strut tower failure
03-15-2019, 01:04 PM
#781
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Yes, but an owner can increase the chance of this issue occurring by lowering the car...
03-15-2019, 01:23 PM
#782
Looking at this modification, one begins to wonder if there isn't a way to create a "bucket" that fits over the strut top and bolts in much like what is seen here but without the spacer? It obviously couldn't go all the way around, and I am not sure if additional anchor points could be found (or added?) but I'd be pretty interested.
You'd presumably anchor it down to the frame rail somehow. You need to transfer the load, and its not possible to do so from above. In the case of a factory caged shell, you can transfer some of it to where the cage ties in but it isn't very efficient.
But strapping a bucket to the frame rail presents its own problems. You'd be amplifying the load and vibrations on the frame rail. Only Porsche engineers know what that frame rail is designed for, and it is likely not designed for additional loads of that type.
I'm not sure the PMNA plates really do much, because they aren't transferring the load anywhere. They might transfer some load to the cage on a caged shell from Weissach, because the cage ties to that area. That said, I think I've read reports of failures on the Cup / CS cars as well.
Interesting to note that the 982 (Porsche calls it the 718) uses the 991-P/N strut towers (although I don't know about the upcoming 982 GT4). The 992 receives a new design with some additional ribs. Mr. Stout took some great photos of the body-in-white where you can see everything bare.
It's also worth noting that many European auto manufacturers have switched to cast AL strut towers. IIRC, a few of the older R8s have had similar issues.
Last edited by FrenchToast; 03-15-2019 at 01:46 PM.
03-15-2019, 02:15 PM
#783
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IMS bearing, blown coolant pipes, DLC, failed strut mounts, take your pick.
03-15-2019, 06:06 PM
#785
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Followed this post since the beginning, and that is my sense as well, however I'm not waiting for mine to go then the headache of dealing with insurance.
I'm Cdn, & don't know if there's a US gov't motor vehicle safety dept, where a complaint/report made?
The other thing I wondered about is have the owners of cars with failures considered a class action lawsuit against Porsche, to be compensated for their out of pocket repair costs?
I'm no lawyer & have no idea on whether a case could be made or not.
03-19-2019, 10:52 AM
#786
Instructor
A video of strut failure happening on a 911 gt3 991 was recently posted to Facebook as well now after hitting a pothole. So not just limited to GT4 or so it appears...
EDIT: I am inferring this was pothole and not track based on the audio in the video above... I don't have any firsthand knowledge.
Facebook Post
EDIT: I am inferring this was pothole and not track based on the audio in the video above... I don't have any firsthand knowledge.
Last edited by mcomet; 03-19-2019 at 04:42 PM.
03-19-2019, 10:54 AM
#787
Let’s hope this wasn’t a factor in the Spyder mule that crashed in Germany.
03-19-2019, 11:29 AM
#789
A video of strut failure happening on a 911 gt3 991 was recently posted to Facebook as well now after hitting a pothole. So not just limited to GT4 or so it appears...
https://www.facebook.com/10000041957...490391?sfns=mo
https://www.facebook.com/10000041957...490391?sfns=mo
This may sound weird, but the fact 991 GT3's have the same issue, is in a way good news for GT4 owners, because there are a lot more GT3's than GT4's out there, and lowers the percentage of failures in theory. Still not an excuse, but it really is so rare that I am not going to lose sleep over it.
Good observation. The two sides are slightly different and maybe this points to a weak spot or a production failure. It would be interesting to know the production dates of the failed struts.
03-19-2019, 12:01 PM
#790
[QUOTE=Good observation. The two sides are slightly different and maybe this points to a weak spot or a production failure. It would be interesting to know the production dates of the failed struts.[/QUOTE]
The Scottish GT4 failure was right hand drive, of course. The strut failure on that car was the same side as the driver. So there must not be a perfect mirror imaging occurring when Porsche builds the right hand drive cars. It is more evidence to support the point if the assumption is the failure is limited to the right hand strut tower.
The Scottish GT4 failure was right hand drive, of course. The strut failure on that car was the same side as the driver. So there must not be a perfect mirror imaging occurring when Porsche builds the right hand drive cars. It is more evidence to support the point if the assumption is the failure is limited to the right hand strut tower.
03-20-2019, 11:40 PM
#792
Instructor
To balance out the sampling bias in this thread a bit, I hit the curb inside turn 6 at Laguna Seca HARD at speed a year and a half ago and have yet to have a strut tower failure (or bent rim for that matter).
03-21-2019, 12:06 AM
#793
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03-21-2019, 12:15 AM
#794
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03-21-2019, 11:13 AM
#795
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I wish you'd taken a photo of CS's damage. I'm interested to see if Porsche made any design changes on 718 CS towers, they had to have know 981's were having failures.