Rear wheels not even

I have noticed that my rear wheels do not line up with the body evenly. My left rear sticks about and inch out farther than my rear right. Anyone have a similar issue and/or ideas why it may be? Dealer says that the car was built that way, I am having trouble believing that.

Do you have wheel spacers and one is not on? Is the front wheel mounted on the back? Is this an actual measurement or just judging it visually (Porsches sometimes fool you with an optical illusion when viewed from the rear)? Is this a new car? Do you have photos? One inch doesn't make a lot of sense to me despite your dealers claim.

Nonsense. When Porsches were hand assembled there were build variations from side to side, but nothing approaching an inch that I've ever heard. With the current robotics I doubt the variations are even a small fraction of that. Assuming it's not something obvious like a spacer as SF suggested, or a damaged component, it may be an alignment issue since alignments from the factory may be way out of spec from all the bumping, bouncing & jostling during transport. Have your dealer put it on an alignment rack where any differences can be measured.

I would say that a one inch difference from one side to the other is far too much. I do own 2 cars that are about 1/4 inch tighter on the right rear. This is like the body was pushed over toward the left side on the chasis. I asked 2 major guys with Porsche what that was all about and they had no answer for me. On the Turbo, I added a 15mm spacer on the right side and a 21mm spacer to the left side so that the wheels were visually in the same place on each side. I have installed the same spacer sizes on other 993 Turbos.

Ralph The 993 was largely hand assembled & slight side to side variations in such things as fender height & panel alignments are the rule rather than the exception. We humans are far less precise (& take more coffee breaks) than the assembly robots that replaced us on the line.

I do have spacers and I checked their width and they are both on. The wheels are the same size and I have done an allignment with toe and camber all going into spec. I do think that the car was built this way and having the spacers on may have brought it to my attention. I asked porsche about it and they have no explanation, all I get is "well it could have been built that way." Concerning what ralph said, isn't it a bad idea to be mounting different size spacers?

I think Its an alignment issue, cant believe it would leave the factory like that one inch!?

Measure from the transaxle centerline out to both sides to see if there is a variation there, in the body, or in the driveline mounting in the body. Then go from there on your individual offsets, mounting points , etc. There has to be a dimensional clue in there somewhere. Any optical illusion is also magnified the more you drink.

I will check that, thanks gtscayman. Also bringing my car in to check alignment.

Are those aftermarket wheel spacers or factory? If aftermarket what size? If you haven't done so you might want to pull the offending wheel and check the installation since you already checked the size. It probably is alignment but checking stuff before getting to the dealer can save some $.

Aerocru, have your dealer show you another new car on his lot that exhibits the same difference that you have...just to verify his statement, that it was "built that way"...

"Built that way." or "They all do that." is a brush off. Like Crocster said, take a look at other new cars on the lot and see if they have the same problem.

Just checked my car with a straight edge. The rear wheels are the same in both "toe in" and "camber", relative to the body, within 1/16" or less. One inch is so extreme that it is possible to suspect the fender rather than the suspension. Possibility: there was shipping damage that was repaired to look good but the fender wheel opening is actually not out far enough. Incidentally, while some factory workers may take coffee breaks, some also take ( Porsche -provided) beer breaks. One supposes this is not allowed to affect the work. (Probably not true in Finland anyway. Don't know, have only seen Zuffenhausen)

Stories that don't have endings aren't nice. What was the outcome?

I just got my cayman back today from the third shop that I took it to and they determined that the lower control arm was bent where it met with the knuckle. They replaced it and now the rear wheels are pretty even. Pretty excited that this was fixed before I head up to Watkins Glen. Thanks guys for your ideas

I would go back to those who either couldn't find anything wrong or who dissed you and tell them what appears to be the only qualified shop found. I can't believe the first couple didn't clue in - I'd be taking them off my shopping list. Good to hear your German rocket is ok now! Maybe it was just 'optimized' at the factory for clockwise circuits!

I love it when a story has a happy ending! I'm glad that your problem is solved.

I did actually return to the porsche dealership that told me it was prob. built that way and told them that the control arm was bent. His response was "oh man, I am surprised we didnt catch that." I know we are not suppose to bad mouth people here, but the dealerships on Long Island are not what is expected of a porsche dealership. From personal experience all they care about it making money and doing the least amount of work possible. Also, when it comes to parts, they quote prices way above normal, e.g. lower control arm from dealer $500.00, yet from parts department online $291.00. I think the reason why they do business this way is because a lot of the people here who own porsches do not really know much about cars and are also wealthy individuals, so why not overcharge when dealing with ignorance.

Hello all! This is my first post on the forum. Just doing a little preliminary research. Was the bent control arm a warranty fix? Was the car delivered that way? Just wondering since you mentioned the part price(s). Thanks in advance. Markus

It is a shame you had to go through so much trouble for something so simple. A new porsche can be 1/4 inch off pretty easily but 1 inch is way wrong and they should have know that. I also wish to keep the facts somewhat correct as MSRP for a PORSCHE lower control arm in the rear is $364 most stores offer a PCA discount of 10-15% so it is well worth it to buy a genuine part. That said i would talk to another dealer in your area for all future needs. try stores that are smaller or porsche only you will get better service from them

ATL Markus, Welcome to the site. The part was not under warranty since I did hit a pothole. alex, I get my prices from Porsche of Huntington Racing Porsche | Huntington Station - Hempstead - Oyster Bay | New Used - Preowned Porsche Dealership | New York . That may be the reason our numbers do not match.

i dont know the guys from huntington but a search on the parts dept shows the same porsche price and evan aplies aplicable discounts(MSRP 364 selling price 328) check it out http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214719&chapter=ERQ6925&appSectionid=2788&groupid=2523&subgroupid=2527&make=29&model=Cayman&year=2007&catalogid=2