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HarryD HarryD is online now
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: What Front Suspension Work Should I do this Winter?

Quote:
Originally posted by IAN
I have a 72 911 T 2.4 MFI. The car is stock and I'm interested in keeping it that way. I don't race on the track and don't want to trick it out like or make it handle like a go-cart either. Just keep it stock with the relevant upgrages.

Last winter I pulled the engine and put in a new clutch, rear shocks, added rocker shaft seals, sonically cleaned the oil cooler, cleaned/re-packed CV joints, replaced Chain ramps and a bunch of other items.

It is winter time again and I want to work on the front suspension.

I'm thinking of doing:
1) Front shocks- I have KYB's that were replaced 10 years ago
2) Ball joints? how much of a PIA? Worth doing??
3) Turbo Tie Rods-? worth or not? I hear different things???
4) Wheel bearings? Worth doing?
5) Bushings? Which ones? How hard??
6) Anything else while I'm in there???


Thanks.

Ian
Hi Ian,

I went through the same thing last year here in Portland. PWD72S also refreshed his suspension last year to a nice street ride. You might want to look him up as well to see what he had done.

My $0.02. If you are doing suspension work, do the entire car to only pay for the alignment/corner balance once.

Shocks-Most likely an upggrade all the way around to Bilstiens would be an improvement.

Ball Joints-Unless worn, why bother?

Turbo Tie Rods-If your tie rods are shot, the extra $ to upgrade to turbos are worth it but you will not notice much of a change. If yours are good, leave them alone.

Wheel Bearings-If bad replace, if not, repack and party on.

Bushings-For a street car, ride comfort is the primary concern. Chances are the rears are (near) dead unless they were replaced in the last 20-30,000 miles. For the rears, factory rubber for the springplates or neatrix. Stay away from the hard urethane. For the fronts, if they are not dead, don;t touch them. The only choices you have are hard urethane, polybronze or new a-arms. Unless you have 200,000+ miles, chances are they still have some life left. If you have to repalce them, polybronze is the most DIY friendly.

Other things-Plan on a good alignment/corner balance. Having the car lowered a tad would also be a good thing to improve the fun factor. Be sure you go to a shop that specializes in Porsches for this so they know what they are doing. If there is a race shop near you that sets up Posches, I would suggest you check them out. They should know more than the shops that do street cars about how to get you set up. I had a local race shop do my alignment etc and am very happy with what they did. The cost was about the same as any other competent shop in the area and I got the expertise of a former Le Mans Crew Chief of the year.

For all these upgrades, do a search to get more info.

Good luck.
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1970 VW Sunroof Bus - "The Magic Bus"
1971 Jaguar XKE 2+2 V12 Coupe - {insert name here}
1973.5 911T Targa - "Smokey"
2020 MB E350 4Matic

Last edited by HarryD; 11-20-2005 at 01:05 PM..
Old 11-20-2005, 12:59 PM
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