2007 2.7
Cayman
with 128k DD miles. I've had a clunk for 6 months that sounds when at slow speed going over small bumps or just uneven surfaces. I had replaced worn out lower control arms and tie rod ends about the same time as the clunk appeared so I could rule out those things. I finally did a test with the car on stands and a long bar under the tire and I could see and feel the play where the sway bar was loose inside the bushing. I bought stock bushings and have been procrastinating on doing the job because I thought it would be hard.
Super easy job! Front on Jack stands, wheels off, center front tray removed, little plastic wing deflectors removed from suspension forward strut and the two bolts on each side removed from the bushing nest. I pried the top plate up and basically bent it without loosening the front fastener which I couldn't even see. It's just a stamped steel part and it didn't hurt it. I then pried the sway bar up and out of its nest with a long screwdriver and pulled the old bushing out with big needle nose pliers. The bushings are split so they come off the bar. I lubed the new bushings with
lithium
grease per something I read here or elsewhere and stuffed them in. I could tell they were better because they took up more room and had to be squeezed down with the bolts.
Took a test drive and clunk be gone!
Edit: I bought the bushings from the local
Porsche
dealer for $27 each. I took a couple pics but there's not much to see. My only fears were that the coolant hose brackets were going to be in the way or something else would require going in deeper but that was not the case. Everything is visible and assessable to do just the bushings. C.
Excellent! Nice work diagnosing and repairing. :banana:
its great you got yours sorted - I know how distracting that clunking can be.
do you have any pics and how much do those bushings cost?
That's interesting.
I've had the clunk in my 13
Boxster S
for some time now, and I keep meaning to drop it off and get it looked at. (Of course I have let it slip past the warranty point.)
A previous Planet 9 member said he had his clunk repaired and was told it was the front top strut bearing plate. I wonder if both are partly responsible?
dannyboy22 - from the threads I've read on p9 (thank you P9'ers sharing their experiences) on suspension noises, it could be the lower control arms, bushings (there are quite a few including those on the support/trailing arms) and or struts and bearings. This of course excludes the absorbers and springs themselves.
Thread resurrection!
I had my 987 up in the air yesterday and looked at this job. When you prise the sway bar upwards out of the nest to remove the old bushes then it bumps into a plastic coolant pipe before it gets very high. Can you still remove the old bushes without needing to remove the coolant pipe? I looked at it and thought there wasn't enough space ... has anyone else had this problem?
Thanks!
I need to try this on my 987. Did the reads already but the front seem more involved so I’ve been putting it off.
I changed front sway bar bushing but clunk is still there.
I changed the lower control arm link and clunk over bumps is gone!
