Suspension Refresh Required

Hi All, I have a 2002 C4S manual, 68,000 miles. It is starting to feel less sharp, and is noisy over small bumps, ribbed surfaces. I have been reading the OEM vs Ohlins info. I am sure that I would stick at OEM, for my limited skills! My issue is that I do not know what needs to be fixed or replaced, e.g. coffin arms, ARB's etc. I live in Herts, is there a good suspension specialist in North London/Herts/Beds? Or do I take it to my Indy? Thanks Paul

You could have a chat with JAZ, based in St Albans. Good outfit and know their stuff. West London you have Porsche Torque, used and regarded highly by many on here.

replaced my set up not that long ago...had M030 kit from factory so replaced like for like. You can pick up the full kit including the additional parts you'll need for around £1400 give or take. Comes with: front and rear struts and springs front and rear ABR front top mount bearings all the washers, nuts and bolts bump stops etc. and if you fancy changing it yourself no additional labour costs :thumb:

⬆️This⬆️ Austrian GP break! Hamilton feeling sorry for himself again!🙄 I've replaced mine with OEM MO30 and the car is tight and well damped. The ride is awesome. Cornering excellent. Potholes easily absorbed. It's firm and does give a thud but the car never unsettles. I paid £1200 for mine less than a year ago. Labour including one seizure was only £790. Worth every penny. Ooo Hamilton's just said 'I've gotta get back on it again"ðŸ¤¨ Cheers BK😉

Chris /Pete at Center Gravity in Atherstone, Warwickshire come well recommended. You'll need s geo in any case and they will check all the components in brakes, steering and suspension and advise what needs replacing. They'll set the geometry as well. They test shock absorbers also in their process. They'll advise you on keeping it stock, Ohlins or Coilovers. Contact via the web page.

Thanks for your advise everyone.

I'm taking mine to centre gravity. They will assess exactly what needs doing from suspension arms to dampers and also set your alignment to what you want from the car. Not cheap but more effective than guessing

I'm also based in Bedfordshire and was told by a local indie specialist that everything needed replacing on my early leggy 996. As I wasn't really in love with the car at that point I didn't fancy throwing £2.5k at it (in case the result still didn't blow me away). For a second opinion I took advantage of a January offer at Centre Gravity, where the carry out there suspension health check for £120, and if you then have any subsequent work carried out, the £120 gets knocked off the bill. The health check is extremely thorough, inspecting every component, road test and existing geometry measured. Their recommendations was a couple of arms, various bushes, track rod and probably some other bits. I'm waffling, but their work has transformed the car beyond recognition. Because they just work on Porsche geometry and suspension day in day out their expertise is spot on. I saved myself a fortune, as I was looking at shocks, springs and other stuff it didn't need. Now I really like the car and I will take it back to them for further investment in a year or so.

I have a 2000 C4 manual with original suspension and 86,000 miles at purchase. Like yours, it wasn't sharp, creaked and generally handled poorly. It was always on my to-do list to replace the suspension. In May I took it to Jaz in St. Albans for a complete refresh of the suspension using the OE M030 kit. What a change! Also looks better with the slight drop in ride height. I am just back from Le Mans and it was a joy to drive there and back :thumbs:

Exactly - what he said

Familair story. I too have heard of people 'guessing' what was needed (and generalist indy's having a guess and advising items and spending unnecessary money on things they did not need.

That is a great way of doing it and definitely the most accurate way of pin pointing what is required. The only issue I would have with this is buy the time I travel down to centre gravity and back which is 4+ hours each way I'll have spent over £100 in petrol, plus a hotel the night before, plus the labour at CG, then also factor in my time off work. That adds up to a decent chunk of cash towards some shocks anyway. Plus even if they say the original shocks are ok, they're still 20 year old tech. With that in mind I've fitted "as new" coilovers along with any other components showing wear, so in my case, rear coffin arms, 4 droplinks and some elephant racing adjustable front bottom arms. I didn't need the latter but am giving them a try anyway instead of my adjustable camber bushed, std arms. I'll get a base setup sorted up here then make the trip down to CG for their full monty setup. Just putting another option out there if you live a long way from CG. :thumb: My car rode fine on 75k mile M030 shocks with newish -30mm springs but a drive of mates car with the KWs I now own was like chalk and cheese. It showed me how far things have come and just how brilliantly a sorted 996 can actually drive. Can't wait to get my mine back on the road.