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I dont think that anything short of an internal composite sleeve (tight fitting) bonded to the underside of the shock tower or a reinforcement collar welded to the top of the tower (under the top plate level) and then gusseted down to the frame rail will do the trick.
Jpr
You may be right, however when the photos of various failures are reviewed, the cracks (separations) are almost exclusively along the rim of the tower & do not involve the lower mounting points to which I've secured the plate to.
It has probably been said before, but just to re-iterate: The strut tower plates are motorsports parts (.8A revision), the one on the right is from the cup-991's and the one on the left from the clubsport-981. in the street car, they attach to the side of the strut tower, just above the wheel well liner (which needs to be removed for access). The installation requires 58.5mm long bushings/washers as seen in the pictures. These won't be under load, so can be cut off e.g. aluminum. On the left, the mounting hole originally holds the washer fluid neck. If all should remain close to stock, attach the washer fluid neck to the bushing.
I have had this installed for more than a year, initially for piece of mind, later with the understanding of increased safety in the (hopefully not) event.
You may be right, however when the photos of various failures are reviewed, the cracks (separations) are almost exclusively along the rim of the tower & do not involve the lower mounting points to which I've secured the plate to.
Precisely, that is why the sleeve or the collar, in transmitting load to the base of the shock tower, would be effective.
CMosman thanks for posting. I followed your instructions & in addition extended the inboard driver's side flange & incorporated/fastened to mount on chassis where wiper system mechanism is secured.
It has probably been said before, but just to re-iterate: The strut tower plates are motorsports parts (.8A revision), the one on the right is from the cup-991's and the one on the left from the clubsport-981. in the street car, they attach to the side of the strut tower, just above the wheel well liner (which needs to be removed for access). The installation requires 58.5mm long bushings/washers as seen in the pictures. These won't be under load, so can be cut off e.g. aluminum. On the left, the mounting hole originally holds the washer fluid neck. If all should remain close to stock, attach the washer fluid neck to the bushing.
I have had this installed for more than a year, initially for piece of mind, later with the understanding of increased safety in the (hopefully not) event.
For the adventurous:
Here is the list of hardware you need. The bolts and nuts can be had from the VW dealer (my pictures show generic hardware, the VW items are much better fit and finish:
front strut plate reinforcement RIGHT: 991-504-284-8A AS PLATE STRUT MOUNT $68.96
front strut plate reinforcement LEFT: 981-504-283-8A AS PLATE STRUT MOUNT $104.32"
hardware (VW parts): 2x M8x75 bolt (N-910-734-01, 2x M8 elliptic lock nut (N-908-866-02)
Has anyone heard from PNA?? I have reached out and they acted like if it was the first time they heard of this.
There's no upside to them saying: "Oh yeah, we've had hundreds of calls about this." -- especially without instructions from Porsche on how to solve the problem or handle the complaints.
Yes, they appear to use the same motorsports plates most of us use, & secure to similar points alongside strut tower with there spacers, hardware, etc.
I'm a little concerned about this as a 981S owner running low stiff coilovers with lots of camber. Seems close to the recipe for GT4 strut failure, unless geometry is otherwise different. Crazy issue to have to even think about.
This has happened to too many cars, with too little overall damage in many cases. Chassis stiffness may be the primary reason they used aluminum for this chassis component, more so than weight savings, but this type of failure could mean the difference between keeping or losing control of the car. In over 40 years of driving, including a fair bit of track since 2008, I had my share of crashes (I'm in Houston), and have never fractured a steel strut tower. In a 180 mph car, that difference could be the difference between mean life, death, or disablement. I'm no engineer, but I'd prefer steel towers with a brace to these cast aluminum strut towers.
Do you have any data to back this up? The way I see it, its a very small percentage of GT3's and GT4's that are affected.
^^
If you read through the entire post, & count them it's < 10. For the # of these cars on the road it's peanuts. Some members have had big impacts & not had this happen, so it might relate to repeated stresses & metal fatigue on a cast part.
It has probably been said before, but just to re-iterate: The strut tower plates are motorsports parts (.8A revision), the one on the right is from the cup-991's and the one on the left from the clubsport-981. in the street car, they attach to the side of the strut tower, just above the wheel well liner (which needs to be removed for access). The installation requires 58.5mm long bushings/washers as seen in the pictures. These won't be under load, so can be cut off e.g. aluminum. On the left, the mounting hole originally holds the washer fluid neck. If all should remain close to stock, attach the washer fluid neck to the bushing.
I have had this installed for more than a year, initially for piece of mind, later with the understanding of increased safety in the (hopefully not) event.
So far this seems like the best way to strengthen the strut tower. There just aren't any other easy ways. As some have suggested before, installing something from the inside (a cup) would be better strength wise, but just downright impossible. So to me this is a winner.
So is this a kit that one can buy, or do they just sell the plates? If there is a need for someone to machine a bunch of sleeves, I could offer up my services. I own a machine shop with many CNC lathes. I'm not an engineer though and have no interest in reverse engineering, but if someone wanted to make me some prints I could machine a batch of sleeves for a potential group buy, if needed.
03-04-2019, 01:18 PM
