Lennym1984 Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Hi When I originally bought my car last year, the mechanic I took it to said that the coffin arm bushes were beginning to perish. With this in mind, I think I'm going to swap them out once the weather improves. So my questions are : 1. What are people's thoughts on the cheaper aftermarket Arms? Any issues with using these? Eg. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F282546939986 2. I'm probably going to swap the tuning forks at the same time. Should I also do the arb drop links? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the baron Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Eurocarparts are excellent quality and a reasonable price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyUK Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 Control arms are easy as are the roll bar bushes... drop links can be a nightmare as they tend to corrode into the wheel carrier. Plan to get the tracking done after as it will move significantly. If you are swapping the rear then mark the adjuster bolts so they can go back in roughly the same place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardjjs Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 I bought mine from Euro Car Parts Lots of special Offers with 35% offered at present and 50 % sometimes Go and chat the guy up at the counter he can often give you better prices REally depends on how long you are going to keep it Ive had no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 I haven't done control (coffin) arms ye but agree with the above re droplinks. Drivers side rear came out easy, passenger side didn't come out. I gave up in the end as the ball joints were fine. I still have the replacement for the next round. I was looking at the exact same control arms on eBay. If you do fit them, let me know what you think of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennym1984 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 1 minute ago, 986S04 said: I haven't done control (coffin) arms ye but agree with the above re droplinks. Drivers side rear came out easy, passenger side didn't come out. I gave up in the end as the ball joints were fine. I still have the replacement for the next round. I was looking at the exact same control arms on eBay. If you do fit them, let me know what you think of them. I actually ended up going with meyle control arms and tuning forks. They were a little more expensive but not unbearably so. I'll let you know how I get on when I fit them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Thanks. If I end up taking one for the team, I'll post my thoughts. When you get them off, I'll be interested to hear what the old ones were like too, which bits were worn (ball joint/centre bushe/rear bush). I am toying with the idea of a suspension upgrade & was wondering if I would replace the coffin/tuning fork arms at the time but everything is MOT positive at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennym1984 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 I'll let you know. I'm only really replacing them because the bushes are beginning to perish - I don't have any symptoms of failure yet - so mine may not be the best example. The tuning forks actually look fine but I figured that at 20 years old, it wouldn't hurt to refresh them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyUK Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 it's often impossible to find play in the bushings when the car is off the ground, the snooker ball "knock" when going over speed bumps or cobbles is often the only sign. I am very pleased with the change after fitting new arms.... Solid all round. Do the arb bushes too as it's an easy job for the extra £15. Be prepared to buy a 21mm ring spanner and possibly the retaining chassis bolts as they can weld themselves into the arm bushes and then need to be cut out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bally4563 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Secret with the drop links is to disconnect the bottoms first which takes the load off. In the best words of Ed China they can still be a bit of a faff! But with plenty of seize buster they will come out, have used brick acid cleaner in the past and left to soak, worst case plenty of heat and a bucket load of profanities tends to work !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_johnson Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 I've got my 986 booked in for a bit of a refresh early May. This includes changing front and rear Anti Roll Bar Bushes, upgrading the Coffin Arms to Eibachs Adjustables, replacing the top mounts and then going for a full geometry setup. I just hope I don't get told that the dampers are past their best, fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edc Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Just now, nick_johnson said: I've got my 986 booked in for a bit of a refresh early May. This includes changing front and rear Anti Roll Bar Bushes, upgrading the Coffin Arms to Eibachs Adjustables, replacing the top mounts and then going for a full geometry setup. I just hope I don't get told that the dampers are past their best, fingers crossed. How old and hoe many miles? The dampers will probably show up as ok and consistent with each other on a damper rig but if they are original and you have some decent mikeva ekn the car then you will definitely notice an improvement changing them. Do e it twice in 2 Boxsters now and clearly better each time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_ly Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 New tuning forks the best thing I've done to my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beicmynydd Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 I have just recived exchange pair from hartech, have fitted one side so far and it fitted perfectly with no play on the chasis side. They cost £75 each plus vat. Prior to this I fitted meyle arms and the where loose, the alloy bush was approx .5mm shorter thhan the original and when fully fitted I could feel a tiny bit of play. But when I moved them to the rear and there is no play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T911UK Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Very interested to know, why did you buy exchange repaired units when new ones are available cheaper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 21/03/2018 at 12:05 PM, james_ly said: New tuning forks the best thing I've done to my car. James, that's interesting. Was that an isolated swap out & if so was it because there were signs of failure? Had you already done the coffin arms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beicmynydd Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 T911Uk I read that the bushes they use have slighly harder rubber which can improve feel / handling. Also with my experiece with play in the aftermarket units it was worth the extra. Not driven yet as the car is still on axle stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_johnson Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I’ve got mine booked in with Centre Gravety for the 1st Week of May, for new ARB Bushes Front and Rear, Eibach Coffin Armes, top Mount Refresh and full geometry. Cannot bloody wait........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edc Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 Are they the Eibach adjustable arms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_ly Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 12 hours ago, 986S04 said: James, that's interesting. Was that an isolated swap out & if so was it because there were signs of failure? Had you already done the coffin arms? Yep it was the first suspension job I did, front and back in one day. It had just passed MOT with no advisories. The old parts had quite a bit of play, and it was making the snooker ball noise. The new parts really tightened up the handling and tramlining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Thanks again, I find I get a bit of tramlining on some roads so I will check those arms when I next have the wheels off. Cheers Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyUK Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 1 hour ago, 986S04 said: Thanks again, I find I get a bit of tramlining on some roads so I will check those arms when I next have the wheels off. Cheers Scott You will not find any play in the arms whilst fitted. If your getting the snooker ball knock over low speed cobbles or bumps then that's the sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy555 Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 The snooker ball knock is starting to annoy me on mine, is that caused by the tuning forks or the coffin arms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyUK Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 7 minutes ago, Eddy555 said: The snooker ball knock is starting to annoy me on mine, is that caused by the tuning forks or the coffin arms? Tuning forks.... But doing both and roll bushes will make a world of difference! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennym1984 Posted April 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 I finally got around to fitting my coffin arms and tuning forks yesterday and despite not thinking that they were bad before (I was only changing them out due to age) I am quite pleased with the improvement. Well worth doing and really easy provided you have a decent tool box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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