Suspension Components

[Spuggy]

Hi friends.  I want to replace the front coffin arms, tunings forks and associated bolts on my 98 2.5 986.  I have priced the items on the Spyder Perfomance website and they're around £330.   Has anyone got any other suggestions?  Some eBay parts are a lot less but I don't know about their quality etc.  You advice is always welcome.

Best wishes

 

Steve

[edc]

I would stick to a decent OEM or a known good supplier. Dean at Spyder uses Meyle to manufacture the suspension arms. 

[Liberty]

You could download the meyle app to get the part numbers and Google but Spyder shouldn't be far out on price.

[Baldrick]

+1 for Spyder. A 986 with sorted suspension is a lovely thing.

[RalphyBMW]

There’s a good chance the bolts might not need replacing.

If they do, try your local OPC

[½cwt]

All of the suspension arms on mine are now Spyder except the rear tuning forks which are TRW.  All went together with no problems and seem to be good quality parts, this is first hand as I did the work myself.  Not sure you'll get arms that are known to be OK anywhere else for less money.  You could of course go to Porsche and pay over £150 for just one coffin arm!

The only problems I had on the front end was with getting the drop link bolts out which is very common.  On the rear all for of the eccentric bolts needed replacing as they ahs seized into the alloy bushes and were chemically welded in.  Drop links were also seized on the rear. All other bolts were re used.

If you are planning to do the work yourself there is lots of info and advice on here.  Also PM me for torque settings if you need it.

[Spuggy]

Thanks friends.  I will purchase from Spyder.  I am not planning to do this myself.  I have a really competent mechanic friend but I didnt want the job to be held up by any snapped bolts etc.  Your advice is as good as I expected it to be.  Steve

[½cwt]

58 minutes ago, Spuggy said:

Thanks friends.  I will purchase from Spyder.  I am not planning to do this myself.  I have a really competent mechanic friend but I didn't want the job to be held up by any snapped bolts etc.  Your advice is as good as I expected it to be.  Steve

Drop link bolts are the biggest hassle.  Your competent mechanic will likely need some heat and if he has a powerful impact driver he should make short work of it.  They will not just drift out.  With the rear eccentric bolts, if they are seized, they are seized.  Tell him to just cut them as soon as he finds out as the rubber bushes absorb any impact driver hits.  They are about £10 each from Porsche (cheapest source), up issued part numbers are to a 997 part number, one required of each on each side:

99733121702 – Eccentric Screw (83mm)

99733121703 – Eccentric Screw (100mm)

Edited January 20, 2023 by ½cwt

[Sup8man7]

I replaced everything last year with all of spyders arms, though had to get the xenon levelling arms from porsche and droplinks from autodoc, along with koni yellows and h&r springs. 

It's a night and day difference and I've been more than happy with the quality of the spyder performance parts. 

[Menoporsche]

Wasn’t there something about cutting through the arms with a recip saw?

[½cwt]

7 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

Wasn’t there something about cutting through the arms with a recip saw?

You can do this, it gives a bit better access to the bolt, but TBH I found enough space to use a recip saw once I'd freed off the nut and eccentric washer to be able to waggle the bolt and arm to a position where I could cut without causing other damage.  If you are using a cutting disc it may be necessary to make space for the grinder to get in there.