Fitting new suspension parts.

[el 3.2S]

I am pretty sure my 2000 S model with about 90,000 miles is still using all its original M030 suspension parts. It seems to mostly be all working fine, except for some noises from the front when going over speed bumps and the front end kind of not feeling very planted, or wandering a bit, at motorway speeds.

I wonder if these symptoms may improve with fitting new front lower control arms and tuning forks? From looking at videos, the fitment looks easy enough for diy at home?

I found these Spyder Performance parts on ebay for a fairly decent price. I will likely buy this, or something similar, if there is a chance of it improving things? Just wondered what other people's thoughts were?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333598921955?fits=Car+Make%3APorsche|Model%3ABoxster&hash=item4dac0b94e3%3Ag%3ARv0AAOSwfxRevaRf&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4MxtTYwjKLPBNolsUOpNXNPrBVG9l3NclE5olePd0WAWL9V1vLhfO%2Bk97hBSW3UC9oiWyu9UKA6Gw%2BuGpZjBjuLil4syVvhKlM8Q5xcNORzXIPzMpyecloKfxaj1dNiwhTBu20Z9tZqALXCj6byLastCHngQdSUEXKl6enYbN6UrhSnEny%2BKYjtIHS%2BVO4Y1QJ3JeeCi25FzoNsy3i9G1Bf2ZMek%2FLN0ArOIjV0t0d8zNAuA4rRsg50ZOXjlXBYetQZFXTuxvQr02qEQLSguQ%2BzFarvfrPYgcbQp5xcSWepZ|tkp%3ABk9SR_bE98TnYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3

 

Strange, that link shows £297 but they were £247 when I looked before?

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by el 3.2S

[Menoporsche]

You will get lots of support here for replacing suspension at 90k, and you’ll notice it after. 

[½cwt]

1 hour ago, Menoporsche said:

You will get lots of support here for replacing suspension at 90k, and you’ll notice it after. 

+1 

@el 3.2S You mention the front, but little knocks rattles and shakes are all pretty much down to all the suspension being worn joints or tired/failing rubber bushes.  I though my rear tuning forks were OK but the final knocks didn't go until they were renewed as well a few months after all the rest was done.  If you get top mounts done and even inner and outer tack rods, it really transforms and tightened up the car way more than you'd believe.

Spyder Performance are used by a lot of people on here.  If you need shocks too, Koni Special Active go with standard and M030 springs.

Are you thinking DIY or getting it done for you.  Either way Autodoc are a good source for parts.  Keep an eye on their discount rate.  The problem is to do it all properly in one go, you are looking at £1500 in parts alone!

[jonogt6]

3 hours ago, el 3.2S said:

I am pretty sure my 2000 S model with about 90,000 miles is still using all its original M030 suspension parts. It seems to mostly be all working fine, except for some noises from the front when going over speed bumps and the front end kind of not feeling very planted, or wandering a bit, at motorway speeds.

I wonder if these symptoms may improve with fitting new front lower control arms and tuning forks? From looking at videos, the fitment looks easy enough for diy at home?

I found these Spyder Performance parts on ebay for a fairly decent price. I will likely buy this, or something similar, if there is a chance of it improving things? Just wondered what other people's thoughts were?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333598921955?fits=Car+Make%3APorsche|Model%3ABoxster&hash=item4dac0b94e3%3Ag%3ARv0AAOSwfxRevaRf&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4MxtTYwjKLPBNolsUOpNXNPrBVG9l3NclE5olePd0WAWL9V1vLhfO%2Bk97hBSW3UC9oiWyu9UKA6Gw%2BuGpZjBjuLil4syVvhKlM8Q5xcNORzXIPzMpyecloKfxaj1dNiwhTBu20Z9tZqALXCj6byLastCHngQdSUEXKl6enYbN6UrhSnEny%2BKYjtIHS%2BVO4Y1QJ3JeeCi25FzoNsy3i9G1Bf2ZMek%2FLN0ArOIjV0t0d8zNAuA4rRsg50ZOXjlXBYetQZFXTuxvQr02qEQLSguQ%2BzFarvfrPYgcbQp5xcSWepZ|tkp%3ABk9SR_bE98TnYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3

 

Strange, that link shows £297 but they were £247 when I looked before?

 

 

 

 

That's inflation for ya!

[el 3.2S]

3 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

You will get lots of support here for replacing suspension at 90k, and you’ll notice it after. 

Yes, I guess 23 years of bumping around the roads is quite some punishment for all the joints etc.

1 hour ago, ½cwt said:

+1 

@el 3.2S You mention the front, but little knocks rattles and shakes are all pretty much down to all the suspension being worn joints or tired/failing rubber bushes.  I though my rear tuning forks were OK but the final knocks didn't go until they were renewed as well a few months after all the rest was done.  If you get top mounts done and even inner and outer tack rods, it really transforms and tightened up the car way more than you'd believe.

Spyder Performance are used by a lot of people on here.  If you need shocks too, Koni Special Active go with standard and M030 springs.

Are you thinking DIY or getting it done for you.  Either way Autodoc are a good source for parts.  Keep an eye on their discount rate.  The problem is to do it all properly in one go, you are looking at £1500 in parts alone!

Thanks for that, I would plan to just do the front tuning forks and lower arms in the first instance and see what difference that makes. I think I can do these myself. Can have a look at the track rods too. Will then assess and see if more needs to be done.

1 hour ago, jonogt6 said:

That's inflation for ya!

Worst I have seen!

[½cwt]

A set of coffin arms and tuning forks for the front will certainly sharpen it up and quieten it down a bit.  Fairly straight forward DIY.  PM me if you want a table of torque settings.

Edited April 1, 2023 by ½cwt

[el 3.2S]

1 hour ago, ½cwt said:

A set of coffin arms and tuning forks for the front will certainly sharpen it up and quieten it down a bit.  Fairly straight forward DIY.  PM me if you want a table of torque settings.

Many thanks, yes please send me the torque settings. 

Have just ordered these drop links, only one set left now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151186152936?fits=Plat_Gen%3A986|Model%3ABoxster&epid=1180216008&hash=item2333659de8%3Ag%3AHfIAAOSwDXFcYtMN&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8OifY0odZT1cUMZZUFA2xX9juHijZ207mboGOa6nJkt%2FrIJJIWroSiXabNnAXk8mvvhjP6n0xoEzgGr7RAzoOUtOuwIQSJVigAqUZdpVYlkjcpOdu4LupSZvLAl8WGcF94hBjz%2FOjlkCdzK1ElaeDra4kKT8tVb81toSWP%2BTyIvEDU%2FYg5YG5ebD9v%2BUDqKBhg%2FcLM1Wucf8rDfu%2FQdtB7Borcg62u5l2yHHK7F%2B4Iuz3n%2FMS0gc695a1vA4ULb1KLBldB478tSQmun2hlZ%2FNOruOANlBnmWGyzQrmYIdcNkbC7Hh481aExIwg4t%2FBGyEQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9KC2trnYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3

 

[½cwt]

9 minutes ago, el 3.2S said:

Many thanks, yes please send me the torque settings. 

Have just ordered these drop links, only one set left now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151186152936?fits=Plat_Gen%3A986|Model%3ABoxster&epid=1180216008&hash=item2333659de8%3Ag%3AHfIAAOSwDXFcYtMN&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8OifY0odZT1cUMZZUFA2xX9juHijZ207mboGOa6nJkt%2FrIJJIWroSiXabNnAXk8mvvhjP6n0xoEzgGr7RAzoOUtOuwIQSJVigAqUZdpVYlkjcpOdu4LupSZvLAl8WGcF94hBjz%2FOjlkCdzK1ElaeDra4kKT8tVb81toSWP%2BTyIvEDU%2FYg5YG5ebD9v%2BUDqKBhg%2FcLM1Wucf8rDfu%2FQdtB7Borcg62u5l2yHHK7F%2B4Iuz3n%2FMS0gc695a1vA4ULb1KLBldB478tSQmun2hlZ%2FNOruOANlBnmWGyzQrmYIdcNkbC7Hh481aExIwg4t%2FBGyEQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9KC2trnYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3

 

That's a good price for Meyle or TRW (whicha re OE).  I bought cheap and ended up buying twice on droplinks.  PM on its way, or it would be if you could receive messages....

[el 3.2S]

Yes, seems a good deal for a decent brand.

I have deleted several messages, maybe the pm works now?

[DaveyP]

I recently did a suspension refresh on mine. Makes a huge difference. 

I used the same Spyder arms you posted. They're good quality, and the guys are helpful if you've got any questions too.

Might be worth checking their website to compare prices to the eBay ads.

Most important thing is to get it set up properly afterwards. 

[el 3.2S]

4 hours ago, DaveyP said:

I recently did a suspension refresh on mine. Makes a huge difference. 

I used the same Spyder arms you posted. They're good quality, and the guys are helpful if you've got any questions too.

Might be worth checking their website to compare prices to the eBay ads.

Most important thing is to get it set up properly afterwards. 

Thanks for the info, I will check out their website.

 

[Nobbie]

Something I noticed on mine before renewing the suspension was that the car felt very floaty on fast country roads as the dampers were really not doing much and I was basically just bouncing along on the springs with little damping going on. Mine had done 140k at that point though. I think it’s more the squeeks and rattles you remove by changing the arms, plus improve steering precision.

[Menoporsche]

I’d wonder about doing dampers at the same time then, while everything is undone, fasteners are fresh, then you only have to recalibrate tracking etc once. 

[½cwt]

2 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

I’d wonder about doing dampers at the same time then, while everything is undone, fasteners are fresh, then you only have to recalibrate tracking etc once. 

It does add another £300 or so to each end of the car though even with the Koni Special Active (well regarded), more like £400 if you go Bilstein B4 (OE) and only doing the dampers on one axle at a time could make the car feel very odd with a nice well damped front end and a floaty (comparatively) rear end.

[½cwt]

4 hours ago, el 3.2S said:

Thanks for the info, I will check out their website.

 

By the way if you are doing drop links beware the corroded in bolts that run through the uprights.  A lot of time and some heat will go into removing these, you just have to persevere getting them turning and then working then out.  Allow an hour or more for your first one and then you are into 30 or 45 mins a corner once you have sussed out what works.

[el 3.2S]

Oh dear, I am detecting some possible budget creep here. The youtube videos I initially watched, did not mention shock absorbers or alignment!

[½cwt]

1 hour ago, el 3.2S said:

Oh dear, I am detecting some possible budget creep here. The youtube videos I initially watched, did not mention shock absorbers or alignment!

Alignment is only typically £70 in the UK, not sure about Spain, for a regular tyre centre with a Hunter setup.  Shocks is a factor of 10 more and a whole load of your or someone else's labour!  The components you intend to change will make a difference, however the full works is a transformation!  IF you are doing it yourself spreading the cost is easier even if you have to repeat some dis-assembly work every few months to do the next step.