Question about longevity of coilovers VS conventional shocks/springss

How often do coilovers need to be "rebuilt" when on a car that only does aggressive street driving, or maybe a track event once a year? I see them being listed as "rebuildable". I love the adjustability of coilovers, but I have no interest in having to take them off and then send them off to be rebuilt frequently.

Anyone have any input on how often coilovers need to be rebuilt on a daily driven 911, not tracked?

Depends on the coilovers/manufacturer. On the street, they may last you 20 years before they start leaking and need a rebuild. I have a set of Bilstein PSS9s that have not leaked and continue to work extremely well after 19 years of street and track. I am about to get them rebuilt. Their durability alone makes them keepers. Others will have to pipe in on other brands.

Thank you, that helps!

There are alot of options, and alot of costs associated with the 996 suspension. Best advice I can give you is to take your time figuring out what is best for you regarding the suspension. Instead, BULLET PROOF the engine first. New water pump, upgrade the IMSB and UAOST. Better sump for more oil and water cooling if you are going to track it. Then figure out the suspension. If the car is a keeper, then spend the proper money on suspension set up. If you know that you will never get serious about learning to drive the car on the track, then you dont need adjustable coilovers. If you are a competitive guy that will drive it on the track and you know you will want more handling and speed, then you will be glad you spent the money on a GOOD set of coilovers. Save the money for sway bars, adjustable control arms and a Guard LSD for much later. Remember, it takes years to learn how to balance a car and drive a car at speed on a track (and street). Big difference between the speeds a novice driver versus an advanced driver can carry on the track. Canyon carving and freeway on/off ramps are 3rd grade level stuff at best. So an oem or oem plus set-up is just fine. Tires and brakes are key on the street. Take your time with the suspension. It is very, very expensive, and if most were honest, they will probably tell you that they didnt get what they wanted because the jumped too quickly on just getting "something". Kinda like messing around with the shifter. You dont know any better until after you bought it amd put it in the car. If you are near Chicago, pm me. You can drive my 996.2 and see what a set of PSS9s, Tarett GT 5 hole sway bars, Brembo GT big brake kit, and Guard LSD set to GT3 specs feels like on the street.

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I appreciate that. I don't plan on tracking the car, it's my daily driver. I have been contemplating doing more of a rally-type Safari build, with a lift, roof rack, roof-top tent etc... and using it to explore. I am just entering the rabbit hole on suspension and learning about all my options. Fortunately, many of the parts on my car have already been replaced or rebuilt and the engine itself received a full rebuild about 20k miles ago. Im in SC or I would definitely take you up on the opportunity to drive yours! It sounds like a great car.

Sounds like you have a good one. Wish i could help you on the safari suspension. Have seen a few safari 996s, but dont know who does the suspensions. Looking forward to your build.

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Out of curiosity and for a quick measurement, what is your ride height to fender lips? I realize correct measurements are from suspension reference points. Thx.

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Otto, unfortunately I am traveling this week and cant take measurements. But set-up has pretty much been set to GT3 specs for about 19 years. I may even be a tick lower. I run standard 225x40x18, 285x30x18 Bridgestone RE71RS in the warm weather months and 235x40x18, 285x35x18 Michelin PS AS4s in the cold months.

besides leaks, wear comes from contaminates and oil breakdown. steel internals are better for reducing contaminates due to wear. oil/fluid quality is important

Different brands can have wildly different rebuild intervals. Bilsteins go a very long time at the cost of damping "niceness", Ohlins and other motorsport brands are very "nice" (and performant) but have short intervals, sometimes as short as 15k road miles. If you're keeping this car forever the stock Bilsteins should last the longest, but ride height adjustment takes a little engineering to figure out (rear is easy, front doesn't have a lot of space for a spring + perch).

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@studawg We rebuild dampers as a component of our business. I have an article that is 98% finished about rebuilds, intervals and what to expect dropping in our website's tech/articles section in about a week. The jist is most have similar intervals and usage does similar things to the insides of the shocks wether they leak or not. Aggressive driving is primarily hard on shocks if there is debris, ambient/local heat or energy from motion effecting them. If you are cornering hard in a mcpherson strut it also adds wear. Typically we see high end shocks in your category of use between 15-30k miles. Ohlins R&T tend to be at the higher end of that. Some others less, but not for lack of quality always. If you want more details or help deciding what to do just reach out.