996 turbo, when does the suspension start to tire
Discussion
kazino said:
What milage does the suspension typically need replacing and how often do you do your geo?
We typically see issues around 60k mark or around 8 years. Geo we recommend every ore year but again it depends on your usage of the car etc.
Main things on suspension tend to be the lower control arms debond.
Ken
kazino said:
What milage does the suspension typically need replacing and how often do you do your geo?
Just over 100K miles on my 03 Turbo and suspension is just fine. In fact the other day I had a tech test drive the car after having it serviced and he reported steering, suspension, etc. felt just fine. (He also drove my 02 Boxster which I had in at the same time for a new headlight bulb and reported it felt fine in all departments, and it has 261K miles on its original running gear. The only thing that I have had to replace is the CV boots which finally cracked.)(I know of a guy who owns a 996 Turbo and has covered over 360K miles in his car and has not have do much (if anything) to his car's suspension/steering hardware.)
If you are not able to judge the suspension/steering yourself have some knowledgeable tech test drive your car once in awhile and while the car is there have it placed on a lift and the suspension/steering/struts checked for signs of distress or in the case of the struts for leaks.
For alignment I go by the condition of the old tires when I have new tires installed. If the tire wear is even across the tread face and side to side (the rears wear out twice as fast as the fronts so you can't expect even tire wear front to back) and the car steers ok without any pulling or other signs of alignment issues I don't bother. My experience is once the alignment is set up right and as long as I don't even nudge curbs with the front or rear tires when parking the car or cut a turn too sharp and run a rear (or even a front) tire/wheel over a curb when turning into or out of a driveway the alignment stays good.
I avoid whenever possible potholes too but sometimes one jumps in front of the car -- not often but gee their number goes up every day... -- but so far not even hitting a pothole has affected the car's alignment. Hit one so hard in the Boxster one night I thought the wheel collapsed but not even the tire was damaged.
kazino said:
My left rear tyre is scrubbing on the wheels arch (but not the right rear), have had the arch rolled a little (as it had been deformed from the rubbing) but it still hits it sometimes.
Wheels are cargraphic racing wheels with 305 25 19 pirelli tyres on (brand new set).
There should be no contact of the tires with any part of the car as long as the wheel/tire sizes are consistent with what Porsche recognizes will fit.Wheels are cargraphic racing wheels with 305 25 19 pirelli tyres on (brand new set).
Aftermarket wheels scare me as there can be a problem with non-standard/excessive offsets or even bad wheels with the right offset stamped but the wrong offset nonetheless. (Manufacturing defect.)
In your car's case I'd double check the wheel/tires to be sure they are ok to use and are nominally the right size and then have the car's steering/suspension inspected by a qualified tech. There may be a worn out/failed/bent component that accounts for the rubbing. Have the tech double check the wheel offset too.
kazino said:
Will have that checked out. I did ask parr before I bought the wheels and they said they would go on fine. If it were the suspension what parts should I have the tech guys look at that could cause such an issue.
Well, to put is gently if you take the car to a shop that requires you tell the techs what to look for, where to look, you've picked the wrong shop.The techs -- if they are worthy of being called that and working on your Porsche -- will know what to do.
They'll eye ball the car for obvious signs of misalignment between the front and rear tires, signs of what I refer to as crabbing where the rear tires do not follow the imaginary tracks of the front tires.
They'll look for signs of tire scrubbing.
They'll look for the body offset to far to one side or the other.
They might want to put the car on alignment rack to double check this is within spec and too look for signs the alignment was used to "straighten" a bent car. More on this below...
They'll then get the car in the air and check for any signs of some bushing being worn out, any damage, or because I do not know the history of your car even signs of previous accident damage and subsequent sub-par repair, which can have the car's alignment screwy to compensate for a bent car or bent subcomponents.
In short they'll look for anything that can explain the rubbing.
Assuming the rubbing is not normal. I have to mention this since I do not know just how close large/wide and approved wheel/tire combinations bring the tires to the body/fender lip.
I do not know how close to ideal the factory builds these cars and these openings. My observation and from what I've been told is Porsche is one of the best auto makers in this reqard, adhering to very high levels of fit in these (and in fact all) areas.
But there are tolerances and you may just have a car that is a bit off one dimension and a bit off in another dimension and these all add up to where your car has just a tiny bit less clearance than what is normal. And the rubbing arises from this.
Thanks Rockster, noted 
Rockster said:
Well, to put is gently if you take the car to a shop that requires you tell the techs what to look for, where to look, you've picked the wrong shop.
The techs -- if they are worthy of being called that and working on your Porsche -- will know what to do.
They'll eye ball the car for obvious signs of misalignment between the front and rear tires, signs of what I refer to as crabbing where the rear tires do not follow the imaginary tracks of the front tires.
They'll look for signs of tire scrubbing.
They'll look for the body offset to far to one side or the other.
They might want to put the car on alignment rack to double check this is within spec and too look for signs the alignment was used to "straighten" a bent car. More on this below...
They'll then get the car in the air and check for any signs of some bushing being worn out, any damage, or because I do not know the history of your car even signs of previous accident damage and subsequent sub-par repair, which can have the car's alignment screwy to compensate for a bent car or bent subcomponents.
In short they'll look for anything that can explain the rubbing.
Assuming the rubbing is not normal. I have to mention this since I do not know just how close large/wide and approved wheel/tire combinations bring the tires to the body/fender lip.
I do not know how close to ideal the factory builds these cars and these openings. My observation and from what I've been told is Porsche is one of the best auto makers in this reqard, adhering to very high levels of fit in these (and in fact all) areas.
But there are tolerances and you may just have a car that is a bit off one dimension and a bit off in another dimension and these all add up to where your car has just a tiny bit less clearance than what is normal. And the rubbing arises from this.
The techs -- if they are worthy of being called that and working on your Porsche -- will know what to do.
They'll eye ball the car for obvious signs of misalignment between the front and rear tires, signs of what I refer to as crabbing where the rear tires do not follow the imaginary tracks of the front tires.
They'll look for signs of tire scrubbing.
They'll look for the body offset to far to one side or the other.
They might want to put the car on alignment rack to double check this is within spec and too look for signs the alignment was used to "straighten" a bent car. More on this below...
They'll then get the car in the air and check for any signs of some bushing being worn out, any damage, or because I do not know the history of your car even signs of previous accident damage and subsequent sub-par repair, which can have the car's alignment screwy to compensate for a bent car or bent subcomponents.
In short they'll look for anything that can explain the rubbing.
Assuming the rubbing is not normal. I have to mention this since I do not know just how close large/wide and approved wheel/tire combinations bring the tires to the body/fender lip.
I do not know how close to ideal the factory builds these cars and these openings. My observation and from what I've been told is Porsche is one of the best auto makers in this reqard, adhering to very high levels of fit in these (and in fact all) areas.
But there are tolerances and you may just have a car that is a bit off one dimension and a bit off in another dimension and these all add up to where your car has just a tiny bit less clearance than what is normal. And the rubbing arises from this.
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