964 C4 on bumpy Michigan Roads
 

This may be a dumb question but I'm a 911 novice - so please don't get impatient with me :confused:

I have a 91 C4 cab that I love. Bought in Texas last spring. I then got relocated to Michigan. Michigan roads are pot-holed and bumpy as heck and the firm communicative ride I loved in Texas is now pure rattle and roll.

Question (and this may be the dumb one!) should I be making any mods to the suspension/shocks? Or is the price one pays?

Thanks

How many miles? After a certain amount of time and miles the shocks will just wear out and that could be contributing to the rough ride.

Might be a good time to upgrade the suspension. :eek:

E. J.

You might also want to check your wheel bearings. They can loosen up after auto-x's and de's so I'm sure pot holes will do the same thing.

Pete

She has done 65k - I cannot see from the history I have that she has had new shocks - so I'll have it checked out. Any recommendations as to what to replace them with would be welcomed - standard or other???

Many thanks for replying!

If you're going to the track and auto-x, you might want to consider a full coil over suspension. Any 964 vendor should know the options.

I would also check the wheel bearings.

With 65 miles, it might be time for new ones.

Good luck,

E. J.

A C2 does have a "full coil over suspension", stock.

Usually it's the small things that wear out. The Koni shocks on my '69 were fine in '94.

Again, wheel bearings and check your alignment.

Pete

Pete, don't want to start an issue, but that is not what I meant by 'full coil over suspension'. Yes of course the 964 has a coil over suspension by design, the coil springs are 'over' or around the shocks. What I meant is a full aftermarket coil over system designed for the street and track rather than just replacing a faulty shock or even changing the springs. I meant that he should consider get get a whole suspension system.

I still agree that it could be a wheel bearing.

E. J.

E.J.

Not a problem.

I agree if one was to Auto-X, DE, or RR on a regular basis the aftermarket has all kinds of cool stuff to go even faster.

I had a similar problem with my '87 Targa and the first shop I went to recommended: new Koni Yellow shocks, a cambermeister, bushings, a chip and a Bursh muffler for a bad wandering problem I had at highway speeds. I went to a different shop and the problem was loose wheel bearings. The solution was about $250 vs. $2500. Eventually the car ended up with all of the above, and then some.

I just think it is best to start small and work up. Easier on the checkbook.

Best,

Pete

I notice that most of the people that replied to this post come from states that don't have frost heave, etc. As a Chicago native who has also driven in Michigan and Wisconsin, I am going to suggest that there may be nothing wrong with your car. You say "rattle and roll" - rattle in the suspension isn't good, but if you just mean bone jarring and rattles everything in the car (including the occupants), I think that's the nature of the beast.

Hello

I guess you car isn´t in stock condition. ( lowered ).

The stock 964 are capable to deal with bad roadconditions,
yet for some States you need a SUV ;)

Grüsse

Hello Roland,
My car is stock, and it handles the roads great in that it always keeps a firm grip on the pavement regardless of the road condition. It never jumps sideways over bumps around a curve, etc. And I know that the 964 is more comfortable than earlier 911s, but if you are not used to driving on roads with washboards in the pavement and bumps the size of large turtles caused by poorly patched potholes, it reminds you that you are in a sports car and not a luxury sedan.
Personally, I love it.
G'day
Tom

Hello

I see the point, the ride is still "firm". Porsche had softer and slight higher combinations on special costumer request but they will not perform like people would like to have a Sportscar ( To much roll ).

Be sure Porsche has testet the worst roads from the worlds in natury and in copy on hydropulsing machines.
I had the oportuntiy to drive several Porsche in the new german regions and be assured they had been as worse as yours ( Can´t beleive any of the US states could have worser streets then GDR or the CCCP, who somtimes where just untouched prewar streets ( maybe WW1 ) ).

The 964 will have a better ride if you drive faster ;) then it will jump from pothole to pothole like a eleven dancer.

A luxorysedan has much more wheelbase and a comfort orientatet supension wich does also is more remote.

Grüsse

I'm also a Chicagoan and after buying my car my first question to the first Porsche owner I met was "Are my shocks bad?" I was very new to the way a firm suspension feels on bad roads, and seriously thought there was a problem. His reply was pretty much the same as Roland's. In fact, that guy's car was set up for DE and auto-x and had even firmer suspension than mine! The combination of short wheelbase, light weight, and firm suspension add up to a jarring ride unless you're on well-maintained roads. As long as your suspension components aren't rattling or clacking, you're cool.

This is a big part of why I use the Rolls-Royce as my daily driver. With it's 120" wheelbase, soft suspension, and weight (~2 times that of my 911 SC) it's much more comfortable on roads with potholes and construction problems. Of course, I have to slow to to 15mph for turns I take at 50 in the Porsche :)

Emanuel

Hey - just a note to say how grateful I am for the postings - I'm going to have the bearings and suspension checked out but my gut feeling is that the Michigan roads are like the Chicago roads Emanuel and Tom mention and that the ride is the pay-off for the directness that Roland likes (ands I do to).

Incidentally most of the rattles come from the cabriolet frame - it was never up in Texas and is giving me h*** for the weather here!

Thanks again