DIY suspension rebuild vs taking the car to Mayo?

[TheSt|G]

Start with the front, it's the easier end. If you feel stressed out doing it, farm out the rear.

[RFP]

This is an easy one for me. I live about five miles from Mayo's, and I've known Ed and Tom forever ( Well, since the late 1970s). So when I wanted to refresh the suspension of my '87 911 M491, there was no thought of doing it myself (and I'm a pretty competent "wrench"). Unless it's a financial decision, just take it to Mayo's... it will be a different car when you get it back.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by RFP

This is an easy one for me. I live about five miles from Mayo's, and I've known Ed and Tom forever ( Well, since the late 1970s).

Off topic...........

Late 80's was checking a 73 1/2 CIS 911 in Dallas. Had not even started cutting teeth on Porsche.

I called Stoddard Porsche (lived in Cleveland) and asked them if they were a real Porsche repair shop and not an independent. Swear to God.

Asked them if Porsches were expensive to rebuild. They said very. I asked who to go to in Dallas for a PPI. They said Mayo.

[Trakrat]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

You can do it. You just need to be patient, break down the project into smaller projects.

Look here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/726309-78-sc-elephant-racing-suspension-rebuild.html

Thank you for your thread...

I was going to tackle that same suspension refresh, but after reading over your posts... I realize I do not have the proper workspace or the proper tools to accomplish such a task.

I'll probably just send my parts out to Elephant to have them do the work and ship them back to me so that I can just install them.

[RSTarga]

Do you want to drive your car this summer?

[rollandburn]

I did full ER poly bronze myself, shocks, sway bars, rebuilt callipers and steering rack. Took a while but what I learned was worth more than I saved. The general rise in confidence and appreciation for the car was a nice surprise I hadn’t experienced taking my car to the shop. Go for it! =]


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[Jonesy78]

Originally Posted by RSTarga

Do you want to drive your car this summer?

This. Take it to Mayo.

[G450X]

I would replace everything that I was comfortable with replacing (and had the tools for) and send it to Mayo’s to double check my work and properly set up the suspension and perform a proper alignment, corner balance, etc...

Carefully read over replacement procedures so that you have a knowledge base going into it and refer to videos if necessary. If you get in over your head simply put things back together and take it to Mayo’s to sort.

One of the joys of older vehicles is the ability to actually work on them - versus the newer rolling computers on wheels...

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally Posted by Jonesy78

This. Take it to Mayo.

Well, the driving in the summer isn't actually that much of an issue since it is about a billion degrees in Texas right now and my car has non-functional AC.

I was originally planning on starting the project in the late fall and working through the winter but now have this option with Mayo.

I got their estimate and they estimated 20 shop hours instead of 15 so the cost went up a little. It is a bit over $2000 in labor. The parts cost is all the same as Elephant's prices.

[Ayles]

I did the whole thing myself last summer. Some of it is just plain hard work (removing old tie rods, rear torsion bars). Suspension bits have high torques (ball joints) and can be awkward to assemble (turbo tie rod boots). But generally I wouldn't say it was hard technically it was more difficult physically especially without a lift.

I say do it yourself over a couple weekends then take the car to Mayo to have the final ride height, align and corner balance done by a pro.