strut tower failure
03-21-2019 | 08:48 PM
#812
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,242
Likes: 376
From: Ball Ground, Georgia
I had a 981 CGTS. Traded it in January 2017 for the GT4. Didn't know about the 3rd gear issue. Didn't know about the issues with suspension. Had no idea about the strut towers. Drove it home from the dealer and fell in love. It was just that good.
Now I know about these things. And I just don't care. It still drives brilliantly. I still love it.
If it isn't for you or you are concerned, then don't buy one. But ripping on a car you don't own, providing no technical value, in an Internet forum... Find somewhere else to spend your energy.
Now I know about these things. And I just don't care. It still drives brilliantly. I still love it.
If it isn't for you or you are concerned, then don't buy one. But ripping on a car you don't own, providing no technical value, in an Internet forum... Find somewhere else to spend your energy.
03-21-2019 | 09:12 PM
#813
Rennlist Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 431
Likes: 241
From: WA
There are plenty of instances of it happening which is concerning when considering the idea of buying a new 100k car. I am waffling on my Spyder allocation because of this, my 987.2 doesn't have any of these problems or design flaw issues.
Also consider a minority of owners frequent these forums, not every occurance will pop up here for us to see. Only Porsche really knows how prevalent this is and they aren't talking.
Also consider a minority of owners frequent these forums, not every occurance will pop up here for us to see. Only Porsche really knows how prevalent this is and they aren't talking.
03-21-2019 | 09:17 PM
#814
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 200
From: Tucson, AZ
There are plenty of instances of it happening which is concerning when considering the idea of buying a new 100k car. I am waffling on my Spyder allocation because of this, my 987.2 doesn't have any of these problems or design flaw issues.
Also consider a minority of owners frequent these forums, not every occurance will pop up here for us to see. Only Porsche really knows how prevalent this is and they aren't talking.
Also consider a minority of owners frequent these forums, not every occurance will pop up here for us to see. Only Porsche really knows how prevalent this is and they aren't talking.
03-21-2019 | 09:19 PM
#815
Rennlist Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 431
Likes: 241
From: WA
Also why are you in the thread about STRUT TOWER FAILURES telling people not to care about strut tower failures? What is your goal here?
03-21-2019 | 09:41 PM
#816
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 200
From: Tucson, AZ
No one said we shouldn’t discuss these failures. But people like you are making it sound like they’re just melting while they are sitting there.
And I’m here because this is the GT4 forum and I own a GT4. You’re here because you’re neither a GT4 owner or buying one. Oh, wait... I get the feeling you’re just like a lot of people on rennlist these days. ‘Oh I would totally buy this GT3 if it had illuminated sills’ Or ‘I would totally buy this GT4 if it was for sale last week’. I think I have a better chance of taking over Canada with a high school marching band behind me, playing ‘we willl rock you’, versus you buying a Spyder.
Last edited by Five12Free; 03-21-2019 at 10:03 PM.
03-21-2019 | 09:59 PM
#817
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 9,485
Likes: 1,068
From: Ohio
03-21-2019 | 10:08 PM
#818
Quit Smokin'
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,846
Likes: 322
From: Columbus, Ohio
allow me to retort to your witty response... I fail to see where Porsche has even announced a 718 Spyder. Oh you mean the testing cars and development cars? Last time I checked, those aren’t for sale. So to date, no Spyders With GT suspension has been sold. Period.
No one said we shouldn’t discuss these failures. But people like you are making it sound like they’re just melting while they are sitting there.
And I’m here because this is the GT4 forum and I own a GT4. You’re here because you’re neither a GT4 owner or buying one. Oh, wait... I get the feeling you’re just like a lot of people on rennlist these days. ‘Oh I would totally buy this GT3 if it had illuminated sills’ Or ‘I would totally buy this GT4 if it was for sale last week’. I think I have a better chance of taking over Canada with a high school marching band behind me, playing ‘we willl rock you’, versus you buying a Spyder.
If i had one in my garage would it bother me? Probably not. I’d drive the wheels off the thing.......possibly pun intended.
03-21-2019 | 11:26 PM
#819
Rennlist Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 327
From: NYC <> Boston
allow me to retort to your witty response... I fail to see where Porsche has even announced a 718 Spyder. Oh you mean the testing cars and development cars? Last time I checked, those aren’t for sale. So to date, no Spyders with GT suspensions have been sold.
No one said we shouldn’t discuss these failures. But people like you are making it sound like they’re just melting while they are sitting there.
And I’m here because this is the GT4 forum and I own a GT4. You’re here because you’re neither a GT4 owner or buying one. Oh, wait... I get the feeling you’re just like a lot of people on rennlist these days. ‘Oh I would totally buy this GT3 if it had illuminated sills’ Or ‘I would totally buy this GT4 if it was for sale last week’. I think I have a better chance of taking over Canada with a high school marching band behind me, playing ‘we willl rock you’, versus you buying a Spyder.
03-21-2019 | 11:59 PM
#820
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,754
Likes: 160
2 years ago a friend in his GT4 had a high speed impact at a road works ditch, equivalent to a large deep pot hole.
He said it was quite a significant impact and scared the living daylights out of him, to this day his car is in perfect condition with no signs of any damage and he drives his car very hard.
He said it was quite a significant impact and scared the living daylights out of him, to this day his car is in perfect condition with no signs of any damage and he drives his car very hard.
03-22-2019 | 12:05 AM
#821
Rennlist Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 327
From: NYC <> Boston
Every car has issues. How about those coolant lines, 2nd gear synchros made of butter, potato chip pressure plates, and lsds good for just a few days at the track before wearing into open diffs on the 997.2 GT3? I don't own a 997.2 GT3 but I read about all those on the internet sooooooo....
Sorry I don't mean to bag the 997, I spent a day in a 997 last week and it was awesome, would still buy despite those known issues if I had more garage, and $$$ for repairs
just trying to make the point that most cars have their strengths and weaknesses and all cars have issues, especially cars pushing the performance envelope. If we prioritized reliability we'd be on the Toyota Corolla forums... And I bet people are bitching there about something too... Maybe mismatching beige trim pieces...
I definitely want to find a solution that could help reinforce the front strut towers but the problem hasn't been as prevalent as the 3rd gear issue so far (and Porsche is covering that) so I do think people need to chill just a bit. Fwiw, I hear the rear shock towers are reinforced and supposedly there's a reinforcement plate riveted in there. I can see rivets on the outside of the shock tower but the undercoating makes it tough to see what's actually going on from under the car. If someone has access to a porsche parts or body shop manual maybe there's something we could learn from how the rear shock towers are setup?
Sorry I don't mean to bag the 997, I spent a day in a 997 last week and it was awesome, would still buy despite those known issues if I had more garage, and $$$ for repairs
just trying to make the point that most cars have their strengths and weaknesses and all cars have issues, especially cars pushing the performance envelope. If we prioritized reliability we'd be on the Toyota Corolla forums... And I bet people are bitching there about something too... Maybe mismatching beige trim pieces...I definitely want to find a solution that could help reinforce the front strut towers but the problem hasn't been as prevalent as the 3rd gear issue so far (and Porsche is covering that) so I do think people need to chill just a bit. Fwiw, I hear the rear shock towers are reinforced and supposedly there's a reinforcement plate riveted in there. I can see rivets on the outside of the shock tower but the undercoating makes it tough to see what's actually going on from under the car. If someone has access to a porsche parts or body shop manual maybe there's something we could learn from how the rear shock towers are setup?
03-22-2019 | 12:36 AM
#822
Quit Smokin'
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,846
Likes: 322
From: Columbus, Ohio
Every car has issues. How about those coolant lines, 2nd gear synchros made of butter, potato chip pressure plates, and lsds good for just a few days at the track before wearing into open diffs on the 997.2 GT3? I don't own a 997.2 GT3 but I read about all those on the internet soooo..
03-22-2019 | 09:22 AM
#823
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 200
From: Tucson, AZ
lol.. I should’ve used those
No way... those shock towers are made of glass! 
I definitely want to find a solution that could help reinforce the front strut towers but the problem hasn't been as prevalent as the 3rd gear issue so far (and Porsche is covering that) so I do think people need to chill just a bit. Fwiw, I hear the rear shock towers are reinforced and supposedly there's a reinforcement plate riveted in there. I can see rivets on the outside of the shock tower but the undercoating makes it tough to see what's actually going on from under the car. If someone has access to a porsche parts or body shop manual maybe there's something we could learn from how the rear shock towers are setup?
Didn’t know that about the rears. I’ll have to look next time I have the car up.
You are in the auto business so doing fixes on your GT3 is easy, but to a lot of folks welding coolent pipes might as well be replacing a shock tower, Meaning it can’t be done at home by themselves.
And a comment about your previous post regarding safety of the wheel coming off. Can’t say I’ve heard of any GT4 driver losing control of their car after the shock failure. I’m sure it will happen in the future. But man, there sure are tons of posts about people crashing as direct result of the coolent pipes. Even worse, causing others to crash behind them...
2 years ago a friend in his GT4 had a high speed impact at a road works ditch, equivalent to a large deep pot hole.
He said it was quite a significant impact and scared the living daylights out of him, to this day his car is in perfect condition with no signs of any damage and he drives his car very hard.
He said it was quite a significant impact and scared the living daylights out of him, to this day his car is in perfect condition with no signs of any damage and he drives his car very hard.
I definitely want to find a solution that could help reinforce the front strut towers but the problem hasn't been as prevalent as the 3rd gear issue so far (and Porsche is covering that) so I do think people need to chill just a bit. Fwiw, I hear the rear shock towers are reinforced and supposedly there's a reinforcement plate riveted in there. I can see rivets on the outside of the shock tower but the undercoating makes it tough to see what's actually going on from under the car. If someone has access to a porsche parts or body shop manual maybe there's something we could learn from how the rear shock towers are setup?
Those are all issues that I can tackle in my own shop at an enjoyable pace as i choose to look at them. You missed one.. I put a harmonic balancer on it as soon as it came home to double down my chances of not having the cam actuator bolts back out. Alas, I am not skilled in body work, and I’m not interested in those types of problems. The 3rd gear problem is clearly just a nuisance item, but it would have been nice if Porsche hadn’t drug their feet for 3 years on the recall. It would have sent a clear message. When the ND Miata came out they had second gear problems, and Mazda made it very clear that they owned the problem and customers could bring race cars in for free gear boxes, even if the car was modified up to SCCA STR specs. I would say Porsche has done an “adequate” job on the third gear issue.
And a comment about your previous post regarding safety of the wheel coming off. Can’t say I’ve heard of any GT4 driver losing control of their car after the shock failure. I’m sure it will happen in the future. But man, there sure are tons of posts about people crashing as direct result of the coolent pipes. Even worse, causing others to crash behind them...
03-22-2019 | 11:06 AM
#825
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 570
Likes: 160
From: Hudson Valley NY
Perfect argument for water. That was super close...no contact right ?