ?

2006 911 Base MT Cab
2009 Cayenne Base
2019 Panamera Base

F SANE IL

Fcpeuro.com sells both bushings and control arms (akatrailing arms).

I was going to do bushings, but there is no ball joint available for sale separately. Maybe I just didn't search hard enough. But I bought the Lemforder arms. They are OEM. Looking at the parts, looks like the Porsche part number and the P symbol stamps were shaved off to sell as an aftermarket part.

Plus FCUEURO warranties for life.

I also have the knocking sort of sound and in the past, on other cars I'd replace upper control arms which would fox this. Since I did up and lower arms on the Cayenne, I fixed 2 issues... tighter steering and steering wobble at 65mph. Still have some knocking type noise and I suspect it might be shocks. I'm not touching those ***** with a 6ft pole. They are 1500$ each I think since they are air shocks.

I was going to explore in changing other thinks like sway bushings, etc.. starting with cheapest.

Also, at some point I was curious as to the cost of ALL bushings and mount at the bottom, including engine, frame and trans mounts with all suspension parts. Comes out to around $2000 in parts from FCPEURO.

Good luck and if you find the ball joints for the lower arm, I'd be interested to see you replace it. The upper one is not replaceable at all.